When I was asked to give a talk at a conference last month on the topic of communication for caregivers of persons with Alzheimer’s, I knew I wanted to brush up on my public speaking skills. I have often spoken in public and also given workshops, so I do have experience and I've also been trained in public speaking, but I’m the type of gal that’s all about continuous self-improvement.

I listened to the audio of Speaking with Power and Persuasion and enjoyed it. It also made me see that I knew more about public speaking than I realized. The first voice care tips that Shafir gives are excellent because most of us forget that we need to take care of our vocal cords. She suggests adequate sleep and drinking plenty of water, especially before giving a talk or lecture. And guess what I did NOT do. Precisely that. I was up till late the night before going over my points, and I forgot to drink water before the talk. Needless to say, ten minutes into my presentation, my mouth got extremely dry and I experienced a brief moment of panic. 

This is a short audiobook at 2.4 hours, but Shafir packs a lot of info in. She has a pleasant voice that’s easy to listen to you, although at times it felt like she was reading rather than talking. She talks about vocal image strategies such as pitch, loudness, articulation, rate, pausing and voice quality. I enjoyed her first and last chapters the most; the last chapter being about communicating with learning differences and disabilities. She even has a section for parents of children with communication and learning problems. Now that caught my attention. I found her to be a compassionate person and therapist.

If you want to learn more about how to speak with confidence, this book will give you that. Shafir is a speech and language pathologist and her twenty-five years experience is evident, but being a short book, the info is basic and perfect only for those who have none or little experience in public speaking.

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