According to a book, “The Female Mind”, women speak 20,000 words per day on average, while men speak only 7,000 words per day. The book is written by a female psychiatrist in Paris, Dr Luan Brizendine, who considers herself a feminist. According to Brizendine, women’s brains are programmed differently than men’s. Where women have positive chemical reactions associated with talking that are analogous to how men feel on heroin!

I don’t know about that. But I have noticed the following:

1. Most presentation trainers in the world are women
2. Most media trainers in the world are women
3. The most highly paid talker in the world (Oprah) is a woman.

Before I talk myself out of a job, I should note that the best communicators know how to talk to both sexes and like both sexes. I hate to borrow from another author, but John Gray’s ‘Men are from Mars, Women are From Venus’ metaphor does hold up well when you are looking for speaking success techniques.

I believe that great speakers can be as tall, dark, and, well, as tight-lipped as Abe Lincoln giving a two minute Gettysburg address or as talkative and emotive as Oprah on a show where she has no guests. Great communicators have their own styles, but they can always bend and adapt to suit any audience.