How do I think on my feet when I'm put on the spot?

Chapter 7 buys you 3 seconds: say the question back, then frame the answer. Most drills use prompts you did not choose, so impromptu speaking is the practice.

How do I stop saying um?

Chapter 4 swaps an um for a pause. The aim is fewer, not none, and the chapter says the studies do not settle whether ums cost you with listeners.

The book does not promise confidence. Chapter 2 reports what Hazel could see from her chair, which was usually very little, and what the studies on renaming nerves found, including where they did not hold up.

Is it any use for a job interview?

Chapter 15 covers interviews, pitches and big meetings, and Day 29 builds your next real one. Appendix B holds 50 interview prompts.

Is it based on research?

Where a technique rests on a study, the chapter names it and says how well it has held up. Where it rests on what Hazel watched, it says so.

For when you're on the spot

Articulate

Name: Articulate
Author: Hazel Crowe

A Communication Skills Workbook to Think on Your Feet, Speak Up and Say What You Mean at Work, in 9 Minutes a Day

The room where you have to be understood the first time.

Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk

Hazel Crowe

The best account Hazel Crowe heard at a hearing was given at the lift, afterwards, in 4 sentences.

In her representative years she sat beside a man who had a perfectly good account of himself and couldn't get it out. He started with the background. He apologised twice. When the chair asked a question halfway through, he lost his place and never found it again. Waiting for the lift afterwards, he said the whole thing in 4 sentences, in order, with nothing missing.

Everyone has a corridor version of what they meant to say, word perfect and far too late. Articulate is a 30-day communication skills workbook of 9-minute drills, written from the listener's side of the table: say the point first and think on your feet.

Each session is 1 minute of warm-up, 2 reading the move, 4 recording and 2 playing it back. You need a phone.

The book promises no result. It asks you to record yourself on Day 1 and again on Day 30, and listen to both. Whatever you hear is yours.

How it fits the set

Articulate is the speaking book: getting your point into the room the first time. For the job interview and the question about what you earn now, Nobody's Fool covers the interview from both chairs. For a hard conversation with someone on your team, read Five Ways of Looking at a Person.

It is one of four books in Across the Table, and each one reads on its own.

Who it's for

Anyone who loses their point when put on the spot in a meeting
Anyone with an interview, a first presentation or a pitch coming up
Anyone who has to say the hard thing at work, and be understood the first time
Adults practising alone, with 9 minutes and a phone

Anyone who stammers or has a speech or voice condition should see a speech and language therapist: Chapter 1 says so, and no drill is aimed at either. If fear of speaking is stopping you living your life, see your GP first. And your accent stays as it is.

What's inside

15 chapters, each one move: find where you lose it, lead with the point, cut it to 10 words, say the hard thing
30 drills of 9 minutes, the same shape every day, out loud and recorded
A scorecard with 5 measures, including fillers per minute and seconds to the point, filled in on Day 1, Day 30 and Day 90
300 prompts in 6 sets: Work, Interview, Opinion, Explain-it, Story and Curveball
20 warm-ups and a phrase bank to say out loud

“What I can tell you is what reached my side of the table, and what didn't.”

Articulate, Introduction

Questions readers ask

How do I think on my feet when I'm put on the spot?: Chapter 7 buys you 3 seconds: say the question back, then frame the answer. Most drills use prompts you did not choose, so impromptu speaking is the practice.
How do I stop saying um?: Chapter 4 swaps an um for a pause. The aim is fewer, not none, and the chapter says the studies do not settle whether ums cost you with listeners.
What about nerves?: The book does not promise confidence. Chapter 2 reports what Hazel could see from her chair, which was usually very little, and what the studies on renaming nerves found, including where they did not hold up.
Is it any use for a job interview?: Chapter 15 covers interviews, pitches and big meetings, and Day 29 builds your next real one. Appendix B holds 50 interview prompts.
Is it based on research?: Where a technique rests on a study, the chapter names it and says how well it has held up. Where it rests on what Hazel watched, it says so.

Free to print

The 2 tools from this book

The pages as they appear in the book, blank, with a PDF for each. Part of The Hazel Crowe Toolkit.

The 30-Day Plan
Every session is the same 9 minutes: 1 minute of warm-up, 2 reading the move, 4 recording and 2 playing it back.
The Scorecard
You score on Day 1, on every Day B, on Day 29, on Day 30 and on Day 90 (Chapter 16): five measures, one answer, about 2 minutes.

Where it comes from

Articulate is written from the other side of the table, as the person being spoken to: what reached her, and what didn't.

Every person and conversation in it is a composite, built so that nobody can be recognised. About Hazel Crowe