October 22, 2009 is the 85th anniversary of Toastmasters International.

Since that first meeting in the basement of the YMCA in California, hundreds of thousands of people around the world have become more effective communicators, more effective leaders, and more effective citizens.

Are you one of them? Please share your story!

Be Featured on Six Minutes

Six Minutes is looking for personal stories of success through Toastmasters. We’ll compile the best responses and feature them in a future article.

Question: How has Toastmasters made a difference in your life?

Maybe your career was boosted by superior presentation skills? Maybe your extra confidence helped you achieve your goals? Maybe your relationships improved thanks to better communication?

Please share your story, whether it be short or long, personal or public. Include your name, location, and (if relevant) your occupation.

Update: Responses have been compiled here.

Editor’s Note: Comedian Adam Lawrence recently compiled the Top 10 Reasons a PowerPoint Slide Deck is Just Like a Bra.

To prop up the debate a bit, I invited a colleague with a little more first-hand experience with both technologies to provide support to the counter-argument.

Thanks to her, here are 32 reasons a PowerPoint slide deck is nothing like a bra.

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End your speech with an attitude, not a platitude.

Instead of firing off a perfunctory “thank you,” consider launching fireworks of final passionate thoughts from the podium.

With the flair of a fireworks finale, you’ll trigger spontaneous applause to a well-rehearsed, well-timed, and well-executed performance — a performance that reflects all the anticipation of a logger’s cry: Timbeerrrrrrrrrrr!

This article shows you how to close your speech with a bang.

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On Saturdays, we survey the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere.

This review includes:

• new public speaking books;
• focusing on a single idea;
• limiting the amount of information presented;
• using statistics in a speech;
• the phony speaker’s smile;
• research about bullet slides;
• choosing slide colors; and
• gender issues in public speaking.

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Ban the banalities that bog down most speech openings.

Defer the customary “nice-to-be-here” platitudes.

Direct your audience more into fawning than yawning over your speech opening. How?

Start your speech better by diving in! Instead of gingerly dipping your toes into the proverbial speaking pool, open with a splash! Pattern your platform performance after the TEASE opening which Saturday Night Live has made famous for more than 25 years.

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On Saturdays, we survey the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere.

This review features topics including:

• 3-step humor formula;
• how to give an acceptance speech;
• reading a speech;
• chairing a session;
• presenting with visuals;
• public speaking fear;
• introducing a speaker;
• how much to charge for speaking; and
• marketing yourself as a speaker.

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Ed: A few weeks ago, Becky Blanton wrote to me saying: “I used your site to help me prepare for my TEDGlobal 2009 talk! It was a godsend literally. […] I would love to ‘give back’ by writing about what I learned from other TED talkers and my TED experience.” This is Becky’s educational and inspirational story.

As a speaker, one major milestone you face is your first highly public speech. Most of you won’t have to give that first talk at a TED conference as I did. However, if you do, it helps to remember that the things which make TED talks great can make all talks great.

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Some speaking sins, like the occasional “ah” or “um”, will not doom your presentation. With good content, you can earn forgiveness from the audience for those sins.

Other speaking sins are so grave that when you commit them, your speech or presentation is certain to fail. This article reveals the seven deadly sins of public speaking.

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When I’m looking for books to read, the only thing more convincing than a single recommendation from a colleague or friend is multiple recommendations for the same book from colleagues and friends.

Earlier, we published book testimonials from individual Six Minutes readers.

In this article, we list the most popular public speaking books and gear being read by the Six Minutes community — people just like you with an avid interest in speaking effectively.

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On Saturdays, we survey the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere.

This review features topics including:

• tips for speechwriting research;
• audience engagement;
• connecting with a large group;
• stepping in front of the projector;
• charting techniques; and
• the problem with a lack of honesty from your audience.

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Garr Reynolds, Nancy Duarte, and Cliff Atkinson are the authors of three hugely popular books on presentation design in the last five years.

What else do all three have in common? They all point to Richard E Mayer’s Multimedia Learning as recommended reading for presentation design.

And I agree.

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

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