Booher, D. (2003). Speak with confidence: Powerful presentations that inform, inspire, and persuade. New York: McGraw-Hill. In this 239-page, well-written, trade book, Booher offers and briefly explains 497 practical tips for beginning speakers or those who need a quick refresher course. If you like short directions, quick quotations, brief explanations, pointed lists, and numerous examples, this is the book for you. There are no theories, no references or sources, no jargon, and no technical explanations. Booher offers in-your-face, direct, no pulled punches comments that, in some cases, can be only a ten-or-eleven word development of a tip. This book offers useful, practical, and applied information.

Cheek, J. S. (2002, July 5). Speech and Public Speaking. Educational Technology Center, Kennesaw State University (KSU), Kennesaw, GA 30144. Retrieved March 12, 2005, from http://webtech.kennesaw.edu/jcheek4/speech.htm. This is a resource site that links you to 56 different public-speech related web sites. The sites linked to range from how-to information on all aspects of the public speaking experience, to greatest speeches, sample speeches, tips for teachers, and tongue twisters. The range of links will offer a very broad range of useful information, and the quality will vary according to the individual web sites visited. This is a useful resource and reference.

Jeary, T., K. Dower, & J. E. Fishman. (2004). Life is a series of presentations: 8 ways to punch up your people skills at work, at home, anytime, anywhere. Scottsdale, AZ: Fireside Books. Jeary, Dower, and Fishman begin by convincing readers that the way they present their thoughts and ideas has a profound effect on the shape of their lives. The advice here is solid, detailed, practical, and conservative. The list of "very important points" that close each chapter is invaluable. His 136 effective presentation tips for people who make presentations at seminars or conferences are common-sense secrets, but they are relevant to all those who want to communicate more effectively.

Kaye, E. (2002). Maximize your presentation skills: How to speak, look and act on your way to the top. Rocklin, CA: Prima Lifestyles. Ellen Kaye explains that the difference between a mediocre and magnificent career hinges on how you present yourseW to management, clients, coworkers, and the public. Here, she offers her advice in an easy-to-use Q&A format in which she answers more than 100 specific questions about public speaking, business etiquette, and leadership image. Her pearls of wisdom cover a wide spectrum of skills and technologies, and along with her valuable exercises, the book is full of inspirational ideas, motivational techniques, and straight-forward, practical ideas. Kaye is funny, witty, sassy, clever, and her ideas are easy to implement.

Laskowski, L. (2001). 10 days to more confident public speaking. (The Princeton Language Institute) New York, NY: Warner Books. Laskowski includes real-life examples, practical tips, suggestions about how to integrate humor into a speech, and memorization techniques. This is a well-structured, conversationally written, detailed book that overflows with observations, suggestions, and instructions. It is a short, interesting book that will help readers communicate more confidently with business partners, colleagues, guests at private parties, museum visitors, and tourist group members—even though the main focus of the book is on professional public speaking.

Reid, R. F., & J. F. Klumpp (eds.) (2004). American rhetorical discourse, 3rd ed. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, Inc. This is a comprehensive anthology that reflects the diversity, significance, and method of speakers through American History. The selection of speakers illuminate the evolution and accomplishment of rhetorical practice in American society. Prior to each speech, there is an informative and provocative commentary that offers biographical information about the speaker, locates the speech in its proper historical position, sketches the rhetorical situation, and highlights the content. A very small sampling of the speeches selected include "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," "Liberty or Death," "The Pastoral Letter," "Gettysburg," "The Solitude of Self;" "Cross of Gold," Wilson's war message, "I Have a Dream," "Evil Empire," up to Clinton's first inaugural.

Rohier, L., & R. Cook (eds.) (2001). Great speechesfor criticism and analysis, 4th ed. Greenwood, IN: Alistair Press. Rohler and Cook offer 42 speeches and 17 critical essays. This is a high-quality book with a comprehensive inclusion of the best speeches of the 20th century. For each of the wide variety of speeches, the authors include an explanation of the occasion for which the speech was written.

Rotondo, J., & M. Rotondo jr. (2001). Presentation skills for managers. New York: McGraw-Hill. This is an ideal book for busy presenters who need a thorough grounding in the art and science of presentation skills. Although the book is small, it is quite complete, covering everything from planning to execution. There are checklists, reviews at the end of each chapter, helpful hints, a combination of theory and practice, clear steps for designing a presentation from layout and consistency to color, and specific advice on how to handle the Q&A session at the end of a presentation. This is a great resource to have.

Stevenson, D. (2004). Never be boring again: Make your business presentations capture attention, inspire action and produce results. Colorado Springs, CO: Cornelia Press. In this 352-page guide, Stevenson says that a powerfi.il story, well told, is your secret to connecting with clients, colleagues, and customers. This is not a book about how to give a speech; it is a detailed how-to about making powerful connections with listeners through vivid and engaging stories. His nine step formula of story structures includes getting your point across to insure maximum "buy in," brand your message with a "Phrase That Pays," incorporate humor so people laugh while they learn, get our of your own way and "Stand in Your Power," and make dull and dry technical information come alive. This book is peppered with tips, tricks, and techniques designed to keep listeners coming back for more.

Ulrich, Laurie Ann.(2003). How to do everything with Microsoft office 2003. New York: McGraw-Hill/Osborne. The information in this book is basic. Part IV: "Creating Presentations with PowerPoint," includes three excellent chapters: "Planning and Building a Presentation," "Enhancing a Presentation with Graphics and Charts," and "Building an Effective Multimedia Slide Show." The material begins as if readers have no background whatsoever and guides them with frequent visuals, numerous step-by-step directions, and additional "Tips" and "Cautions." The book is extremely well written and specific, and the diagrams and computer graphics are clear and easy to understand. The additional information in the book on the common elements of Office 2003, creating documents with Word, crunching numbers and keeping lists with Excel, managing data with Access, keeping in touch and on schedule with Outlook, and designing Web pages with FrontPage are just as complete, comprehensive, and clear. This is an excellent reference book.

Weissman, J. (2003). Presenting to win: The art of telling your story. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Financial Times (Prentice-Hall). Weissman shows readers how to transform presentations from dry recitals of facts into compelling stories with a laser-sharp tbcus on what matters most: what's in it for the audience. This book can be of great value to anyone whose communication skills need to be improved. The strategies and tactics which Weissman shares have unlimited applications: when making formal presentations, during job interviews, in preparing reports, contributing to group discussions, resolving problems with customer service, implementing crisis management initiatives, and conducting performance reviews. This book is clearly written and includes pop-out boxes, sample graphics, and numerous corporate examples. Weissman underscores the importance of having solid content in presentations.