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Michael Port is the author of Steal the Show.

Communication Skills

Steal the Show Book Summary - Steal the Show Book explained in key points

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Steal the Show summary

Name: Steal the Show
Rating: 4 (280 reviews)
Author: Michael Port

Michael Port

From Speeches to Job Interviews to Deal-Closing Pitches, How to Guarantee a Standing Ovation for All the Performances in Your Life

4 (280 ratings)

17 mins

Brief summary

Steal the Show by Michael Port is a guide for public speaking, offering tips on how to prepare, engage with the audience, and create memorable performances.

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Body Language

Table of Contents

Steal the Show
Summary of 5 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 5

What’s in it for me? Perform like a pro.

The English dramatist William Shakespeare once wrote that “All the world’s a stage.” What he meant was that all of us are actors. At first glance, this is an uncanny idea. Wouldn’t you rather see yourself as unique? The product of your own choices rather than a bit player reading lines in someone else’s drama?

But acting isn’t the enemy of authenticity. Just think of your favorite Hollywood stars. They’re convincing because they bring their own experiences and personalities to their roles. They don’t just act – they become their characters.

You don’t have to be a thespian to leverage that insight. From job interviews to presentations and first dates, life is full of situations in which we’re expected to play a part while bringing something special to the table. So, what’s the secret?

That’s exactly the question we’ll answer in these blinks, drawing from the wisdom of performance pro and former professional actor Michael Port. You’ll learn the tricks of the trade, and discover how you can apply these to your own life. Along the way, you’ll also find out

how improvisation can help you in the boardroom;
why you’re a natural-born performer even if you don’t know it yet; and
how to unlock your authentic inner voice.

Performing in public can be terrifying, but learning to harness your natural ability to act can help you overcome your fears.

Picture these three scenarios: a manager attends a make-or-break performance review with his superiors; an up-and-coming corporate hotshot gives a speech at a conference attended by her industry’s movers and shakers; a young entrepreneur pitches an ambitious business idea to a group of grizzled venture capitalists.

If your hands are clamming up just thinking about putting yourself in any one of those situations, don’t worry – you’re not alone. Lots of folks find stepping into the limelight a pretty terrifying experience. To put that into perspective, Googling “public speaking” gets you 90 million hits. At the top of the list: advice on how to keep nerves and anxiety in check.

So what makes public speaking so scary? Well, it’s a type of performance. Whether you’re interviewing for a job or giving a talk, you’re essentially acting – presenting, staging and playing a part to impress, delight or move your audience.

Chances are this is something you’ve never been taught how to do. And that explains the familiar sense of dread. Public performances take us out of our comfort zone. No wonder we worry about fluffing our lines and ending up with egg on our faces!

But here’s the thing. As odd as it might sound, you are an actor – all of us are. Whether you’re aware of it or not, you’re constantly assuming different roles in different settings. When you use social media or describe yourself on a dating site, for example, you’re presenting yourself in a particular light. In other words, you’re performing. The same goes for the ways in which you might change your behavior when Skyping a colleague or talking to your boss at a holiday party.

This is good news – it means you already know how to play a part. The trick is to leverage that intuitive understanding of performance and take it to the next level. Think of it as a crash course in acting. But this isn’t about landing a part in your local drama group – it’s about learning a methodology you can apply in your professional life.

Take it from the author, a professional actor who transitioned into the corporate world. Today, he’s a best-selling writer and a highly sought-after public speaker and consultant. That was a pretty big leap, but his acting background gave him an advantage: it allowed him to authentically play different roles and inspire confidence in others.

In the following blinks, we’ll learn how to follow his lead.

Harnessing your true voice makes your performance more relatable.

Every role has a script and a costume. Take one of the most common parts many of us play – the “professional.” We tend to speak and dress in certain ways when we’re at work. Things that we might talk about with our friends just don’t feel right in the office. Come Monday morning, we leave those comfortable old jeans in the wardrobe and pick something better suited to our workplace persona.

It’s an act, but it’s an important one. Mixing the personal with the professional often ends badly. If Sam from accounts starts recounting his latest late-night adventures, he may damage his standing among his increasingly uncomfortable colleagues. If Suzie goes around telling others that she doesn’t believe she deserved her recent promotion, her subordinates are unlikely to respect her authority.

Successful people adapt to different contexts while remaining true to themselves.

We talked a little about authenticity in the previous blink, but we didn’t define the term. So what exactly is it? Oftentimes, it’s understood as “being true to yourself.” That’s not a bad gloss, but it raises another question: What kind of “self” are we talking about?

That might sound pretty abstract, but it’s an important distinction. Take a 2015 article by organizational psychologist Herminia Ibarra in the Harvard Business Review. Ibarra argues that our “self-concept” can either “keep us from sailing forth” or help us become more adaptable.

Being in the moment makes you a better listener and leads to more rewarding conversations.

Have you ever heard the phrase “dialogue of the deaf?” It refers to conversations among people who aren’t listening to one another and are simply waiting for the right moment to jump in with their own well-rehearsed talking points.

It’s a frustrating experience that plays out in boardrooms and bedrooms around the world every day, and it creates a vicious circle. The less you’re listening, the less likely you are to respond in interesting ways. That, in turn, means that your conversation partner is less likely to bother listening to you.

When it comes to acting, you really can fake it until you make it.

We’ve all been there. You’re walking towards the podium or entering a conference room when you suddenly get a familiar antsy sensation in your stomach. Your focus narrows and the only thought in your head is a dull, monotonous refrain – “you don’t belong here.”

That’s your inner critic rebelling against your turn in the spotlight, and it’s something that plenty of actors experience every time they take to the stage. In this blink, we’ll wrap things up by looking at some of the techniques they use to beat these self-defeating patterns of thought.

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What is Steal the Show about?

Steal the Show (2015) is a practical guide designed to help performers scared of the limelight to settle their nerves and up their game. Drawing on author Michael Port’s experience as a professional actor, these blinks are packed with tips and hacks to help you persuade, inform and motivate. Whether you’re presenting your company’s latest figures in a meeting, pitching a new business idea or interviewing for a dream job, these strategies are guaranteed to help you make an impression.

Steal the Show Review

Steal the Show (2015) reveals valuable techniques for public speaking and performance, helping readers shine in any situation. Here's why this book is a must-read:

Packed with practical tips and strategies, it equips readers with the tools they need to captivate an audience and deliver compelling presentations.
Through real-life stories and examples, the book shows how to overcome stage fright, build confidence, and connect with others on a deep level.
With its focus on developing authenticity and presence, it ensures that readers not only deliver powerful performances but also leave a lasting impact.

Best quote from Steal the Show

The irony is, most of us have to perform even though we dont see ourselves as performers.

—Michael Port

Who should read Steal the Show?

Anyone who wants to become a better public speaker
Anyone who’s struggling to find their true voice and needs some help
Anyone who wants to live more honestly

About the Author

Michael Port is a writer, speaker and consultant. He studied acting at New York University and appeared on popular television shows such as Sex and the City, Law & Order and The Third Watch. Port is a regular contributor to Entrepreneur magazine and the founder of the School of Heroic Public Speaking. He’s also the author of The Contrarian Effect and The Think Big Manifesto.

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