The Speaker's Toolbox: 47 Tools to Build Better Speeches (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780963202574)

Brian Woolf is a speechaholic. He loves listening to speeches, thinking about them, and giving them; and he loves reading and studying them- their makeup, their message, their "music"-to discover their magic. It wasn't always so. In High School he avoided entering the annual speech contests. At 22, in his first job, he knew he needed speaking help. Toastmasters was just being introduced to his native New Zealand. He joined. He learned. He gained speaking confidence ... enough to subsequently use the skills learned to graduate with Distinction from the Harvard Business School with its two-year program focused on dialog-based case studies. In later years, he has spoken extensively, including at conference on five continents. Toastmasters continues to play a key part in his life. Brian has been an active club member in New Zealand, Ireland, and the USA. He has won six District (State) Speech Contests-and lost many more (which is when intensive learning occurs!) In 2003, he was one of the nine finalists in Toastmasters World Championship of Public Speaking. Mastering communication skills helped him not just in Toastmasters but also in the business world and as an author, where the art of simple, clear communication guided his writing of three marketing books. This book shares many lessons Brian wished he had learned decades ago with the goal of speeding up your speaking journey.