The Everything Public Speaking Book

The trouble with most books on public speaking is that they have far more information than anyone can readily implement to improve their style. If you read any of these from beginning to end, you realize much of their content is just excessive repetition, slightly differently said, apparently because the writer was required to fill up space. Or the author beats to death a particular angle on the subject. A good deal is also fluff—in terms of knowing what is important about effective public speaking, there is much said that is trivial and that just makes it harder to clearly see what your priorities should be.
This volume gets to the point for each topic, without sacrificing substance. You certainly do not need to apply every technique for reducing nervousness before you speak, but the most effective ones are mentioned (including some “big picture” ideas about self-confidence that are useful to know about beyond the podium).
On the subject of structuring a speech, a lot of fancy theories have been put forth that obscure the fundamentals of communication. You need to just keep your objectives in mind and get others to help you think objectively about how to communicate your message.
When it comes to adding some refinements to the basic outline of your proposed speech, it is good to know how to come up with stories, what quotation sources are best, the process of revising, and the use of repetition. But do not let the desire to seem eloquent get in the way of delivering your message effectively.