How You Can Make Your Point and Have It Stick
The focus of As We Speak is on communication. It's that vital skill that we all need, and the book offers very practical and conceptual methods of improving that skill.
When you open the book, you'll find the content split into five clear sections:
- Content
- Delivery
- State
- High-Stakes Situations
- Finding Your Voice and Making It Heard
In this article, my task will be to give you an concise overview of the knowledge that you will have access to in each of those sections.
So let's get started!
Content
The world is full of brilliant people whose ideas are never heard. This book is designed to make sure that you're not one of them.
The quote you just read can be found on the inside of the book. The idea there is that you have knowledge that has value, but in order for it to be heard, it has to be presented in its best form.
The content section is focused on helping you structure your content in the most compelling manner possible.
One of the tools they give you to accomplish that goal is a conceptual blueprint for preparing content. I've used personally to plan a few of the latest posts on my website.
One post in particular focused only on that conceptual blueprint and how it could be applied to something totally different.
Beyond that, they focus on the building blocks of a presentation and how you can use it to structure your content from start to finish. Also they spend a good amount of time demonstrating how to apply writing techniques.
Delivery
THE WORLD IS filled with smart people whose ideas will never be heard. Why? They lack delivery skills.
This section of the book is heavily focused on in-person presentation. They give you practical and conceptual tips for improving your voice, expression, and posture.
It can be helpful even if you never plan to give any presentation because you will most likely still need to talk to people at some point. If you can figure out a way to avoid that situation entirely, my hat's off to you.
- Aiming To Be in a Constant State of Evolution
It is said that if you aren't moving towards your goals, you're moving away from them. So why not commit yourself to pursuing a constant state of evolution. A frequently updated book list.
State
YOUR STATE SPEAKS louder than your words.
For me, this was the best section in the book. The main reason is that the lessons on mindset are applicable in countless areas of life. I read this section over and over again.
In fact, it was so good that I'm not going to give you any more clues about it. You should invest the time in reading the book yourself.
High-Stakes Situations
HIGH-PERFORMING TEAMS AND individuals don't have fewer problems than anyone else. But they are more willing to talk about the problem they have,
This section is all about managing relationships. We all do that in some form, but that doesn't mean that the process can't be improved.
One thing that is done really well in this book is that they not only give you concepts and techniques but they also show you the application. In this situation in particular, it's really done well.
Finding Your Voice and Making It Heard
GREAT LEADERS CREATE a shared vision. Great speeches are driven by the need to bring that vision alive. Before the words, before the slides, you need the ability to go to the source of your own inspiration. Create a vision, by starting with your own life.
This is the concluding section of the book. It's here where they bring everything together to demonstrate how it can be relevant to you.
Do you have a vision, and how are your words helping you bring that vision to life?This book is focused on no other task than helping you communicate more effectively.
Read it. You will benefit.
