COURSES and RESOURCES:

Solihull Coventry and Birmingham

Learning Public Speaking

You can read about public speaking, you can watch videos of great speeches, but you learn to speak in public .......... standing in front of an audience.

And that's where Sans Souci Speakers Club comes in. Within the Solihull, Coventry and South Birmingham area we provide a safe, secure and supportive environment and that all important audience.

All new members receive a " Speakers Guide" the comprehensive manual produced by The Association of Speakers Clubs.

The manual covers everything you need to know about speaking in public. From how to organise your thoughts, put together a script and deliver that first speech, to how to give an after dinner speech that will leave the audience rolling in the aisles.

But if you can't wait to get your hands on a manual, see below for some other great resources.

Public Speaking Courses

All the resources on this page are great - and they will certainly help to improve your public speaking and presentation skills.....but.....and this is a big but.....at some stage you have to stop reading about public speaking or looking at the video of the pro and have a go yourself - you need a course.

If you Google Public Speaking Courses you get over 64 million results! Go on give it a go........ fortunately you don't have to work your way through the results - I've done it for you.

Here are a few links to help you find somewhere to practise your public speaking and presentations for real and to get encouragement and feedback.

"If you live in the Solihull, Coventry, Birmingham or West Midlands area then contact us at Sans Souci Speakers Club. We run public speaking courses throughout the year.

We also run short intensive public speaking taster courses at various times.

Our venue, the Barn Premier Inn, Hockley Heath, Solihull has excellent transport links within the Solihull and South Birmingham area.

Take a look what our president, Ian Watts, has to say about us."

"If you don't live in Sans Souci's catchment area then contact the Association of Speakers Clubs and find a club where you live"

"Another national site is Coaching UK, a site primarily for people who are looking for information on coaching in general, but it has a section on public speaking, presentation skills and coaching related links."

"The Speakers Trust is a general site which, in their own words - is a charity that is dedicated to developing speaking skills throughout the UK and Ireland"

"If you want something a bit more intensive, then try the College of Public Speaking - most of the trainers have links with the ASC so we have no hesitation in recommending them "

Whichever path you take.....stick at it. And when you finally hit the big time, don't forget this little website.

From Sans Souci Speakers Club, we wish you well.

Public Speaking Resources

Just in case you want to get ahead of the game, I've listed lots and lots of resources below.

Public Speaking Books

If you're like me, you probably like to sit and read, looking for those pearls of wisdom and underlining them with a yellow marker...it's the geek in me... so lets have a look what might be worthy of your yellow marker.

You could explore the vast caverns of Amazon's public speaking section, but I've done all that for you and these are the ones that I like:

First of all you need a good general book, a book that covers all aspects of public speaking and presentation skills from openings to closings from nuances to nerves. Try this one:

"Public Speaking and Presentations for Dummies" by Malcolm Kushner

Malcolm Kushner describes himself as a "humour consultant" but despite that, this is a great book, which also has a great section on dealing with nerves. If you can only afford one book, buy this one.

Then you need to know something about how words are used to affect our emotions and get maximum impact. This is just the book:

"Lend Me Your Ears" by Professor Max Atkinson

There are lots of books on the subject of "rhetorical tricks" but they get very heavy with references to Hyperbole, Allusion, Antithesis; all very confusing. But Prof Atkinson has simplified it and put it together in a very readable book. It also contains a short section on dealing with nervous tension. A small book that punches way above its price tag. A must for any public speaker.

And we all need a bit of humour to hold the audience and keep them listening. Even if you can't tell a joke to save your life, this book will show you how to inject humour into a speech.

"Wake em up Business Presentations" by Tom Antion

A book full of ideas on how to liven up your speeches and presentations. It's packed with suggestions on how to inject humour into any presentation. A great resource.

If you feel that you need a book that deals specifically with the fear of public speaking and public speaking anxiety, try this one:

"Never be Nervous Again" by Dorothy Sarnoff.

A small volume with big ideas on tackling those public speaking nerves. Give it a try.

Public Speaking Websites

Perhaps reading's not for you and you like to find your information on the web? That's okay because there is no shortage of public speaking websites. Some of the sites have free newsletters and the like....and they are worth reading for tips.....but like most things in life, the best information is not free!:

Patricia Fripp - lots of public speaking resources plus a free newsletter.

Patricia Fripp is a British girl made good. She went to America as a hairdresser and now struts her stuff in front of huge audiences.

You can sign up for a free newsletter, it's full of useful hints and tips, well worth subscribing.

There are also a few free video clips of Patricia in action - take a look, and if you like what you see, you can buy the videos.

Executive Speaker - a public speaking newsletter.

This newsletter is aimed at professional speakers and it's not cheap, but if you are serious about your public speaking and you have the spare cash, then give it a try. There is a free sample newsletter that you can download in PDF format.

Wikipedia - various pieces about public speaking.

Acording to Wikipedia - “Public speaking is the process of speaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence or entertain the listeners.” - sounds good to me.

There are also interesting articles on this free encyclopaedia site. Worth a browse.

Public Speaking Bits and Pieces

Almost finished, but your speeches need a little something extra......... oh yes...

Every good speaker needs a thesaurus, try this site.

And you'll need a few quotations too, try these.

Those are my best public speaking resources, but if you find something related to public speaking that I've missed or you provide public speaking resources and would like to be included, send me an email and I'll put it on our website.

Oh! I nearly forgot, if you want to see Bill Clinton in action, sorry, giving a speech I should say, visit this site. A seasoned professional who uses every trick in the book.

Home | About Us | Dates | News | Contact Us

Other Public Speaking Clubs

Sitemap

Sans Souci Speakers Club - Building Confidence through Public Speaking