How to Own the Room

Women and the Art of Brilliant Speaking

By: Viv Groskop

Narrated by: Viv Groskop

Length: 5 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

Most books about public speaking don’t tell you what to do when you open your mouth and nothing comes out. And they don’t tell you how to get over the anxiety about performance that most people naturally have. They don’t tell you what to do in the moments when you are made, as a woman, to feel small. They don’t tell you how to own the room. This book does.  

From the way Michelle Obama projects ‘happy high status’ and the power of J.K.Rowling’s understated speaking style to Virginia Woolf’s leisurely pacing and Oprah Winfrey’s mastery of inner conviction, what is it that our heroines do to make us sit up and listen - really listen - to their every word? And how can you achieve that impact in your own life? Here’s how.

©2018 Viv Groskop (P)2019 W. F. Howes Ltd

Meh. Too much of the author's politics seeping in

I foolishly paid attention to the positive reviews and am not sure if I can get my money back at this point.

I had high hopes for this, I like to listen to 'self-improving' audiobooks on my lunch break but this was a letdown.

I am not American (nor is the author), I don't really care who is President there but I can tell from listening to this book that the author hoped Hillary Clinton would win, thinks Obama is god's gift and dislikes Trump so much that in a book about self-empowering women to speak, she felt comfortable to be snarky about his wife ('lumbering'). These really shouldn't be the takeaways from a book about public speaking, should they?

The primary examples of great public speaking in this book are Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, JK Rowling, Hillary Clinton and Angela Merkel. I think that does womanhood a disservice. To be frank, I think a book on public speaking that wasn't limited by needing to be PC and only have women in it, would have been better, then we could have had a mix of good speakers of both sexes.

Insightful, easy and fun to listen to

I dont want to be able to deliver a Ted Talk. I just want to be able stand in a room and deliver what I need to say so that I am heard and that I feel relatively comfortable doing so and this book will help me to do so.

Thank you

Tells it how it is

Very clear, open and honest book about public speaking for women. This book has changed my thought process, I feel excited now I have the why and know how laid out for me.

Must Listen

Listened to the book and now on the podcasts, excellent tips and advice. A must read for women from all walks of life on how to be more confident and self assured in all situations.

Just fantastic!

This book is not just about the Art of Brilliant speaking but about performance and thinking... getting yourself if the 'right' frame of mind etc. Viv brilliantly breaks down all aspects making her advice and experience clear, logical and practical. There are so many bite size take homes one of my top ones is around appreciating that if you have been asked to 'perform/talk' etc. its because the person asking you thinks you are up for the job.....
Thank you Viv... most excellent!

Will Own That Room

Wonderful and engaging narration style. Learnt so much about public speaking as a woman. Really inspiring.

Wonderful stories about women and their speeches

A wonderful book constisting of case studies of influemtial speeches given by inspirational and influential women. A lot of things you might now, if you have ever read something about public speaking, but still a lot of valuable crumbs to pick up for your nezt public speaking event. Really enjoyed

Some absolutely crucial and practical information

If you can get past the one-up-mum-ship of the author's proudest moment being giving birth without pain relief and the idolatry of the (in my opinion) transphobe J. K. Rowling, then there is a lot in this book the learn from and enjoy.
I was very hesitant to read any book that claims to be exclusively "for women" but the author's positioning of this is fair and reasonable.
Even if you're not interested in giving a TED talk on how people who give birth without medication are just better than everyone else, and you just want to come across better in meetings, this book will be a great asset.

Lightweight, basic, and a bit patronising

I wanted to like this book. I have to speak publicly for my job quite often and I hoped this would offer ideas for improving how I already do this. Unfortunately, it seems to be written for people with little or no public speaking experience. The tips on body language, calming nerves, etc. are lightweight and can be found elsewhere. There is also frustratingly little of this practical advice as the bulk of each chapter is given over to the author's own quite subjective appraisal of other public speakers. Frankly, I would rather watch YouTube videos of good public speakers myself than have them described to me. I don't have a problem with the fact that this book is written for women, per se, but this seemed to promise that it would offer some advice not found in other books on public speaking (written by/for men), which it doesn't. I also think the author's understanding of the specific issues faced by women public speakers is quite basic and, at times, patronising, for example women need to "have the guts" to accept speaking opportunities and "it helps to be good looking"! I think the latter was intended as a joke, but in a book of this sort it is completely tone deaf. This review is based on the first four chapters at which point I decided to cut my losses.

Inspiring

An insightful, helpfully practical book that I have truly found inspirational. A working guide to putting into practice skills for speaking up.