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Audiences take center stage - or perhaps center field - in Marjorie Brody's new book Speaking is an Audience-Centered Sport.

This really is a basic skills books, aimed at professionals who are still grappling with the fundamentals of speaking and presentations. But this emphasis on the basics doesn't mean that experienced presenters should dismiss the book entirely. Because as any professional athlete will tell you, mastering the fundamentals is the key to future success in any sport, including public speaking.

Introducing her chapters with inspirational messages from legendary sports heroes (e.g. Hank Aaron's "The most important thing is how a guy prepares himself to do battle"), Brody lays out a series of multipurpose, step-by-step methods for learning the basics of presenting, from preparing visual aids to the after-speech Q & A - complete with tips on how to keep the audience foremost in mind at all times.

In a straightforward, matter-of-fact style, she explains how to research audiences, create demographic profiles of the people you will be speaking to, and use that information most effectively when it comes time to organize and create your presentation.

After covering the basics, Brody turns to the pros for advice. The last quarter of the book is a series of essays from such speaking luminaries as Tom Antion, Ty Boyd, Ray Pelletier and many others - fine pinch-hitters all.

"Life is a presentation," according to Marjorie Brody, president of Brody Communications Ltd. But even an expert might find her palms sweating or her knees knocking at the start of each presentation. Speaking is an Audience-Centered Sport, Brody's comprehensive how-to book, covers the gamut on presentation preparation. Whether you're a novice or an expert, this book can help take the fear out of public speaking. Brody's expansive guide offers tips on how to dress, when to use technology, and what to do if your hands start to sweat, to name a few topics. Though you might find the information a bit scattered, Brody is thorough, and helpfully breaks down all the elements of giving a successful presentation.

Technology has an increasing role in presentations. Using it effectively presents yet another challenge to the speaker. Brody offers five rules for using visual aids, starting with a concept overlooked by many technophiles. "Visual aids should be simple enough for the audience to understand the concept in less than 20 seconds," she writes.

What do you do if your knees start knocking? Move! Brody also tackles the issue of fear. For many of us, stage fright goes hand-in-hand with speaking, regardless of experience level. But, Brody offers several suggestions for overcoming some of fear's side effects. For example, if you find your mouth drying out, try biting the tip of your tongue to induce the production of saliva.

Though the book is geared to beginners, experts will find tips to help them hone their speaking skills.

The book is loaded with guidelines and checklists that definitely merit posting on your bulletin board. See her 10 steps to an organized speech (page 74), 11 tips for the day of the presentation (page 82), or six steps to a successful team presentation (page 151). The last chapter of the book contains tips from 10 different professional speakers offering their expert advice.

Brody also covers the question-and-answer sessions: how to encourage questions, control them, and handle hostile questioners, and how to respond when you do or don't know the answer.

Speaking is an Audience-Centered Sport is a must for beginners, and will yield truly helpful hints for experienced speakers.

Marjorie Brody in her new book, Speaking is an Audience-Centered Sport, maintains that "life is a presentation." She elaborates, "From going on job interviews to making sales calls, your ability to present with confidence and competence will have great impact on your career."

The book contains 11 chapters. Its large print makes it easy on the eyes. I found the photos and diagrams throughout the book to be very helpful.

The author covers not only speeches, but also presentations and devotes several chapters to the subject. For example, in Chapter 4, "Organizing Your Presentation," Brody explains that persuasive presentations have three levels of persuasion: to motivate, to convince and to call to action.

I found Chapter 6, "Stage Fright & How to Control It" very interesting. Brody says that most speakers have four common fears: fear of fainting, fear of boring your audience, fear of your mind going blank (this is my worst fear), and fear of being judged. For example, she suggests that if your voice is shaky, that you "project your voice to the back row of the audience."

You'll find lots of good advice just by reading the "Meet the Pros" section in Speaking is an Audience-Centered Sport, by Marjorie Brody. In that section, 10 experts offer tips and techniques to help you create presentations that will grab and hold audience attention.

This section and the rest of the book offer plenty of useful ideas. Examples:

- Plan to use visual aids whenever you can. Reason: They increase an audience's ability to retain information by almost 40%. But if you use them, make them simple enough for the audience to grasp the concept in under 20 seconds.

- Remember that a silent pause is a critical to speaking as punctuation is to writing. To make sure you don't fill natural pauses with fillers such as "uh" and "um," mentally count to three at a period, two at a semicolon and one at a comma.

- Avoid saying, "That's a good question" before you answer an audience member. Reason: Some audience members will see this as a compliment. And if you don't say it to every questioner, you could miff some.

"Very comprehensive, engaging and professional. The text is sprinkled with useful infographics and lists; the writing it tight and focused. The author
has a highly credible tone and style, and successfully keeps the reader's interest throughout the book by breaking the content into palpable, bite-sized concepts that are very well-organized."