Book Review: The leader’s guide to speaking with presence: How to project confidence, conviction, and authority by Baldoni, J.

Abstract

How do leaders capture the attention of audiences? How do they overcome stage fright when speaking? In The Leader's Guide to Speaking With Presence, John Baldoni answers these questions and offers simple steps for leaders to transform the ways they communicate. By engaging their audience's hearts and minds, they can develop what Baldoni calls leadership presence.Baldoni wants to help executives and managers to communicate better in all business settings, especially when leading meetings and speaking with the public. To accomplish this goal, he covers a variety of topics, including speaking fundamentals, connecting with the audience, using narratives, and creating effective presentations. Baldoni addresses each topic in turn, vividly illustrating concepts through metaphors, such as comparing public speaking to music, storytelling, and even the act of welcoming people into one's own home.The Leader's Guide to Speaking With Presence opens with an "Introduction to Authentic Communication." Baldoni asserts that what most people want from leaders is authenticity, which can be portrayed by communicating honestly and genuinely. In the book, he refers to authentic communication as "leadership presence." Leadership presence, the key to any successful leader, is the ability to allow one's true self to come through in personal interactions and presentations, ultimately promoting a genuine connection with the audience. In other words, leadership presence is described as the "real deal," and includes communicating confidently in a way that is a reflection of a leader's inner self (p. 1). For the content of this book, Baldoni draws from his experience as a coach and hearing other effective leaders speak and interact in captivating ways to help CEOs, managers, or any leader in the workplace achieve leadership presence by improving their communication.