Skill Building Books
The Well-Spoken Woman Speaks Out: How to Use Your Voice to Drive Change, Chris Jahnke’s newest book is a celebration of leaders, activists, candidates, and entrepreneurs who are effectively speaking out on the causes they are passionate about. The guidance and practical tips will help you change the conversation in presentations, panel discussions, debates, speeches, media interviews, and online appearances.
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The Well-Spoken Woman: Your Guide to Looking and Sounding Your Best, Chris Jahnke’s new book is filled with tips and techniques to help you project with confidence and earn the respect of any audience.
Other Recommended Books
We’ve complied good stuff to help you practice and prepare for your next talk or interview.
Public Speaking
The Elements of Speechwriting & Public Speaking, Jeff Scott Cook. Preparing and delivering powerful, eloquent, and well-received speeches.
Eloquence in an Electronic Age, Kathleen Hall Jamieson. The noted scholar provides a brilliant account of the transformation of political speechmaking.
How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie. This granddaddy of how to books first published in 1937 is still relevant.
Our Masters Voices, Max Atkinson. The language and body language of politics.
Oxford BBC Guide to Pronunciation: The Essential Handbook of the Spoken Word, Lena Olausson & Catherine Sangster.
The Rhetoric and The Poetics, Aristotle. The Greek philosopher shares lessons on the arts of persuasive oratory and fiction..
Straight from the Heart, Ann Richards.The former Governor of Texas shares the inside story of her keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention.
The Political Speechwriters Companion: A Guide for Writers and Speakers, Robert Lehrman. Professionalize your political speechwriting with this well-organized how-to.
The Voice Book, Michael McCallion. A guide for everyone who wants to make the most of their voice.
We Shall Be Heard:A Women Speakers in America, Patricia Scileppi Kennedy & Gloria Harmann O’Shields. A collection of the rhetoric of outstanding American women.
What Everybody Is Saying: An ex-FBI Agents Guide to Speed-Reading People, by Joe Navarro & Marvin Karlins. Learn what your body language is saying to others.
What I Saw at the Revolution, Peggy Noonan. The speechwriter takes you inside the Reagan White House and shares tales of writing for the great communicator.
TED Talks by Chris Anderson. The official TED guide to public speaking.
Stein on Writing by Sol Stein. A master editor of some of the most successful writers shares techniques and strategies.
Dealing With the News Media
A Scientist’s Guide to Talking With the Media, Richard Hayes & Daniel Grossman. A must read for all scientists and researchers who want to spread their message on their own terms.
The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging, editors of the Huffington Post. A how to guide with selections from the sites top bloggers.
Making the News: A Guide for Nonprofits & Activists, Jason Salzman. The nitty-gritty, the nuts and bolts, to compete in the not-so-free marketplace of ideas.
Understanding Media, Marshall McLuhan. The popular classic presents McLuhan’s still relevant ideas about the power of the media.
Message Development
Bang: Getting Your Message Heard in a Noisy World, Linda Kaplan Thaler & Robin Koval. Marketing gurus share stories from behind the scenes of memorable ad campaigns.
Framing the Debate, Jeffrey Feldman. Famous presidential speeches and how progressives can use them to change the conversation and win elections.
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, Chip and Dan Heath. Chock full of exercises and examples, this book explains how to make your words more memorable and persuasive.
Un-Spun: Finding Facts in a World of Disinformation, Brooks Jackson & Kathleen Hall Jamieson. Learn how to be your own truth squad by decoding the 21st Century world of disinformation.
Words that Work: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear, Frank Lutz. The pollster discusses his techniques for crafting effective language and how to find and use the right words to get what you want.”
You are the Message: Getting What You Want By Being Who You Are,” Roger Ailes. A classic on how to think strategically about connecting with audiences from a former President Reagan White House Aid.
Start with Why by Simon Sinek. How great leaders inspire everyone to take action.