about the exceptional speaker

“The Exceptional Speaker is quite simply the most comprehensive reference book I’ve read to date on speaking. Packed full of useful tips and ideas.”

~   Mark Wingfield, professional speaker, workshop facilitator


Delivering a great speech is a significant accomplishment. For an audience, experiencing a stirring rendition is both exhilarating and uplifting. Because a great speech appears so effortless, it is too easy to assume that its delivery is a simple matter. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those who have mastered the art of successful speaking know very well that it is rarely an overnight phenomenon. Great speeches may be written in a few hours or days – but the delivery is what can make them great. That ability takes years of work and experience to hone. The stark reality is that delivering speeches is fraught with pitfalls almost guaranteed to unhinge the novice. This, in a nutshell, is why this book has been written.

Having listened to hundreds of speakers and studied many of the world’s great speeches, the authors, themselves both professional speakers, have identified exactly what it takes to speak with conviction, clarity and pizzaz. Their book is your personal resource to learn how to plan, structure and deliver a memorable message. Nothing worth achieving happens without effort and careful thought. Public speaking requires study, application, practice and plenty of experience. But it is immensely rewarding.

The revised edition which now includes a chapter on remote speaking is a vital tool for the next generation of Exceptional Speakers.  Published on 22 March 2021, the book is available in hard cover (UK, South Africa) and online PDF (downloadable) and KIndle. We trust you will enjoy it and most important – apply its principles. In the video below, Alan Stevens and Paul du Toit chat informally about the new revised edition. Great speech making is within your grasp.


ABOUT OUR BOOK

 

Even the greatest speeches require meticulous preparation, repeated rehearsals and expert delivery. For thousands of years, iconic speeches have helped to shape our world – but only because a decision was made to craft something special.  Speech making is a skill that can be learned by everyone.  It takes knowledge and expertise to prepare and deliver a truly memorable speech.  This book has the tips and advice you need to create and deliver sensational speeches.

Book review by Professor Max Atkinson, author of “Lend Me your Ears”

“One of my books had a rather ambitious subtitle:˜All you need to know about making speeches and presentations.” After reading this one, however, I realise that I hadn’t got it quite right. This book shows that there’s a good deal more to successful speaking and does so in a very informative and well-written way. Read, mark, learn and put their lessons into practice and you too can become an exceptional speaker.” 

The book is available in hard cover, ePub or Kindle

Acknowledgements:

We are indebted to Michelle Coetzee for her conscientious editing. Gregg Davies designed our exceptional cover whilst also doing the layout and typeset of the book. Janine Wood performed a complete revamp of our website  – exceptionalspeaker.com. Martin Brown performed the finishing touches and installed the eCommerce functioning.
 
We are obliged to fellow professional speakers Justin Cohen, Nabil Doss and Graeme Codrington who provided us with expert content which has again been used in this edition. Our respective photographers Santie Korf (Paul) and Baz Seal (Alan) did fine work capturing images of our more mature selves.
 

To those who wrote and posted such positive reviews of the maiden (first) edition of “The Exceptional Speaker” on amazon.com and amazon.co.uk (some of which have found their way into this edition) we thank you. By date of publication our first edition has yet to dip below 5 stars!

To the select group of speakers who have attended Exceptional Speaker Masterclasses across the world since 2014 – thank you for your participation and insights and of course for your faith in us. On the journey with you to become more influential, exceptional speakers we’ve learned a great deal as we all now transition into the remote and hybrid space.