Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasive Writing and Public Speaking

This free course from Harvard University is available online and offers an introduction to the theory and practice of rhetoric, the art of persuasive writing and speech. In it, you will learn to construct and defend compelling arguments,

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation

One of M.V.’s personal favorites from college, in “Eats, Shoots & Leaves”, former editor Lynne Truss dares to say that it is time to look at our commas and semicolons and see them as the wonderful and necessary things they are.

Record Yourself on Video…

This is a pro-tip from M.V. If you want to become a better speaker, and especially if you want to improve a specific presentation, there is absolutely no better way than to record yourself and watch the video. Warning – you WILL notice every little thing about your voice, hand gestures, and vocal ticks!

TED Talks

Watching TED Talks not only is informative on a huge range of topics, but it offers an enjoyable way to improve your public speaking by watching a variety of people with different but effective styles.

Made to Stick – Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

This is perhaps the best book on speaking and briefing that M.V. has read at work in a training class. Brought to you by Chip and Dan Heath, this book offers invaluable advice on crafting a message that will “stick” with people long after you’re done talking.

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