Bestselling author and internationally renowned communication expert Carmine Gallo delivered an engaging lecture at American University of Sharjah (AUS) today, March 9, in the AUS Main Building.

Entitled "Communication Secrets to Leadership and Public Speaking," the lecture highlighted persuasive communication skills and their importance in an increasingly competitive global environment.

Gallo said that public speaking and communication is an important aspect of a one's career and that possessing good communication skills can increase an individual's value in the job market by 50 percent. He said that three important aspects - namely emotional, novel and memorable - comprise a successful and effective presentation.

"Emotion is the hardest thing to get across. You need to reach a person's heart before you reach their mind," said Gallo, stressing that emotion is the most important of the three aspects. He said that great communicators are also great story-tellers. He added that everyone deserves to have their ideas heard and that each and every one of us has a story to tell. According to him, effective communicators are people who are passionate about what they do for a living.

Gallo, who is also an instructor at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, is the award-winning author of best-sellers Talk like Ted and The Storyteller's Secret. He is visiting the UAE as a guest of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature currently being held in Dubai.

The lecture was organized by the School of Business Administration (SBA) and drew a large audience that comprised senior university officials, faculty members, students and members of the AUS community.