The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: The Exceptional Presenter by Timothy Koegel

A few years ago, I was asked by Georgetown University to teach a course on public speaking. I politely declined but said if they would let me teach about persuasion and public speaking, then I would do it. They agreed, and so I had to pull together a curriculum for the course. This was one of the only books I picked on the topic of public speaking (alongside Steal the Show by my friend Michael Port). This one might seem like an unusual choice. It's now nearly twenty years old and so some of the tips are quite dated. The illustrations verge on clip art in places. Yet the techniques in the book are ones that I often do refer back to when teaching or talking about the basics of being an effective speaker.

As we start a new year, if you're facing the task of being compelling in front of a group of people - this book has plenty of underappreciated techniques like using "the claw," avoiding the "T-Rex posture" and the art of keeping your hands on the table for effect. These and lots of other speaking techniques that now feel a bit old school are what you'll find here, but they do still work ... which makes The Exceptional Presenter still a worthwhile read.

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About the Non-Obvious Book Selection of the Week:

Every week I share a new “non-obvious” book selection. Titles featured here may be new or classic books, but the date of publication doesn’t really matter. My goal is to elevate great reads that perhaps deserve a second look which you might have otherwise missed.