How to Win the World Championship of Public Speaking: Secrets of the International Speech Contest

I did not have high hopes for this book. That said, I was pleasantly surprised.The book features the text of all nine speakers in the 2012 Championship, something we haven't seen in a book before. Ed Hearn, Douglas Wilson and I put our nine speeches (from District, Region, and the Championship, back when you need three speeches, instead of two, to win the contest) into our book 'Win, Place & Show', back in 2006, and I was able to get all the finalists to write a chapter each about their own experience in the contest in 2008, in our book 'The Finalists' (available for free on my website), but Mr. Donovan truly pulls a coup by getting all nine speeches into his book.With those points scored, he then focuses on nine aspects of giving a 'World Championship' speech, through both analysis of the speeches themselves, and an extended study of winning speeches going back to 1986. The author clearly loves research, data, and statistics, as the book is full of them, from how many laughs per minute to percentage of winners from different positions in the speaking order to what percentage of winners ran off the stage vs. shaking the hand of the contest chair vs. waving as they left. (My personal, if painful, favorite, was LaShunda Rundles 'flying' off the stage in our contest in 2008.)He breaks down the elements of a winning speech as follows:Taking the Stage - how do you begin, essentiallyTopic Selection - always a subject of debate among students and participants of the contestStorytelling - including story construction, selection, and patternHumor and Emotional Range - laughter, tears, and everything in-betweenLanguage - big vs. small words, sentence structure, title selectionVerbal Delivery - volume, speed, pausesNon-Verbal Delivery - use of the stage, gesturesMindset - what do you focus on, how do you approach practicing - the most 'motivational' chapterLeaving the Stage - pausing, how you plan your 'exit strategy'He concludes with an interesting chapter about his own thoughts on who he thought would win, and why, and then has to admit he didn't actually pick the right winner. Honesty is good - who wins these contests is often a crapshoot.Therein lies my only remaining complaint about the book. A 'How-To' book, in my mind, should give me a specific, reliable result if I follow the steps. Building a table, fixing a flat tire, building a marketing list, etc. No one, not even a champion, can give you all the steps, with certainty, that will allow you to win this contest. If nothing else, the contest is a zero-sum game, so if two contestants all do everything perfect and identically to the other, only one of them can actually win.The contest relies on fallible human judges, who may or may not like your speech based not on the judging criteria, but by their own life experience, or even, subconsciously, if they like your tie or choice of dress vs. pantsuit.In addition, while he does cover mindset, a key missing component is 'Heart'. Most likely because it is an intangible, immeasurable component in speaking and competing, which one can't distill into a statistic. One cannot watch LaShunda Rundles speech without seeing her whole essence brought to the stage.Most importantly of all, Lady Luck truly plays a part as well. Just as a football game is occasionally won or lost based on the odd bounce of the pigskin, a speech contest can be won or lost based on a microphone malfunction, the fact that two other people in your bracket spoke on the same subject, or a better speaker got lost getting to the contest that day.The real promise in this book, the one it fulfills, is telling you how others have won the contest, how some have come close, how some have fallen short. It offers signposts to greater success and warnings against certain failure. It offers 'best practices' and is, at least for this serial contestant (seven time semifinalist, two time finalist), a fascinating read, whetting my appetite for the competition in 2014.In the end, I enjoyed the book. If you're a Toastmaster, and particularly a contestant, spend the three bucks and give it read. The author has done a tremendous amount of work in compiling his data, interviewing the participants and many past champions. It is the most complete analysis of championship speeches I have seen to date. If you're not a Toastmaster, you might get lost in some of the idiosyncrasies of the contest, but can still clean some great tips about speaking in general.They say never judge a book by it's cover. I judged it quickly by it's title,which was a mistake. It earns a high rating - 4 out 5 stars.Pick it up. Jeremy writes...& delivers.

This is a very valuable book-- much more so than the title might indicate.Jeremy Donovan has subjected the final nine speeches from the 2012 Toastmasters International World Championship of Public Speaking to very deep analysis, and he backs that analysis up with some analysis of the first-place speeches from previous years. His analysis if absolutely excellent. I have the DVD of the contest, and as I viewed the speeches again while I was reading the book, I was amazed at what I had missed during my earlier viewing.Despite the title, the book doesn't attempt to explain how to win the contest; rather, it reveals tendencies. That is, Donovan shows what the top speakers do in given circumstances and at certain points in their speeches. This is, of course, potentially valuable for contest speakers. I've won my Toastmasters District Humorous Speech contest twice and placed second once. However, despite making the District finals twice in the International Speech contest, I've never placed. After reading this book, I'm pretty sure I know why. I've already begun to reconfigure the draft I have in progress for next spring's contest cycle.In addition, though, this book is valuable for speakers in general. The speakers Donovan is analyzing aren't just very good speakers; 35,000 speakers began the contest cycle at the club level, and these nine speakers survived five levels of elimination contests to make the finals. They are the best in the world, and we can all learn much from them.Finally, look at the other reviews for this book. So far, one World Champion, one third-place finisher, two finalists, and a semifinalist have all posted favorable reviews. These are people who have actually stood on that Big Stage and done what Donovan is talking about. They like the book, and that says a lot to me.Bottom line: This is an outstanding book that will be very valuable to all Toastmasters speech contest entrants and very useful to anyone who wants to improve his or her public speaking.

This book is a 15 on a scale of 1 to 10. It is an incredible treasure trove of tips, tools and techniques that will benefit Toastmasters of all skill levels. It provides detailed and incredibly comprehensive analysis of the most effective speech techniques and practices over the past 3 decades in Toastmasters' World Championship of Public Speaking Contests. Although written for people interested in gaining the winning edge in Toastmasters' International Speech Contests, the information provided will assist readers with being more effective in all types of speeches inside and outside of the Toastmasters setting. For hardcore contest participants like myself, this book is a must read and offers a concise, easily readable resource on practical and effective ways to shorten your learning curve and acquire great techniques immediately. As a semifinalist in the 2012 World Championship of Public Speaking, my only disappointment with this book is --- that it wasn't available before this year. If you want to know the formulae for a winning speech - getting this book is the first step. When I first opened the book I was skeptical. But after reading it twice - I am a 100% true believer in its ability to help readers become more aware of the specific ingredients essential for giving winning speeches. If you want tips, tools and techniques that will consistently engage audiences and keep them connected from beginning to end this book is for you!- Clarence Featherson

An in depth look at what it takes to become world champ. Lots of detailed analysis and verified findings. Very useful in crafting a winning speech. Wish I'd read this before writing my speech.

This is an amazing book for those of you looking at learning speech techniques for inspiring speeches. Though it focuses on Toastmasters, it's learnings can be applied public speaking in everyday life.