Paul Daniels and Andrew Lock's "The Stress Free Guide to Public Speaking"

Like most ten year olds I was interested in many things – canoeing, swimming, catching frogs… Surprisingly enough, they didn’t include public speaking. But I did become interested in a new hobby that I still use for speaking - it was magic.

No, I’m not talking about the occult kind of magic – it’s the illusions and entertainment type. I loved the idea of being able to entertain, perplex… yes even trick an audience. Little did I know that years later I would be using those same illusions to illustrate points in my speeches. 

Now illusions were difficult for a 10 year old to learn. I had a few books on the subject but not many other resources. One of these books boasted that it would teach me how to make over 101 tricks – but most were way beyond my means. For example, I wasn’t exactly in a position to make a cabinet that was big enough to hold a person.

My mother did some research and found a professional magicians store in Toronto. Now I grew up in the suburbs so it was a little out of my range. I would save up my money and then beg and plead to be taken there. 

The store had a long set of glass counters with a wonderful assortment of cards, silks and wands behind it. Every Saturday a crowd of kids my age would swarm these counters and we would all yell out things like, “let me see mind control”. 

The store owner, who had the patience of a Mother Theresa and the marketing savvy of Donald Trump would then proceed to amaze us all with “mind control” (or the Chinese wands, or whatever else we asked for). 

In a flash he would have made 10, 15, even 20 sales. We all wanted to be able to amaze our friends and families just as he had amazed us. 

He would often guide us to tricks that were suitable for our age – that is, tricks that did not require a lot of practice or skill. But as knowledgeable as he was, we were equally stubborn. We would insist on buying the illusions that he cautioned us against. We would get them home, read the instructions, try the trick a few times and then give up. 

Many of the tricks required a foundation of skill that we just did not have the patience to learn. Often that foundation was sleight of hand – that is making movements that are deceptive and conceal what the illusionist is really doing. If we didn’t have the foundation, no amount of flashy cards, silks, balls and other trinkets were going to impress the audience.

I eventually did build up a repertoire of 10-15 illusions that I could do reasonably well. These were the ones that worked for the most part automatically – all I had to do was present them. 

Although at that time I did not have the patience to learn the foundation, I could still appreciate it. I have always enjoyed watching magicians such as Doug Henning, David Copperfield, and more recently Lance Burton. I have felt that I get a double bonus – if I am fooled like everyone else (which happens more often than not) then I am entertained. If I actually am able to figure out what is happening, I get the bonus from a feeling of satisfaction. “Ha… he didn’t fool me!”

When I was in University, I lived in a townhouse with three other young men. We would regularly watch a British variety show hosted by a magician named Paul Daniels. It’s kind of funny to think about this now - this group of students rushing to gather around the TV like family while they ate dinner, just so they could be entertained (and really, be fooled).  

Fast forward to almost twenty years later and I am now fully immersed in the world of public speaking. I’m often picking up books, listening to programs, and visiting websites to find new materials and ideas that I can share with you. 

Well what a surprise it was when I was looking through some information to come upon Paul Daniels. It turns out that in recent years he has co-produced an eBook on public speaking with a gentleman named Andrew Lock – it’s called, “The Stress Free Guide to Public Speaking.” 

That seemed interesting to me. After all, I’m trying to help you reduce your stress by reducing your fear. I wanted to know if it could help you, the subscribers of my newsletter.

I contacted Andrew and explained my site, newsletter and subscribers. He, in turn, was good enough to allow me to have a look at the book, so I could review it and let you know what I thought about it. 

First of all, it’s an easy enough read. It’s well thought out and organized. The topics progress from a general introduction and discussion about overcoming anxieties and then moves towards a deeper explanation of composing and delivering a speech.

He covers many topics that are crucial to composing and delivering a winning presentation – some of which include:

• Preparation
• Choosing an appropriate theme
• Pacing yourself
• Using an outline
• Eye Contact
• Confidence
• Sincerity
• And much more 

The approach is… if you have a better understanding of how to give a quality speech, you will be able to reduce your anxiety. That makes a lot of sense to me – in fact so much so that it is one of the concepts that I had already taught in my own course.

With that in mind the eBook does a very good job of progressing from basic speech requirements to more advanced techniques. In a manner of speaking, it’s a lot like the magic tricks I learned as a child - just follow a simple set of steps and voila, your audience is amazed with what you have produced (or delivered) …  and unlike the more complicated illusions, these skills are quite easy to master. 

As you become a bit more comfortable with the foundation, you can start adding the extra flash to your speeches. In terms of illusions, these would be the silks, the colored balls, and the fancy cards, that add an additional “spice” to the presentation.

Would this eBook be useful to you? Well, why are you interested in public speaking? Is it because you have to give a speech at an upcoming event? Is it because you frequently have to present at work or is it because you know that it is the most common attribute among successful executives and you desire the success? Whatever your motivation is, you’re going to benefit from doing it well – otherwise you wouldn’t be putting the effort into it. 

If you have all the skills that you need and are trying to deal solely with your fear of public speaking then this material is probably not for you - it would be too elementary. Alternatively, if you feel that you have room to grow in public speaking skills as well as conquering fear, then you might want to take a look at it. You can find Andrew and Paul’s book at

http://www.EffectivelySpeaking.Com/recommends/stressfreeguide

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Copyright © 2007 David Mudie All Rights Reserved

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