How to Own the Room, by brilliant journalist, writer and comedian Viv Groskop publishes today. We couldn’t be more excited about this unmissable book on how to nail public speaking by drawing on the greatest female speech makers today, from Michelle Obama to J.K. Rowling. We were even more excited when we realised the book included a whole chapter on inimitable Women’s Prize winner Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Read on for a sample of this chapter and learn how to channel Chimamanda’s viral speech making appeal for those big public speaking moments.

Most books about public speaking don’t tell you what to do when you open your mouth and nothing comes out. They don’t tell you what to do in the moments when you are made, as a woman, to feel small. They don’t tell you how to own the room. This book does.

From the way Michelle Obama projects ‘happy high status’, and the power of J.K.Rowling’s understated speaking style, to Virginia Woolf’s leisurely pacing and Oprah Winfrey’s mastery of inner conviction, what is it that our heroines do to make us sit up and listen – really listen – to their every word? And how can you achieve that impact in your own life? Here’s how…