In Speak Up! A Guide to Public Speaking for Young Minds’, Adetola Ajibola lays the foundation for public speaking and builds on it across 11 chapters and 38 pages. The author consistently stresses the importance of standing up and speaking.
She emphasises that the voice itself is the hallmark of speaking—unique, powerful, and capable of bringing new ideas to life, while also serving as a tool of empowerment. Ajibola creates a background to the title by tracing the roots of public speaking step by step: stand up → speak → your voice → your message → writing. Alongside this, she highlights the need to build confidence, noting that confidence strengthens how a message is projected.
In Chapter 5, she explains that it is not enough to simply have a message or confidence, what you say must compel your audience to act. She suggests approaches such as being authentic, telling stories, and encouraging interaction. The book also provides a template for writing a compelling speech. True to the author’s words, public speaking requires storytelling, but stories must matter, relate, and be relevant to the audience—whether they are personal experiences or statistics.
Ajibola further highlights the role of visual aids in elevating presentations, such as slides and designs that align with the message. Importantly, she balances the strengths of public speaking with the realities, building confidence, handling difficult questions, and recognizing that speaking is not always rosy. She emphasizes that success requires preparation and rehearsal, before, during, and even after the speech.
One weakness of the book, however, is that it does not adequately address the limitations of speaking up. While it thoroughly covers the ‘why’ and ‘how’, it gives little attention to the ‘when’, a crucial challenge for many young people who struggle with timing.
Nevertheless, the book’s strength lies in its simplicity and relevance. The words are free of ambiguity, relatable to young minds and enriched with practical examples and steps.
