University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
Speak to Win
Book

Speak to Win

How to Present with Power in Any Situation

Brian Tracy
AMACOM, 2008
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Editorial Rating

7

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  • Applicable

Recommendation

Brian Tracy is a master communicator who has made millions giving speeches and writing books. In this one, Tracy stresses that you must carefully plan every part of a speech, and that everything should flow logically from one idea to the next. Rehearse your speech until it is perfect. These are all great points. Their message? You must respect your audience and never waste its time. Unfortunately, Tracy sometimes doesn’t always heed his own wise counsel. In this book, he tends to reiterate certain pieces of information (especially his eight components of any long speech); This repetition is unnecessary, although the list and the pointers are valuable. Tracy possesses a wealth of knowledge about how to set up a speaking engagement, plan a speech and then communicate it with impact. Indeed, getAbstract confirms that you will find valuable nuggets of wisdom about public speaking on virtually every page of this book. Sometimes twice.

Summary

What Constitutes Powerful Oratory?

Great speakers live forever. And so do their immortal words. When you speak well, you can motivate others. Aristotle believed that no person could aspire to leadership without rhetoric. He said that powerful persuasion depends on these elements:

  • “Logos” (logic) means that your thoughts and words are coherent. They follow one another in a sensible sequence.
  • “Ethos” (ethic) concerns your character. If your audience does not believe in you, you can never persuade its members.
  • “Pathos” (emotion) means that you must inspire the people in your audience. You must touch their emotions.

UCLA psychology professor Albert Mehrabian determined that the import of any spoken message also depends on three other elements: words, tone and the body. For your audience, be it one person or millions of people watching you on television, the least important part of your message is what you say. Mehrabian states that words contribute only 7% to a message’s overall importance. The way you emphasize your words (tone of voice) is responsible for 38% of your effectiveness. How you carry yourself also matters. In public speaking...

About the Author

Brian Tracy is an author of seminars and popular self-help books on leadership, sales, managerial effectiveness and business strategy. He is the founder and chairman of a California-based human-resource company.

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