Rating: 
Summary: Eloquence in Advice
Review: Ms. Noonan is among the most eloquent people I have come across in modern times. Quick-witted and intelligent, she uses the common tongue to express uncommon ideas. She has written a book that provides a good background for public speaking. She able to draw on her long experience as a speechwriter to enable her pupils to understand the challenges of both writing and giving speeches. Moreover, Ms. Noonan is so good with words that I would read that book if had no concern with speechmaking.Read this book, you will enjoy it.
Rating: 
Summary: Helpful for speechwriters but lacking objectivity
Review: Noonan has crafted a comprehensive volume of concrete, helpful tips for speakers and speechwriters. Throughout the book, she has sprinkled strategically-placed anecdotes that illuminate her ideas. Noonan has a gift for narrative that makes her capable of bringing the most dry subject matter to life. However, the major drawback of the book is that she's so blinded by her own political convictions that she fails to concede commonly-accepted truths about communication in general and individual politicians in particular. This is a book about public speaking; not politics. Yet she's so convinced of her own beliefs that it affects what attempts to be a balanced analysis of communication strategy. The result: she undermines her own authority as an expert. For example, it is a generally accepted truth that both Reagan and Clinton - whether you agree with their politics or not - were two of our most effective Presidents at communicating. Both Presidents had an uncanny ability to connect with their audiences. Yet, while she drools for Reagan, she refuses the most minor concession toward Clinton's strengths in the arena. She cannot see past her philosophical disagreements with Clinton's policies. It's her prerogative if she just wants a book that appeals solely to conservatives, but that would be a cop-out for what could The Book on speechmaking. In order to be credible as an expert - as she is attempting to do - and in order to create an studied analysis of speechmaking, she needs to demonstrate some degree of objectivity. Some of the greatest strengths of Noonan's memoir of the Reagan/Bush years, "What I Saw at the Revolution," were her candid observations of the characters and culture of the White House. Were she to be a bit more candid and self-effacing rather than maddeningly defense for all things conservative, she would have produced a better book. Nevertheless, it is a worthwhile and helpful read.
Rating:
Summary: Sage advice from a master speechwriter
Review: Peggy Noonan writes in an engaging style and shares a wealth of good advice about developing a good podium presence and worthwhile content. Many of her points about preparing speeches are practical and extrememely useful (such as how many typed pages translate into 15 or 20 minutes when read out loud). Some of the previous customer reviews bash Ms. Noonan's book for its meandering style and lack of formal structure, but I rather enjoyed the conversational approach. Face it - it reads like a good speech! Any alert reader with a pencil or highlighter will be able to mine the many pearls of wisdom contained within its pages. It is also unfair for some of the previous reviews to bash Noonan's conservative politics. It would be dishonest for Noonan to deny her philosophy when she has made her career by expounding it. Heaven knows there are _plenty_ of books written from a liberal viewpoint. Noonan's book may not be a highly organized textbook, but it contains some of the best advice on speech preparation in print anywhere.
Rating:
Summary: Good but flawed, with better alternatives
Review: Peggy Noonan's book offers good advice on how to approach speechwriting that's often surprising. For someone who wrote the "thousand points of light" speech, she's keen on simplicity, and substance. The how-to-write chapters were interesting and made me consider not just how to approach the topic I was writing a speech for, but how to approach writing it: from finding the core ideas to rehersal, Noonan's got good ideas. But there's a catch -- Noonan doesn't go a couple pages without tossing off some reference to Clinton/Gore, what awful speakers they were, in their different ways, and by contrast, how great the people she worked with were. It's really annoying, to the point where I wish I hadn't bought it now, because I'm reluctant to go back and re-read sections, knowing the asides that faced me. Sometimes it was fine -- her insight into the purpose behind some of Reagan's speeches was actually intersting, for example -- but frequently it seemed cheap, and I wished she hadn't done it. I'll give a particularly heinous example: Noonan wants to say that you can break all the rules, and as her example cites a speech by Mother Teresa at a prayer breakfast in which the good Mother goes into a blistering attack on abortion and contraception. Noonan delights in this and particularly in the reaction of Hilary Clinton, who sat and tried to look pleasant. Now, I'm not a fan of the Clintons, but the whole section is so out-of-place. Hilary's discomfort doesn't illustrate Noonan's point about it being okay to break the rules. That many people were inspired and thought it was great does. There are many examples of unconventional speeches that succeed, and it's Noonan's loss for picking this one. I've moved on to other books. William Safire's work in particular is excellent reading, and highly recommended. He's also a stalwart conservative, but his writing is both principled and outstanding, without the flaws Noonan's book contains.
Rating: 
Summary: Give it a chance
Review: Perhaps the negative views expressed thus far indicate a disagreement with the author's political outlook. I have just started reading this book and will try to give it a fair reading. So far, I would say the book is worth reading simply for the texts of the speeches that are reviewed.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't judge this book by its cover.
Review: This book is a reprint of the book "Simply Speaking" with a new title and a cover obviously redesigned to cash in on the success of "On Writing Well" by William Zinsser. At a glance, both paperbacks look like separate volumes of the same work. The similarity ends there. Noonan's work is pedestrian as Zinsser's is absorbing. Unlike Noonan, Zinsser has the knack to capture the essence of an idea in a memorable phrase. Unlike Zinsser, Noonan's short chapters have little conceptual integrity and take too many turns. The book has good moments and plenty of good advice drawn from Noonan's valuable experience in top jobs as a speech writer. Given the vast domain of the subject and the size of the book I expected to find no waste in it, and given Noonan's credentials I expected a more terse, penetrating style, a la Strunk and White or..., a la Zinsser. Noonan narrates how John Sununu found an objectionable phrase (muscular altruism) in a speech she had written and told her to kill it. There is another one in this book (anal-compulsive-type person) more deserving of killing. She uses it to reinforce another phrase (neurotic-perfectionist), which needs no reinforcement. No doubt our rich language has words of equal color and better scent for vivid characterizations. I like to have read this book but I did not enjoy reading it. Noonan's consistently chooses the impressive over the appropriate. The new title and cover worked well--I bought the book. When comparing "On Writing Well" with "On Speaking well," it reminds me of a contrast I find in music between those who use the guitar as a percussion instrument to produce an impressive barrage of sound, and those who pluck the strings with economy and produce inspiring tasty licks.
Rating:
Summary: Don't judge this book by its cover.
Review: This book is a reprint of the book "Simply Speaking" with a new title and a cover obviously redesigned to cash in on the success of "On Writing Well" by William Zinsser. At a glance, both paperbacks look like separate volumes of the same work. The similarity ends there. Noonan's work is pedestrian as Zinsser's is absorbing. Unlike Noonan, Zinsser has the knack to capture the essence of an idea in a memorable phrase. Unlike Zinsser, Noonan's short chapters have little conceptual integrity and take too many turns. The book has good moments and plenty of good advice drawn from Noonan's valuable experience in top jobs as a speech writer. Given the vast domain of the subject and the size of the book I expected to find no waste in it, and given Noonan's credentials I expected a more terse, penetrating style, a la Strunk and White or..., a la Zinsser. Noonan narrates how John Sununu found an objectionable phrase (muscular altruism) in a speech she had written and told her to kill it. There is another one in this book (anal-compulsive-type person) more deserving of killing. She uses it to reinforce another phrase (neurotic-perfectionist), which needs no reinforcement. No doubt our rich language has words of equal color and better scent for vivid characterizations. I like to have read this book but I did not enjoy reading it. Noonan's consistently chooses the impressive over the appropriate. The new title and cover worked well--I bought the book. When comparing "On Writing Well" with "On Speaking well," it reminds me of a contrast I find in music between those who use the guitar as a percussion instrument to produce an impressive barrage of sound, and those who pluck the strings with economy and produce inspiring tasty licks.
Rating:
Summary: Best First Book For Public Speaking
Review: This is one of the best books to read when you have decided to become good at public speaking. She says have something to say and say it the way you need to say it. Then work at making it interesting to see for the audience. If you don't have something interesting then you are giving the wrong speech. The great achievement is become the speaker you want to be. Help the audience to understand that you are speaking the truth. Author's real life stories are excellent. She was speech writer to Presidents Reagan and Bush. Despite all the good things that Toastmaster's International does, it does not advise its new members give the speech you what to give. Don't copy anybody develop you.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful and Well Written
Review: What I loved best about Peggy's book is the delightful conversational style in which she writes which makes for an entertaining "how-to" read. I learned as much about people and history as I did about speech writing. Who says learning has to be dry or boring? A great book to expand a liberal arts education and improve your writing skills.
Rating:
Summary: Well-written and full of great ideas
Review: Whether you are standing up in front of a joint session of Congress or a sub-committee of your local PTF, this book is a great resource. Noonan knows of which she writes, having written speeches for the Great Communicator himself, Ronald Reagan. The stories of working side by side with Reagan were a high point of the book, at least for this Republican reader. Ultimately, the strength of this work, though is the practical advice she gives to every speaker. This is a nuts-and-bolts manuel to writing and delivering a speech. It's also an easy, quick read, the kind you can refer back to for years. An excellent resource for anyone who has to stand up in front of people and talk!
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