Articles by Andrew Dlugan:

Have you ever fainted in mid-sentence?

Have you ever shown up for a 1-hour seminar only to be told you had to give it eight times in a row?

Have you ever had your blouse pop open while speaking?

These were just a few of the confessions shared by Six Minutes readers in our contest to win a copy of Confessions of a Public Speaker by Scott Berkun.

Thank you to everyone who participated. The responses are collectively funny, surprising, and educational. A few of the most shocking confessions and the most valuable insights are featured below. Click here to read all of them back at the original contest article.

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Is your audience listening even before you speak your first words?

Do they have high expectations?

Are they prepared to be convinced by what you have to say?

If not, you are suffering from poor ethos.

The first article in the Ethos, Pathos, and Logos series introduced these core concepts for speakers.

In this article, we define ethos, we look at ways that an audience measures your ethos, and we examine why it is so critical for a successful speech.

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Last week, we reviewed Scott Berkun’s latest book, Confessions of a Public Speaker.

I asked Sara Peyton over at O’Reilly (the book publisher) for a few copies for Six Minutes readers, and she kindly agreed.

Now, you can win one of three copies by sharing your own public speaking confessions!

• What speaking lesson did you learn the hard way?
• What was your most embarrassing speaking experience?
• What secret speaking techniques do you use?

[Another reason to celebrate? This marks the 200th article at Six Minutes. Yippee!]

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2300 years ago, Aristotle wrote down the secret to being a persuasive speaker, the secret which forms the basis for nearly every public speaking book written since then.

Do you know the secret?

If you don’t, you might be wondering what a 2300-year-old theory has to do with public speaking in the year 2010.

In a word — everything!

In this article, you’ll learn what ethos, pathos, and logos are (the secret!), and what every speaker needs to understand about these three pillars of public speaking.

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Confessions of a Public Speaker is a highly entertaining and insightful insider’s view of public speaking, with value for speakers of all levels.

This article is the latest of a series of public speaking book reviews here on Six Minutes.

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Six Minutes weekend reviews are back for a third year of bringing you the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere.

This review features topics including:

• speechwriting lessons from Martin Luther King Jr.;
• structuring your presentation logically;
• becoming aware of your voice;
• benefits of a flip chart;
• mistakes with visuals;
• speaker habits;
• stages in a professional speaking career;
• and more!

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Universal Principles of Design is a valuable resource for anyone who designs anything, including speeches and presentations

This article is the latest of a series of public speaking book reviews here on Six Minutes.

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The Six Minutes reader survey results are in.

Thanks to everyone who was able to participate. Your feedback is valuable as it helps us plan Six Minutes articles for the future.

Based on the success of this survey, we plan to conduct more frequent surveys to formally solicit feedback from you.

Your informal feedback is welcome anytime. If you have questions or comments about anything on Six Minutes, please contact us.

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As you struggle to improve your public speaking skills, you have probably been frustrated.

Frustrated… by nerves that never go away.

Frustrated… by audience questions that trip you up.

Frustrated… by the process of skills improvement which is more evolutionary than revolutionary.

In this article, we learn how to end the frustration by learning to love the process. We draw five speaking lessons from an extremely unlikely source: a motivational hooping video.

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As we plan new Six Minutes articles and features, it helps immensely to understand you, our reader.

Please help plan the direction for Six Minutes into 2010 by taking 1 minute to answer a very short survey.

For those reading this message in email or via RSS, you may not see the survey below. In that case, click through to the one-minute survey here.

Thank you in advance for your participation, and thank you for reading.

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Six Minutes weekend reviews are back for a third year of bringing you the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere.

This review features topics including:

• new public speaking books;
• best and worst communicators of 2009;
• how to tell a story;
• teleprompters;
• moving your audience;
• Toastmasters survey and tips;
• and more!

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