Steve Brown has written an easy to read book entitled, How to talk so people will listen (Baker Books, 2003). I enjoyed Brown’s humorous approach to his topic and also his willingness to share many of his own mistakes. He has had a lot of experience in delivering talks as he was a pastor for many years and also a radio broadcaster.
Brown addresses many of the usual aspects of public speaking including overcoming fear, preparing a speech, giving a speech as well as some of less well covered topics like winning an argument, the power of words and psychological blocks to good communication. Brown has a wide range of situations in mind as he writes; everything from a one on one conversation between husbands and wives or a counseling situation, to sermons or speeches made to a large crowd.
By covering such a broad range of topics I felt that Brown was sometimes too brief in his advice and breezed over some important issues. Also as I have mentioned elsewhere when reviewing these types of books , I felt he addresses the topic only from the point of view of an extrovert. However despite these slight criticisms, it was a helpful read.
