The purpose of this research is to examine Leading Out Loud by Terry Pearce. The plan of the research will be to set forth a summary of the ideas contained in each chapter of the book, and then to discuss the book as a whole, with a view toward evaluating whether it could be recommended for further research on the topic of leadership.
Pearce's thesis is that effective public speaking, or "leadership speaking" (xii), can be an instrument and index of leadership and strong management if it is embedded with what he calls "authenticity," or clear evidence that the speaker/leader is honestly engaged by not only his or her ideas but seeks to engage and persuade an audience to a line of thought or action. The general idea is to demonstrate how to make the highest and beat use of the methods of rhetorical persuasion, in ways that tend to legitimate management or organizational objectives and philosophy by way of effective communication. This does not mean that public speaking is simply a function of technique. Rather, it involves intellectual and planning faculties that might include various rhetorical skills, but that are principally focused on action-oriented objectives.
Leading Out Loud is divided into four sections that correspond to the method that Pearce advocates for creating an effective leadership speech. The first section deals with the philosophy of leadership speaking, and the following three sections deal with strategies for creating, respectively, a beginning, middle, and end of a leadership speech. In the first section of the book, Pearce describes the connection between effective speaking and effective leadership, making a case that in this age of depersonalization and widespread mistrust and cynicism of leaders. At the core of the connection is the concept of authenticity, which comes down to the content of the relationship between speaker and audience. Respected leaders, Pearce says, "are followed not because they have ...