Maybe you don't want to lead a meeting but you want to speak out for or against an issue or make your views known about an important topic. For instance, you feel passionate about fighting the expansion of the nearby airport or highway that will destroy the value and use of your home. Or you find out that your children's school desperately needs improvement or that a dangerous ex-convict has moved into your neighborhood. You're not interested in running a corporate meeting or becoming a whiz at the local legislative hearings.

If you're feeling that passionate about anything similar to the above and you've picked up this book, it's obvious that you already know what you're going to need to do: be prepared to be an effective speaker, with relevant facts and opinions. You know how you must conduct yourself to have them heard at the meeting or hearing you attend. A quick, easy, basic understanding of this book will help guide you toward the challenge you've accepted — to make a difference.