Speakers, speech writers in short supply

Despite the many advantages of learning the craft of speech making, good speakers are in short supply. Exaggerated fear of facing an audience, lack of confidence, concern about selecting a subject—these and other problems, both real and imagined, conspire to keep many capable people in the audience rather than at the lectern.

In the business world today, good speech writers are much in demand. Busy executives often turn to speech writers for help, either because they themselves are not good writers or because they just don't have time to devote to writing their own speeches. Many large corporations employ full-time speech writers, who are well-paid, respected, and have the ear of management. Other companies retain public relations firms or freelance writers to provide speech-writing help for their top executives. It isn't at all unusual for a speech writer to command a fee of three, four, or five thousand dollars or more for crafting a twenty- to thirty-minute speech. And you must believe me when I say that a really good speech is cheap at those prices, considering what a good speech can do for a company. Or, to be negative about it, what a bad speech can do to a company.

Clearly, you are a person who wants to become a more proficient speaker or speech writer, or both. Otherwise, you would not have invested your money in this book. If you are willing to invest further in time and effort by learning and applying the principles discussed here, you can and will reach your goal.