Buchi Emecheta Quotes

One of the areas I have a little less confidence in is giving any kind of a speech.

The aim of the sculptor is to convince us that he is a sculptor; the aim of the orator, is to convince us that he is not an orator.

I want everyone who's listening to know who I am and not just see me as this singer. I want them to feel connected to my story.

It's much easier to read the stories that have a lot of dialogue; of course, they flow much more easily into speech.

I took a public speaking class in college and managed to make the class laugh a little bit.

Public speaking? I speak to myself on the street!

I love essays, but they're not always the best way to communicate to a larger audience.

I love my lecture tours. I get up onstage. I have my stack of books and a glass of water and a microphone. No podium, no distance between me and the audience, and I just talk to people and get all excited and tell a lot of jokes, and sing some songs, and read from my work and remind people how powerful they are and how beautiful they are.

I love being verbal in films.

Whenever I perform, people get me because I'm talking about things that people can identify with and relate to. I'm not just up there doing jokey, jokey, joke.

When I'm talking to a large audience, I imagine that I'm talking to a single person.

Recognize that the great majority of us aren't trained actors and entertainers. Usually, it's not our faces, our bodies, our personas or our stage presence that sells our books. It's our stories, our visions and our voices.

I am still working on patter and presentation.

I loved the idea of touching base with an audience.

I'm trying to sell every audience something; that something is me.

Acting is a nice childish profession - pretending you're someone else and, at the same time, selling yourself.

I'm always curious about anyone who has enough passion to go onstage and say, 'This is what I'm really passionate about.' It's always worth listening to.

I enjoy my public speaking. That's what I love doing. It's what I'm good at.

I guess I'm trying to write stuff that I, as a viewer, would connect to.

I love almost everything about my work except conferences. I am too shy in front of an audience. But I love signings and having eye contact with a reader who already knows my soul.

There is no substitute for direct leader-to-leader engagement.

In order to make a good speech you must have something to say and you have to believe it.

I really think that in the media world that we live in now, especially for writers, it has to be a conversation. With very few exceptions, it can't be this one-way, 'Here I am on the mountaintop preaching to all of you great unwashed readers in hopes of saving you.' It doesn't work that way.

If you want to be an orator, first get your great cause.

I know I'm not a great writer. I'm an extremely gifted oral communicator, but when it comes to writing, I'm just a beginner.