Every Saturday, we survey the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere.

Topics featured this week include:

• an acrylic lectern you have to see;
• tips for designing an effective message;
• the Ignite Method of presentation;
• and more.

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One of these 10 people will be crowned the new World Champion of Public Speaking on August 16th, 2008 at the Toastmasters International convention in Calgary, Alberta.

Each year, over 230,000 members in over 11,000 clubs in 92 countries around the world have the opportunity to participate in this contest where competitors deliver 7-minute speeches judged on core message, speech development, language, and delivery techniques.

The club contest is the first of six stages which culminate in the World Championship of Public Speaking contest. The 10 speakers left standing have each out-spoken and out-inspired fellow competitors at five previous contests. [Back in May, I bowed out in the quarter-finals.]

Here are the 2008 finalists for the World Championship of Public Speaking. As you can plainly see, there is no single “speaker mold”: they bridge four countries, both genders, numerous ages, and diverse backgrounds.

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Every Saturday, we survey the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere.

Wait a minute… every Saturday? Then what happened the last two weeks?

Summer happened.
Camping with family happened.
An impromptu trip to Seattle happened.

To compensate for the two week hiatus of the weekly review, I’m pleased to present the biggest and boldest collection yet — three week’s worth of the best public speaking articles.

Topics featured this week include:

• public speaking book reviews;
• the presentation debate between content vs style;
• the innate connection between humans and storytelling;
• benefits of recording your voice;
• analysis of the Gettysburg Address;
• slide design tips;
• emcee advice;
• and much, much, much more.

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Randy Pausch, the man who moved millions with his Last Lecture, died on July 25th.

Randy’s Last Lecture speech is one of the most inspirational presentations I’ve ever seen by anyone, in any context, at any time.

• View The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (previously featured here on Six Minutes) and five presentation lessons he teaches us all
• Learn: An Enduring Legacy (Carnegie Mellon University)
• Donate: Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
• Download the entire video.
• Download the speech transcript.
• Read The Last Lecture book, on which Randy Pausch comments:

A book allows me to cover many, many more stories from my life and the attendant lessons I hope my kids can take from them. … The book is a far more personal look at my childhood dreams and all the lessons I’ve learned. Putting words on paper, I’ve found, was a better way for me to share all the yearnings I have regarding my wife, children and other loved ones.

I am deeply saddened that his candle burns no more, but I am joyful that it burned so bright. He taught so much to so many.

Every Saturday, we survey the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere. Topics featured this week include:

• PowerPoint book review;
• storytelling advice;
• a quiz to test your knowledge on public speaking fear;
• audience interaction;
• hand gesture zones;
• and more.

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Stephen Kosslyn has written a wonderful book for all presenters: Clear and to The Point: 8 Psychological Principles for Compelling PowerPoint Presentations.

The subtitle for the book promises to illuminate the psychology of PowerPoint. Does it deliver?

In a way, yes. The 8 principles, dozens of examples, and hundreds of tips reveal much that would improve your PowerPoint skills.

However, this book delivers so much more. The 8 psychological principles can be applied to many aspects of public speaking beyond PowerPoint design.

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Every Saturday, we survey the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere. Topics featured this week include:

• telling stories versus retaining your privacy;
• utilizing a Kindle in your speaking repertoire;
• video and PowerPoint templates;
• the fine line between presentations and performances; and
• an interview with a championship speaker.

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Every Saturday, we survey the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere. Topics featured this week include:

• writing commencement speeches;
• fear of public speaking;
• handling adversarial audience members;
• Toastmasters articles;
• and many more.

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Would you like to win a Macbook Air?
An iPod Touch?
An Amazon Kindle?
A copy of Presentation Zen?

The World’s Best Presentation Contest is returning to SlideShare for 2008.

Get creative, enter the contest, and you can win one of those prizes.

Leave a comment linking to your entry. If a number of Six Minutes subscribers enter, I’ll feature those entries in a future article.

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Every Saturday, we survey the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere. Topics featured this week include:

• helping your audience remember your key message;
• speaking you need to do before your presentation;
• reducing nervousness;
• arranging a room for a better training environment;
• lessons learned from a story file
• and many more.

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Every Saturday, we survey the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere.

Topics featured this week include:

• using statistics in a presentation;
• persuasive speaking;
• sales presentations;
• humorous sounds;
• choosing the best type of visuals;
• the benefits of gesturing;
• and more…

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