Since then, we’ve added 172 more, all of which are available free in the article archives.

Today, we celebrate the best articles of Six Minutes as determined by you, the reader. We list reader favorites in the major Six Minutes categories, from speechwriting to speech critiques, from visual aids to speaker resources.

It has been a pleasure sharing these articles with you. Thank you for your readership, and thank you for all of your emails with great suggestions and feedback.

Please Share With Your Colleagues

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Best Overall

Readers’ Favorite:

• Toastmasters Speech Series

Honorable Mention:

• Speech Preparation Series
• The 25 Public Speaking Skills Every Speaker Must Have

Speechwriting

Readers’ Favorite:

• Selecting a Speech Topic

Honorable Mention:

• 5 Speechwriting Lessons from Obama’s Inaugural Speech
• How to Use the Rule of Three in Your Speeches
• Don’t Skip the Speech Outline

Delivery Techniques

Readers’ Favorite:

• Leading the Perfect Q&A

Honorable Mention:

• Never Read Your Speech… Never?
• How to Deliver the Talk of Your Life

Visual Aids

Readers’ Favorite:

• How to Improve Your Slides with the Rule of Thirds

Honorable Mention:

• Six Simple Techniques for Presenting Data: Hans Rosling (TED, 2006)
• Use PowerPoint Visuals, Not Bullets – What the World Eats
• PowerPoint Design Wish List: 8 Modest Proposals

Speaker Habits

Readers’ Favorite:

• The 7 Deadly Sins of Public Speaking

Honorable Mention:

• How to Study and Critique a Speech
• How to Practice Your Presentation
• 6 Key Steps to Dip Your Toe into the Professional Speaking Pool

Resources for Speakers

Readers’ Favorite:

• Gifts Public Speakers Really Want: Dozens of Christmas Ideas

Honorable Mention:

• Toastmasters: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?
• Public Speaking Blogs: The Definitive List
• Speaking Survey says: Speaker DO’s and DON’Ts

The Lighter Side

Readers’ Favorite:

• 12 Days of Public Speaking Christmas

Honorable Mention:

• 32 Reasons a PowerPoint Slide Deck is Nothing Like a Bra
• Haiku for Public Speakers

Speech Critiques

Readers’ Favorite:

• Martin Luther King Jr. – I Have a Dream

Honorable Mention:

• Majora Carter – Greening the Ghetto
• Al Gore – 15 ways to avert a climate crisis
• Steve Jobs – Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Similar Articles You May Like... The 7 Deadly Sins of Public Speaking Popular Public Speaking Books and Gear 21 Questions: Is This The Year You Communicate Effectively? Why Pausch, not Obama, is Best Communicator of 2008 Gifts Public Speakers Really Want: Dozens of Christmas Ideas 10 Ways Your Presentation Skills Generate Career Promotions

Have a Question? Contact me anytime, or find me on Twitter: @6minutes

Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.

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.

Deadly Sin #1: Sloth

Sloth, or laziness, is committed by speakers who fail to prepare.

Speaking in public, whether formally or informally, is an essential activity that requires effort. Yet, the majority of people expend no effort to improve their effectiveness as a speaker. Tragically, they are content to drift from one frustrating presentation to the next.

You can avoid sloth in a number of ways:

• Enroll in a public speaking course
• Read public speaking books
• Read public speaking blogs
• Join Toastmasters or another local speaking club
• Study great speakers
• Hire a speaking coach

(By reading this article, you’re making the effort to improve. Sloth has no claim on you!)

Failing to prepare for life by improving your speaking skills leads to a chain of excuses, characterized by…

Deadly Sin #2: Envy

Envy is characterized by a false belief that great speakers are simply lucky to have been born with natural speaking skills.

You’ve heard the excuses from your colleagues, haven’t you?

• “She’s so lucky! She’s a natural speaker!”
• “Hmph! It’s so easy for him to speak in front of people.”
• “No, I couldn’t deliver the proposal. I’m not a speaker.”

People who are envious of the “natural” skills of others are more likely to apply misguided solutions when confronted by an unavoidable speaking situation:

• They steal stories and anecdotes from others rather than creating original ones
• They copy PowerPoint slides from others even if they don’t quite apply
• They mimic the oratorical style of others and lack authenticity

Because of bad habits like this, speakers suffer from lack of confidence. They know the stories, the slides, and the words are not their own. Nervousness results because they fear being exposed, and this nervousness leads to crazy behaviors like…

Deadly Sin #3: Lust

The lustful speaker attempts to calm their nerves by applying the common (yet terrible) advice to picture the audience naked!

Please don’t picture the audience naked, especially if I am in your audience.

In theory, picturing your audience naked makes them seem as vulnerable as you feel. It may provide a brief lighthearted moment to feed your teenaged appetite, but it won’t help you speak better.

More likely, it will cause an additional distraction and impede your efforts to connect with your audience. Consider this: how easy is it for you to communicate something meaningful to a room full of naked people? Can you inspire them? Impossible.

Nervous speakers who avoid this lustful deadly sin are, unfortunately, still prone to committing another deadly sin…

Deadly Sin #4: Gluttony

Gluttony is exhibited by speakers who believe that more is always better.

More slides, more bullets, more examples, more facts, more numbers, more details, more words — more of everything.

Packing all possible material into your presentation and then speeding through it is flawed, despite your best intentions to provide maximum value. More is (usually) not better. Cognitive research shows that people have a limited capacity to absorb information (see Kosslyn’s Clear and to the Point and Mayer’s Multimedia Learning). Overloading that capacity will reduce their ability to absorb anything at all! Quantity is no substitute for quality.

It is better to focus your presentation on your core message, select only the very best support material (facts, slides, anecdotes), and speak at a reasonable pace. Supplementary material, if necessary, belongs in a handout.

All of this gluttony — too many slides, too many stories, too many details — leads the speaker down a dark and dirty path towards…

Deadly Sin #5: Greed

Greed is the deadly sin of excess, and is committed by a speaker who goes over time.

Does this sound familiar?

• “Oh, is that clock correct? I’m only halfway through…”
• “I haven’t gotten to the good part yet…”
• “Are there any objections to cutting our lunch break in half so I can finish this?”

Speaking for more than your allotted time violates the contract you have with your audience, and that’s never good. People are busy and do not appreciate having their time wasted. Nobody will complain if you finish a few minutes early.

If you go over time, negative emotions begin to fill the room, making you more susceptible to experience…

Deadly Sin #6: Wrath

Wrath, or uncontrolled anger, is committed by a speaker who handles problems in the worst possible way.

As a speaker, you should always remain in control. No matter how bad your presentation is going, keep calm. Don’t let these frustrations provoke you:

• When you make a mistake (even a big one), resist the urge to draw more attention to it by cursing yourself in an attempt to draw pity.
• When an audience member is disrupting the room, resist the urge to “solve” it with sarcasm.
• When the room or venue logistics fail, don’t start blaming the organizers or anyone else. Instead, roll with in and move on.
• When an audience member is heckling you, do not take the bait.

Getting angry — whether at yourself, someone in the audience, or some other factor — is one of the worst things you can do. Your audience will feel uncomfortable and your credibility will be diminished considerably.

Finally, the first six speaker sins are all symptoms of the deadliest speaking sin of them all…

Deadly Sin #7: Pride

Pride is committed by a speaker who believes that public speaking is about them.

It’s not.

• It’s never about you.
• It’s never about your impressive accolades in your introduction.
• It’s never about your dazzling delivery where you channel Churchill.
• It’s never about your sumptuous slides which prominently feature your company logo beside dazzling 3-D pie charts.

Public speaking is always about the audience and the message you want to convey. Failing to put the audience first will kill any presentation. You need to perform audience analysis to discover how best to structure your presentation and deliver the message.

Avoid this sin by starting to analyze your presentation from the audience’s perspective. Amazingly, most of the other speaking sins will go away.

• You’ll recognize that you need to prepare. (Sloth)
• You will realize that you are uniquely capable of delivering your message to this audience. (Envy)
• You will trim all of the fluff to deliver a message which is focused and easy-to-understand. (Gluttony)
• You will respect the time your audience has given you. (Greed)
• You won’t saddle your audience with your problems. (Wrath)

As for Lust when speaking, well… that’s just silly.

The Seven Deadly Sins of Public Speaking

1. Sloth: failing to prepare for your speech or presentation
2. Envy: believing that great speakers are born with their skills
3. Lust: quelling your nerves by picturing the audience naked
4. Gluttony: believing that more words/slides/facts/numbers is always better
5. Greed: speaking over your allotted time
6. Wrath: rigidly reacting to problems and losing your cool
7. Pride: placing yourself ahead of the audience

How many of these speaking sins are committed in presentations you attend?

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• Speaking Survey says: Speaker DO’s and DON’Ts
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Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.

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.

Where Do These Lists Come From?

We get a sneak peak into what Six Minutes readers buy when they click on one of our links to the Amazon store. We do not get specific info on who is buying what — only aggregate information about what is being purchased.

This information gives a good indication of what is popular. We value your opinion of what is worth reading. Indeed, several of the book review choices (including the book review posted last week) were strongly influenced by which books you were buying!

You may be interested to know that when you make a purchase at Amazon after clicking on one of these links, we get a small commission. This helps us to keep Six Minutes free and continue to improve it with the articles you want. Thank you for your support in this way.

Popular PowerPoint and Visual Design Books

These are the most popular books which help you design better visuals, whether you use PowerPoint, Keynote, flip charts, or napkins as your visual tool.

1. slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations by Nancy Duarte [read our book review]
2. Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery by Garr Reynolds [read our book review]
3. Clear and to the Point: 8 Psychological Principles for Compelling PowerPoint Presentations by Stephen Kosslyn [read our book review]
4. The Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam
5. Beyond Bullet Points by Cliff Atkinson
6. 7-Slide Solution by Paul J. Kelly
7. Multimedia Learning by Richard E. Mayer [read our book review]

Popular Speechwriting and Storytelling Books

These are the most popular public speaking books which focus on audience analysis, determining your message, and selecting the best words, phrases, anecdotes, evidence, and stories.

1. Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln: 21 Powerful Secrets of History’s Greatest Speakers by James C. Humes [read our book review]
2. The Story Factor by Annette Simmons [read our book review]
3. The Lost Art of the Great Speech: How to Write One–How to Deliver It by Richard Dowis
4. Advanced Presentations by Design: Creating Communication that Drives Action by Andrew Abela [read our book review]
5. Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
6. Writing Great Speeches: Professional Techniques You Can Use by Alan Perlman
7. The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling by Stephen Denning

Popular Public Speaking Books

These are the most popular public speaking books which have a broad focus and cover many aspects of effective communication.

1. The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking by Dale Carnegie [read our book review]
2. You’ve Got to Be Believed to Be Heard by Bert Decker [read our book review]
3. On Speaking Well by Peggy Noonan
4. Fire Them Up! by Carmine Gallo [read our book review]
5. 10 Days to More Confident Public Speaking by Lenny Laskowski
6. Presenting to Win by Jerry Weissman
7. The Power Presenter by Jerry Weissman

Popular Public Speaking Gear and Gadgets

This diverse collection of gadgets are the most popular speaking tools being purchased by Six Minutes readers.

1. Kensington 33374 Wireless Presenter with Laser Pointer
2. 3M Plain Paper Copier Transparency Film
3. Logitech 2.4 GHz Cordless Presenter
4. Olympus WS-331M Digital Voice Recorder
5. EXPO Vis-à-Vis Wet-Erase Overhead Projection Marker Set
6. EXPO Dry Erase Marker Organizer, Chisel Tip, Set
7. Keyspan Presentation Remote Pro

Which Books Are You Reading?

Please drop a note in the article comments to share your favorite book with other Six Minutes readers.

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• Gifts Public Speakers Really Want: Dozens of Christmas Ideas
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• Public Speaking Tips: Weekend Review [2009-10-10]

Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.

Is this the year you become a more effective speaker?

Is this the year you conquer your fear?

Is this the year you customize every presentation for the audience who will receive it?

Is this the year you worry less about ums and ahs, and worry more about connecting with the audience?

Is this the year you realize its not the quantity of information conveyed, but the quality of how you convey it?

Is this the year you eliminate the phrase “I don’t need to rehearse”?

Is this the year you stop driving people to tap on their Blackberry and iPhone during your speech?

Is this the year you stop letting poor communication skills stand between you and the career that you want?

Is this the year you solicit honest feedback after every presentation?

Is this the year you act on the feedback received?

Is this the year you not only read and talk about Presentation Zen and Slide:ology, but actually put the lessons into practice?

Is this the year you stop putting people to sleep?

Is this the year you study storytelling techniques?

Is this the year you stop allowing your colleagues to commit communication suicide and give them honest feedback?

Is this the year you realize that a lengthy Q&A session is not “stealing time” away from your presentation?

Is this the year you stop using PowerPoint as a crutch?

Is this the year you realize that eye contact and gestures mean nothing if you don’t have a clear message?

Is this the year you find your voice?

Is this the year you use it to communicate whatever message resonates in your heart?

Is this the year you lose your ego and have a conversation?

Is this the year?

This is the conversation I’m having in front of a mirror on January 1st.

What conversation will you have?

This may help: 5 Habits to Achieve your Public Speaking New Year’s Resolution

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• Why Pausch, not Obama, is Best Communicator of 2008

Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.

But, after reading his “Top Ten Best (and Worst) Communicators of 2008” list, I’m confused — how did he get it wrong?

Best Communicators of 2008

1. Barack Obama
2. Tim Russert
3. Randy Pausch
4. Colin Powell
5. Mike Huckabee
6. John Chambers
7. Sarah Palin
8. Nancy Duarte, Garr Reynolds, Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki
9. Tina Fey
10. Anderson Cooper

Worst Communicators of 2008

1. George Bush
2. Richard Fuld
3. Rod Blagojevich
4. Eliot Spitzer
5. Roger Clemens
6. Sarah Palin
7. Dan Rather
8. Al Davis
9. Rosie O’Donnell
10. John McCain

Okay, top 10 lists are subjective by nature. They are one person’s opinion. Can Bert Decker really be wrong in his opinion? No, he can’t.

So, instead, I’ll just have to say that I am disappointed with this year’s lists for three reasons:

1. Too much emphasis on politics.

60% of the individuals cited are intimately tied to the political arena.

• 7 of the Best are either politicians (Obama, Powell, Huckabee, and Palin) or closely tied to politicians in 2008 (Russert, Fey, Cooper)
• 5 of the Worst (Bush, Blagojevich, Spitzer, Palin, and McCain) are politicians

This is a bit like having 60% of the “Best Athletes of 2008″ be Olympic heroes and disappointments. [Then again, perhaps Michael Phelps could be #1, #2, ... #8.]

Yes, 2008 is a presidential  election year. And, yes, communication is an integral part of politics. However, there’s a whole world communicating out there outside of the political arena too. Duarte and Reynolds merit much higher consideration, for example, because they are helping transform the public speaking status quo.

2. “Worst Communicator” = “Scandal-ridden”??

(At least) Six of the 10 Worst were caught up in scandals of varying degree in 2008: Fuld, Blagojevich, Spitzer, Clemens, Davis, O’Donnell.

Which of these seem more likely?

1. Bad communication leads to scandal?
   Did these people end up embroiled in scandal because they are poor communicators? No, the scandals resulted because they made (very) bad decisions.
2. Scandal leads to bad communication?
   Before the scandal broke, were they particularly bad communicators? Maybe. Maybe not. But without those scandals, none of these people would be on the list. Feelings of guilt plus a camera and microphone is a bad combination… for just about anyone.

I’m not saying that these people demonstrated good communication habits under fire. But, it is rare for someone to be under fire and come out looking like a great communicator.

I’d prefer more emphasis on this list on genuinely bad communicators not tied to scandals (Bill Gates is the often cited example here, although that title is not always deserved.)

3. Randy Pausch, not Barack Obama, is the Best Communicator of 2008

It’s a difficult task to argue against Barack Obama in #1 position. It would not surprise me if he earns that position for the next eight years.

• His oration skills have been compared regularly to Lincoln, Churchill, and Kennedy.
• His speaking prowess far outdistanced that of his two main rivals this year (Hilary Clinton, John McCain).
• His speeches are worthy of analysis (he has already been featured on Six Minutes, and he will continue to be going forward).

But, it is overkill to suggest that “he was elected President BECAUSE of his communications ability“. Numerous factors contributed to his victory, including these three:

• Superior Fundraising — His campaign excelled at fundraising in ways never seen before.
• Superior Strategy — His team had the best strategy (both in the Democratic primaries and the general election).
• Inferior Bush — The economy and Iraq (among many other reasons) doomed any candidate the Republicans put forward.

Running for President put Obama in a very select group, and gave him a global audience. To his credit, he maximized this opportunity. But would he be first on this list if he were giving these same speeches as just the Senator from Illinois? Would he have moved millions to action if he were just a party strategist? Or a community organizer from Chicago? Or a computer science professor?

Randy Pausch was a computer science professor. He had virtually no audience — just an auditorium filled with 400 people at Carnegie Mellon University. He had no fame. No reputation. No speechwriters. No army of volunteers. He had nothing to guarantee an attentive audience other than a particularly timely lecture and a death sentence of pancreatic cancer. As he points out in his book, this fact hardly makes him unique — more than 37,000 Americans are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year.

Despite all of this, over 8 million people have watched Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture on Youtube alone. That’s quite an increase from the 400 who saw it live.

Pausch’s Last Lecture is poignant, thought-provoking, emotional, funny, inspirational, and memorable. Pausch lacked Obama’s polish as a classical orator, but he is second to none as a communicator.

His skillful communication continued beyond his famous speech into his bestselling book, which I received for Christmas a few days ago. In addition to all the life lessons, every speaker can learn from how Pausch teaches a lesson through storytelling. If you enjoyed the stories in the speech, you’ll love the additional stories in the book. Ditch the facts, figures, and PowerPoint… just tell stories.

In short, 2008 saw Pausch emerge from complete obscurity to touch the hearts of millions… all from a single speech to an audience of 400. He proved that if you speak from the heart, the world will listen. For that, he’s the best communicator of 2008 in my book.

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• Book Review: Multimedia Learning by Richard E. Mayer
• 2008 Election Night Speech Analysis – Obama and McCain
• Speech Critiques – McCain, Palin, Republican Convention 2008
• The Best of Six Minutes: 2007-2009
• The 7 Deadly Sins of Public Speaking

Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.

Looking for something to add to your own personal wishlist?

Here’s a great list of ideas inspired by emails telling me the gifts that public speakers really want.

Stocking stuffers, moderate, deluxe, and priceless gifts — a comprehensive list with dozens of public speaking gift ideas for you or the public speaker in your life.

Last year, I received a digital voice recorder for Christmas, and I’ve had lots of fun using it to get audible feedback during rehearsal and live presentations. I used my gift cards to load up on a stack of speaking books.

Many of the items on my wishlist this year are contained below. How many do you share?

Books

• Value: Stocking Stuffer to Moderate
• I love gadgets, but few gifts are more satisfying than books for me.
• Previous recommendations:
  • I highly recommend all of the books reviewed on Six Minutes, including two of the most popular presentation books of 2008 — Slide:ology and Presentation Zen.
• Reader recommendations:
  • Last week, 16 public speaking book recommendations from Six Minutes readers were highlighted.
• Andrew’s Picks: These are the speechwriting and visual presentation books I’m hoping to get at Christmas… and are likely the ones I will purchase with any gift certificates I receive.
  • Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures – Dan Roam
  • Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die – Chip Heath and Dan Heath
  • Visual Display of Quantitative Information – Edward Tufte
  • Beautiful Evidence – Edward Tufte
  • Information Dashboard Design: The Effective Visual Communication of Data – Stephen Few
  • Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive – Robert Cialdini and others
  • Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion – Jay Heinrichs
  • Multimedia Learning – Mayer
• Bestsellers in relevant categories:
  • Business & Investing > Skills > Communications
  • Business & Investing > Skills > Running Meetings & Presentations
  • Business & Investing > Skills > Training

Public Speaking Gear

Flip Charts

• Value: Deluxe
• With the advent of ubiquitous PowerPoint and digital projectors, the flip chart is being overlooked. Increasingly, I’m finding that venues have no flip chart available. This is unfortunate, because flip charts offer several advantages over slideware — low tech is sometimes the best option. I’d love to have a portable set that I could easily tote in the trunk of my car to venues.
• Andrew’s Pick: Quartet Aluminum Heavy-Duty Telescoping Display Easel and matching Flipchart Accessory
• Other options:
  • 66″ Lightweight Aluminum Easel
  • Bestselling portable easels

Flip Chart and White Board Accessories

• Value: Stocking Stuffers
• I estimate that 2 of every 3 times that I need to use a whiteboard or flip chart, there are either (a) no markers to be found, (b) several markers, all of which are nearly dry, or (c) multiple markers all in the same color! Add on those occasions where a white board eraser is missing, or there are no flip chart sheets, and you can easily understand why it’s good to bring your own supplies as a backup if you expect that you’ll need them.
• Options:
  • Post-It Self-Stick Easel Pad
  • Generic Easel Pad
  • Dry Erase Board – 2 feet x 3 feet
  • Eraser for Dry Erase Board
  • Expo Dry Erase Markers (6 pack)
  • Expo Dry Erase Markers (20 pack)
  • DuraMark Flipchart Markers (4 pack)

Lectern

• Value: Deluxe
• In an ideal world, you would never need notes of any kind, and you would stand in front of your audience without any barriers. That’s not reality. There are many cases when you do have notes (like being the master of ceremonies). Having somewhere to place them is essential. A tabletop is too low. Keeping them in your hand is too cumbersome. A lectern is the perfect solution, but you never know if your venue has one. A portable one keeps you safe.
• Andrew’s Pick: Adjustable Speaker Stand
• Options:
  • Portable Presentation Lectern
  • Portable Foldup Tabletop Lectern

Attention Getter (e.g. Gavel)

• Value: Moderate
• How do you get the attention of a chatty crowd when it is time to start your presentation? One of the best techniques I witnessed was a master of ceremonies who had a series of chimes that he would strike into the microphone. Every time he used them, the audience got quiet immediately. Chimes have been on my wish list ever since, although some may prefer the traditional gavel for times when your voice or actions aren’t enough to grab attention.
• Andrew’s Pick: Meinl Nino Energy Chimes
• Options:
  • McGill Gavel
  • Gavel, Sound Block, and Engraving

Pointers

• Value: Stocking Stuffer
• In my opinion, pointers are both over overused and underused. Some speakers use them for no apparent reason, and often distract the audience endlessly by fidgeting with them. Having said that, the primary advantage of using a pointer is to be able to refer to visuals while keeping your body out of the sight lines of your audience. It’s good to have one in your inventory for those occasions when you want one.
• Andrew’s Pick: Acco Extendible Pocket Pointer
• Options:
  • Slimline Pen Size Pocket Pointer
  • Learning Resources Hand Pointers, Set of 3 (to add humor to your presentation)

Public Speaking Electronics

Presentation Remotes

• Value: Moderate
• Why?
  When delivering presentations with the aid of a laptop, I’ve become tired of being chained to the keyboard so that I can advance slides manually. Many projectors come with remotes, but, in my experience, you can never rely on it being there when you need it. Just plug in the USB key, and you are free to roam the room.
• Andrew’s Pick: Logitech 2.4 GHz Cordless Presenter
• Other options:
  • Microsoft Wireless Notebook Presenter Mouse 8000
  • Kensington 33374 Wireless Presenter with Laser Pointer
  • Targus Wireless Presenter with Laser Pointer
  • Bestselling Presentation Remotes…

Digital Voice Recorder

• Value: Deluxe
• Why?
  A digital voice recorder allows you to discreetly record your speech audio. When rehearsing, this is an invaluable way to critique your own delivery. During a live performance to an audience, a digital voice recorder allows you to capture the best moments (where the audience burst into applause or laughter) and worst moments (when you got tongue-tied).
• Andrew’s Pick (I own this and love it): Olympus WS-331M Digital Voice Recorder and WMA Music Player
• Other popular options:
  • Olympus WS-311M Digital Voice Recorder and WMA Music Player
  • Olympus VN-4100PC Digital Voice Recorder

Timers and Stopwatches

• Value: Stocking Stuffer
• A timer is critical for rehearsal and for delivery in front of your audience. When I’m teaching, I have often relied on using the clock in the room. But, now that I’ve been in rooms without a clock or (worse!) a clock that was incorrect, I realize the value of keeping time on my own. The key feature to look for is count down and count up timing, as well as large digits that you can read from a distance.
• Bestselling Kitchen Timers

Laser Pointers

• Value: Stocking Stuffer
• Most presentation remotes come equipped with a laser pointer. If you don’t have one of those, then you will probably want a standalone pointer. I’m not a huge fan of them, but there are situations where it is simply the best way to draw attention.
• Bestselling laser pointers

Thumb Drives (or USB Drives or Memory Sticks)

• Value: Stocking Stuffer
• Many of my presentations and courses involve slides of some sort. It’s best to bring your own laptop, or email your slides ahead to your host, but you never know when you need a trusty backup. (For me, about 20% of the time.) So, I always carry my slides on a pair of thumb drives.
• Andrew’s Pick: SanDisk Cruzer Micro Flash Drive (I love the SanDisk Cruzer models because the USB connector retracts and you don’t need to worry about a cover)
• Bestselling thumb drives

Digital Projectors

• Value: Deluxe
• Having your own personal digital projector represents the ultimate freedom for a professional speaker who presents often with slides. With few exceptions, your host or your venue (for a pricey rental fee) are equipped with digital projectors. However, I’ve been disappointed in the past when I create (in my opinion) beautiful visuals only to discover that the illumination quality of the projector is substandard. Ultimately, that poor quality reflects on you and your presentation.
• Bestselling digital projectors

Great Speeches DVDs or CDs

• Value: Moderate
• I believe that studying great speakers and historical speeches is an essential activity for the dedicated speechwriter. It’s why I perform speech critiques of great contemporary speakers.
• Andrew’s Pick: The Greatest Speeches of All-Time Box Set (DVD)
• Other popular options:
  • Great Speeches of the 20th Century (CD Box Set)
  • The Speeches Collection, Volume 1

The Gift of Toastmasters (or other training programs)

• 

  Value: Priceless (but the cost is only Moderate)

• I strongly believe that a Toastmasters membership is an outstanding first step on the path to becoming a more effective speaker for many people. If you know someone who could benefit from the educational program, why not remove any financial reasons they may have for not becoming a member? Membership dues for six months are a tiny investment with huge potential payoff. What other gift can you give that changes someone’s life?
• Having said that, there are many other options available. Give the gift of learning.

Gifts for Toastmasters

Any of the items in this article are appropriate for Toastmasters members, but some members may also appreciate items that are specific Toastmaster gifts. The Toastmasters online store has a wide variety of items, including some which are categorized as “gifts.”

Give the Gift of Six Minutes

• Value: Priceless (but the cost is and always will be free)
• If you enjoy reading Six Minutes, please share the link with your friends, your colleagues, your students, or your fellow Toastmasters members. It doesn’t cost you a penny, but you would help my Christmas wishes come true.
• The same goes for other public speaking blogs. Don’t keep them a secret. Spread the word!

What’s Missing on the List Above?

What speaking-related gifts are you hoping for this year?

What gifts have you received in the past (or bought for yourself) that you recommend?

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Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.

Reading comprehension and writing skills are taught heavily in school. You and your peers may not be equally skilled, but the differences are relatively minor.

Presentation skills, on the other hand, are largely neglected in schools, and few people put effort into developing them. Thus, presentation skills are a primary differentiator among you and your peers. Master your presentation skills, and become the master of your career options.

This article highlights 10 ways your career will improve if you have superior presentation skills.

The Best Career Move You’ll Ever Make: Developing Superior Presentation Skills

Presentation skills (and oral communication skills in general) can be learned by anyone. It’s not hard, but it takes dedication and time. Helping you develop these skills is the focus of this blog, not to mention Toastmasters, speech coaches, and speaking books. By making it a priority for your career, you can learn and master these skills.

The career benefits awaiting you are plentiful, including:

Benefit #1: You are noticed

Poor presenters: Let’s be honest. The presentation skills of most of your colleagues suck. The bad news is that you have to endure thousands of presentations from them over the course of your career. The good news is that the bar for presentation skills is low. You can vault above it with minimal effort.

You: With superior presentation skills, you’ll get noticed every time you make a presentation. Further, you’ll be more confident, and will find yourself volunteering to present more often. This results in more opportunities to deliver your message with the eyeballs of those in your organization on you.

Benefit #2: You are memorable

Poor presenters: They regularly commit “Death by PowerPoint”: bullet after bullet, reading from the slides, few meaningful images (clip art does not count), and otherwise doing things that audiences hate. The best part of their presentation is when it ends, and everyone is free to return to their offices. Soon after, they are forgotten.

You: You understand how to connect with an audience. You use highly visual slides, and few bullets. You structure your presentation to aid in its understandability. You finish strong. Your presentation is memorable = You are memorable.

Benefit #3: Your ideas win because you communicate them clearly

Poor presenters: Your colleagues are smart. They have good ideas, and they know how to implement them. But they never get the chance, because they can’t communicate their ideas in a way that is clear to the stakeholders who decide which path to take.

You: Your ideas win more often because you know how to convey them. You utilize analogies and metaphors. You know how to deliver a message that emphasizes benefits, not features. You know how to customize your message depending which stakeholder you are speaking with. Career advancement comes to those whose ideas direct activity.

Benefit #4: You become the go-to employee for customer presentations

Poor presenters: Because their internal presentations are poor, managers hesitate to let them lead the show before customers. Their role in customer presentations is a spectator.

You: After demonstrating your presentation skills internally, you’ll be the one called on to give customer presentations too. Presentations for proposals influence whether you get the customer contract. Final presentations influence whether you receive repeat business. The closer to the customer you get, the more integral you are to the customer relationship, and the more valuable you become to your employer.

Benefit #5: You are a leader

Poor presenters: Lack of presentation skills leads to lack of confidence. Attempts to lead are thwarted because nobody follows.

You: Great leaders are great communicators. Great communicators are great leaders. Persuasiveness and charisma convince people to view you as a leader. This perception is translated into reality as you inspire those around you to greater achievements.

Benefit #6: You are a better listener

Poor presenters: They are too concerned about their own presentation mishaps to listen attentively to the audience.

You: Presentation skills are not only about what you say; it’s about how you listen. With a heightened sense of how to convey a message to your audience, you have also developed keen listening skills. Listening effectively to your audience makes you a better listener at all times. This, in turn, makes you more approachable…

Benefit #7: You are more approachable

Poor presenters: They may welcome the idea of interacting with others, but they are not seen as approachable because their presentations are always always one-sided information dumps, not conversations.

You: You are more approachable because you “put yourself out there” more often. You design your presentations to be interactive conversations. You encourage Q&A during and after your presentations. Colleagues will come to you first with ideas and opportunities because they know you are receptive to listening to them.

Benefit #8: Your network will grow

Poor presenters: Their presentations are either boring or confusing. Boring presentations lead others to see them as boring co-workers. Confusing presentations fail to be clear about what they offer. In either case, nobody leaps at the opportunity to work more with them.

You: You get noticed, you are memorable, and you are more approachable. Other people become your PR machine, spreading the news about how great your presentations are and how strong your ideas are. Your network naturally grows as people want to interact with you more often.

Benefit #9: You are a better negotiator

Poor presenters: They go into a presentation without doing audience analysis. Likewise, they go into a negotiation without analyzing the interests of the other side, or considering the delicate language needed.

You: Of course, negotiation is about strategy — analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of both sides. But, it’s also communication — communication of your ideas, your proposals, and your interests using a language more palatable to the other side. This applies to negotiating with customers and suppliers as well as internal negotiations for a better job, or increased compensation and benefits.

Benefit #10: Your interviewing skills will get you the job

Poor presenters: They have difficulty demonstrating that they actually have the skills listed on their resume. Poor communication skills in an interview leads to a failing grade from the interviewer.

You: Interviews are high-pressure presentations. There may not be slides, but your presentation content is you! Superior speaking skills will earn you top marks in the “communication skills” box on the interviewer’s form. With your superior speaking skills, you will also find it easier to demonstrate that you possess the other necessary qualities for the job.

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Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.

The public speaking blogosphere: a large and varied space with fuzzy edges spanning many disciplines. There are public speaking blogs which focus on speech delivery, visual presentation design, speechwriting, humor, personal development, and interpersonal communication. Now, you can subscribe to all of them in seconds. (Find out how at the end of this post.)

Public Speaking Bloggers

One is a world champion speaker; some speak professionally; others chronicle their first speaking steps. Many are authors – some more than once. Many are Toastmasters. Or were Toastmasters. Or recommend joining Toastmasters. Women and men. Young and old.

The only unanimous traits are (1) a passion for giving so that others may be educated and entertained, and (2) an RSS feed to enable easy subscriptions.

Motivation

I compiled this snapshot of the public speaking blogosphere with three primary aims:

• To aid readers in the discovery of excellent public speaking blogs (see the OPML file information at the end of this post);
• To build ties within the community of bloggers;
• To provide encouragement to current and future public speaking bloggers.

Note that the blogs are grouped rather subjectively, but they are not ranked. For each blog, one or two sample articles are linked to give a flavour of the blogger’s style.

General Public Speaking Blogs: 2-5 posts/week

General public speaking blogs which publish several articles per week.

1. Andrew Dlugan: Six Minutes
   This blog, focussed on public speaking and presentation skills.
   Regular features include speech critiques, book reviews, and weekly reviews of all blogs on this list.
   • 25 Skills Every Public Speaker Should Have
   • Speech Preparation Series
2. Lisa Braithwaite: Speak Schmeak
   Lisa is the ideal public speaking blogger for two reasons. She writes public speaking articles at a rate unequalled on this list (67 articles in Q4 2007). She spreads words of encouragement through the public speaking blogosphere in article comments.
   • Public speaking: talent or skill?
3. Tom Antion: Great Public Speaking
   Started in 2004, Tom’s blog is one of the oldest and most respected in the blogosphere.
   • Public Speaking: Top 10 Ways to Make Money
4. Eric Feng: The Public Speaking Blog
   Named one of the 25 top young entrepreneurs in Asia, Eric offered his 10 most influential bloggers on public speaking last September. He recently joined the subset of bloggers to write a book.
   • Top Seven Presentation Bloopers to Avoid
5. Gavin Meikle: Reluctant Presenter’s Guide
   • Discourage Critical Feedback If You Want To Improve Faster
6. Ian Griffin: Professionally Speaking
   • 29 Search tools for Savvy Speechwriters
7. Nick R Thomas: A Public Speaker’s Blog
   • Mr Watson made it look elementary!
8. Jef Menguin
   • How to Conquer Monotony of Speech
9. Susan Trivers: Great Speaking Coach
   • Business Storytelling – 3 Times to Tell People Who You Are
10. Thomas Sechehaye: The Next Meeting
    • Something About The Way You Move
11. TJ Walker
    • How can I best establish my credibility with my audience?
12. Jo Jameson: Be a Great Presenter
    • How To Make Your Audience Like You – Know How To Tease Yourself
13. Tim Wilson: Public Speaking Library
    Daily bite-sized articles of a few sentences each.
    • Making it Personal
14. SpeakWeek
    • Presentation Skills: Speak from the heart
15. Nick Morgan: Public Words
    • The Active Audience
16. Kevin Hogan
    • How To Be A Professional Public Speaker

General Public Speaking Blogs: 1-2 posts/week

General public speaking blogs which publish one or two articles per week (averaged over Q4 2007).

1. Bronwyn Ritchie: Pivotal Public Speaking
   Bronwyn primarily links to articles elsewhere, including her own (non-blog) site.
   • 4 Tips for Using Evidence
2. Jacki Rose: Public Speaking Can Be Fun
   • Tons of Public Speaking Compliments
3. Sandra Schrift: Executive Speech Coach
   • Presentation Tips-Know Your Audience!
4. Laura Fitton: Great Presentations Mean Business
   • Body Language Cheat Sheet: Walk. Smile. Care.
5. Craig Senior: Public Speaking
   • “Hello, My Name is C-C-C-Craig”
6. Johnathan Steele: Persuasions Blog
   • Active Listening
7. Darren Fleming: Executive Speaking Weblog
   • Understanding your audience pays off
8. Gary Guwe: Connexion! Communication
   • Power Moves! – 5 Tips to Make Body Language Work for You!
9. Rhett Laubach: Authenticity Rules
   • Who You Got In The Room?
10. Craig Strachan: Communication Excellence
    • SPEAK part 2 – Preparation
11. Wayne Botha: Make Your Point with Pow’R
    • Predisposition of the eye is to move from left to right
12. Marilyn Jess: Speaking Of…
    • Speaker Qualities–How Do You Rank Them?
13. John Watkis: Successful Speeches Blog
    • A good speech isn’t necessarily a successful speech
14. Barry Flanagan: Public Speaking for Geeks
    • The Six Rs to Beat the Curse
15. Chendil Kumar: Communicate to Connect
    • The O.W.L technique of using humor in speeches
16. Mark Tamer: The Presenter’s Coach
    • X-Rated
17. Lee Potts: Breaking Murphy’s Law
    • Jedi Knights With Frickin Laser Pointers
18. Olivia Mitchell: Speaking About Presenting
    • Conversational Presenting
19. George Torok: Executive Speech Coach
    • Presentations: Hostile Audience
20. Simon Raybould: Telling People
    • Don’t practice…

General Public Speaking Blogs: Under 1 post/week

General public speaking blogs which published less than an article per week (averaged over Q4 2007). Don’t let that keep you away; many have a large article archive.

1. Bert Decker: Create Your Communications Experience
   • Top Ten Best (and Worst) Communicators of 2007
2. Pete Ryckman: Memo to C-Level Speakers
   • Iron Clad Rule: At Least Five Rehearsals
3. Lou Hampton: Speak to Lead
   • Public Speaking: Logistics Matter–How Little Screwups Can Sabotage Results
4. Dana Bristol-Smith: Speak for Success
   • Presentation Skills: How to Engage Your Audience
5. Diane DiResta: Business Presentations
   • Dealing with Difficult Audiences
6. Ross Bowring: Public Speaking Sucker
   • Five Ways To Snap Your Audience Members Awake If They’re Dozing Off
7. Jerry Weissman: Power Presentations
   • Of Bees, Orators and Toastmasters
8. Paul Evans: Public Speaking Success
   • Professional Speaking : Getting Started
9. Nancy Tierney: Unconditional Confidence
   • Your Big Mouth: Why Public Speaking Is Your Most Powerful Marketing Tool (Part One)
10. Art of Speaking
    Primarily a directory of public speaking articles and links to presentation videos.
    • Speaking Links
11. Patti Wood: The Body Language Lady
    • Common questions about the science of body language
12. Patti Wood: Your Speech Coach
    No, that’s not a typo. Patti really does have two blogs on this list.
    • How to Make your Next Speech Funny or Funnier
13. Doug Stevenson: Story Theater International
    • How to Open Your Speech
14. Lisa Marshall: Art of Speaking Science
    • How Fast Do You Speak?
15. Denise Graveline: The Eloquent Woman
    • Do you overprepare for speeches?
16. Patrick Dixon: Conference Speakers
    • Fit into whole programme

Speech Humor Blogs

Blogs which cover many aspects of public speaking, but are particularly rich in humor articles.

1. John Kinde: Humor Power
   John’s regular Observational Humor and Cartoon Caption series are anticipated reads every month. John is one of many on this list to offer an email newsletter in addition to his blog.
   • Cartoon Caption Contest – Creative Writing
   • Observational Humor – Case Study #16
2. Jason Peck: Pro Humorist
   • Amazing Public Speaking Skill – The Hancock Manoeuvre
3. Brad Montgomery
   • How To Be a Motivational Speaker Or Comedian? Be Yourself!
4. George Gilbert: Motivational Humor
   • From Stand-up to Stand-Out

Speechwriting Blogs

Blogs which provide a helping hand during writer’s block. (What? You wing all your speeches? Tsk, tsk.)

1. Mignon Fogarty: Grammar Girl
   Tips (and podcasts) to improve your writing and speaking.
   • Metaphors and Similes
2. Daily Writing Tips
   • Latin Words and Expressions: All You Need to Know
3. Brian Jenner: The Speechwriter
   • Dramatic Speeches
4. Jay Heinrichs: It Figures
   All about figures of speech.
   • 10 Ways to Use Figures
5. Colin Moorhouse: We Need a Speech
   • On Becoming A Speech Writer: Where To Start?
6. Jessica Hatchigan: Speechwriting Blog
   • How to Write a Perfect Speech

Visual Presentation Blogs

Blogs which provide inspiration for peppering presentations with visual punch. Some are clearly inside the public speaking blogosphere (e.g. several PowerPoint blogs). Others might be better classified as visual inspiration.

1. Garr Reynolds: Presentation Zen
   The reigning king of professional presentation graphics. Presentation Zen is linked by more blogs on this list than any other.
   • Make your next presentation naked
2. Dave Paradi: PowerPoint Blog
   • New source of PowerPoint Maps
3. Laura Bergells: More than PowerPoint
   • Kitsch and Camp: The PowerPoint Twins
4. Norman Wei: PowerPoint without Bullet Points!
   • Presentation storyboard – tell them a story!
5. Paul Gibler: Powerful Presentation Techniques
   • Day 1 from PPT Live
6. TLC Creative: The PowerPoint Blog
   Many how-to mini-tutorials.
   • From This To That
7. Indezine: A PowerPoint Blog
   • Puzzle Pictures in PowerPoint
8. Robert Lane: Relational Presentation Blog
   • Have Only One Idea per Slide
9. Ellen Finkelstein: PowerPoint Tips Blog
   • The Magic of False Backgrounds
10. Jessica Hagy: Indexed
    Visit Indexed and you’ll see this isn’t a public speaking blog. Nonetheless, Jessica’s clever and simple index cards demonstrate how much power (and sometimes humor) can be packed into a simple image.
    • Ponder or Plod
    • Is it serious?
11. Andrew Vande Moere: Information Aesthetics
    Also not strictly a public speaking blog. However, the novel imagery inspire me to improve my visuals.
    • periodic table of visualizations
    • nytimes political debates visualization
12. Common Craft – Explanations In Plain English
    Collection of short videos which use simple techniques to convey concepts.
    • Video: Blogs in Plain English
13. Andrew Abela: Extreme Presentation Blog
    • Ballroom vs. Conference Room Style Presentations
14. Cliff Atkinson: Beyond Bullet Points
    • Make Your Ideas Concrete by Using a Prop in Your PowerPoint
15. Richard Bretschneider: Presentations Roundtable
    Podcasts with industry experts.
    • Three Keynotes: PowerPoint Live 2007

Professional Speaker Blogs

Blogs which lean toward advice for professional public speakers or business/sales presentations.

1. John Windsor: You Blog
   Consistently emphasizes the importance of focussing on your audience.
   • The You-Me Principle
2. Steve Mertz: Sales Presentations Training
   • A Presentation in Thirty Minutes
3. ManageSmarter.com Presentations
   • The Top 12 Presentation Mistakes
4. Jane Atkinson: Speaker Launcher
   • From 0 to 80 Gigs, Really?
5. Terry Gault: Speak Fearlessly
   • Strong communication from Shell’s CEO Hofmeister
6. Steve Siebold: Public Speakers Blog
   • Dont believe people who say the professional speaking business is easy
7. Sue Hershkowitz-Coore: SpeakerSue Says
   • 4 Ways to Destroy Your Next Presentation

Toastmasters Blogs

Most public speaking blogs mention Toastmasters from time to time. Blogs in this group focus primarily on the Toastmasters program or aim their content at Toastmasters members. There is useful content for non-Toastmasters, too.

1. Sarah Marks: Ah, Um, Er… A Toastmaster’s Blog
   Focussed on the Toastmasters Educational program. Includes an innovative set of podcasts. (Something I’d love to see from other bloggers in this sphere.)
   • Podcast: The Ice Breaker
2. Dave Wheeler: Division A Toastmasters Blog
   One of a growing number of Toastmasters clubs, areas, divisions, districts, and regions represented by blogs. Most focus on local events. This one does too, but also provides general-interest public speaking articles.
   • 3 T’s of Business Presentations…
3. Rich Hopkins: It Takes a Village to Build a Champion
   Chronicles Rich’s laborious efforts to win the World Championship of Public Speaking. The series of posts from 2006 is excellent; read them from earliest to latest for best effect
   • Practices 23, 24, and 25
4. Jim Key: The Adventures of Jim
   Former World Champion still very active in Toastmasters.
   • Why…
5. Yow Kia: Towards my journey to possess excellent communication skills
   • Online Evaluation #1: Fear Factor
6. John Spaith: Toastmasters & Etc.
   • Dealing With the Uninteresting Manual
7. Angie Flinn: The World According to Angie
   Former Toastmasters District governor.
   • Contest Mastering the Town North Super Bowl
8. Colin MacLeod: The Public Speaking Blog
   • Achieving the Objective
9. Chris: My Toastmasters Blog
   • Why Table Topics Are Important
10. Speaking Life
    Mostly in English, but includes some Mandarin.
    • Why do I keep coming back to toastmasters?
11. Jeff Bailey: MostToast
    • Toastmasters Won’t Make You a Better Presenter
12. Bo Bennett & Ryan Levesque: Talking Toastmasters
    Podcasts (open to all) which are a component of the Public Speaking iGroop (membership only).
    • Humor is Funny

Part-time Public Speaking Blogs

Blogs where public speaking is one of many topics covered.

1. Steve Pavlina
   Claims to be (and possibly is), “the most popular personal development web site in the world.”
   • Humor Speech
2. Guy Kawasaki: How to Change the World
   Author, philanthropist, businessman, and an admired speaker too.
   • The 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint
3. Lifehack.org
   • How to Cut Crutch Words When Giving a Speech
4. Lifehacker
   Links out to the best blogosphere articles on a wide array of topics. Check the Lifehacker archive for a list of topic-specific feeds. For example: communication, presentations, powerpoint, and public speaking. I wish more blogs offered this convenient way to subscribe.
   • Handle tough questions from an audience
5. KnowHR Blog
   Focuses on human resources topics.
   • How to Give a Great Presentation
6. Rowan Manahan: Fortify Your Oasis
   • Public Speaking Essentials – Timeliness
7. Nicholas Bate: Business of Life + Life of Business
   • Don’t distract
8. Jeremy Jacobs
   Occasionally reprints speaking articles.
   • Conference Presenting
9. Pedro Caramez
   • Take your Powerpoint presentation to a next level
10. James Feudo: Overnight Sensation
    • Five Tips for ESL (English as a Second Language) Speakers

Help the Public Speaking Blogosphere grow and flourish!

• Subscribe to all of these blogs in seconds.
  Just download the OPML file below, and then import it into your favorite feed reader. (What is OPML?)
  • Public Speaking Blogosphere OPML
• Add to this list by sending in your suggestions.
• Encourage public speaking bloggers with comments.
• Start a public speaking blog!

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Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.

Universal Truths of Public Speaking

To be fair, there are numerous gems in the lengthy list which are virtually universal truths of public speaking. These include:

1. Audience always comes first.
11. Tell a story, make a point.
125. Speak on something that you believe in.
140. The best speeches are not written, they are rewritten.
250. Persistence is key.

Who Says I Don’t Care About the Audience?

However, some of the advice seems too hasty and forceful, such as:

64. Never ask your audience how are they doing at the start of your presentation because we know you don’t really care. It’s just a sign that you are unprepared.
65. That includes “Good morning”, “Good afternoon” and “Good evening”.

Huh? Who says I don’t care how my audience is? While I concede that it is better to open with something more dynamic, I see no problem in building rapport with the audience if the situation allows for it.

A Public Speaking Guarantee?

Some of the 250 things are good general principles, but saying that you can “guarantee your speaking success” by following them is exaggeration. For example:

92. Observe the 10/20/30 rule: 10 slides, not more than 20 minutes, font size 30 at least.
93. Seriously, 80 slides in 45 minutes? You do the math.

As a general principle, the 10/20/30 rule from Guy Kawasaki has significant merit in many situations. But a successful speaker needs to be able to adapt the presentation style to the audience and the message being delivered. The Lessig Method applied in the Identity 2.0 presentation by Dick Hardt uses far more than 10 slides, but was perfect for that audience and that message.

Eek!

Some of the advice given is just plain scary. Consider:

103. Ten steps to becoming a better speaker.
104. Speak.
105. Speak more.
106. Speak even more.
107. Speak even more than that.
108. Speak when you don’t want to.
109. Speak when you do.
110. Speak when you have something to say.
111. Speak when you don’t.
112. Speak all the time.
113. Keep speaking.
114. In short, it is all about stage time.
115. Having said that, don’t speak for the sake of speaking.

I understand the Stage Time, Stage Time, Stage Time mantra. But one should never, ever “speak when you don’t want to” or “speak when you don’t [have something to say]“. Even though these points are, I assume, delivered somewhat tongue in cheek (see 115), it is careless to even suggest. Stage time is only a benefit if your heart is in it, and you are actually attempting to deliver a message.

Is Speaking a Game?

179. Treat your next speech like a game! Have loads of fun with it.

Excuse me? This contradicts “1. Audience always comes first” (a theme repeated in points 31, 33, 34, 35, 124, 139, 185, 217, and others). Public speaking is not a game. The audience are not donating their time so that you can practice and play games with them. Whatever you do, do it with purpose.

Repetition or Redundancy?

As indicated in the previous paragraph, some themes are repeated in the list of 250. Sometimes the repetition is bordering on redundant:

13. Make a serious point after you get your audience laughing – they remember better.
214. Make a serious point after your audience laugh, it sticks better.

Am I being mean and overly critical? I don’t think so. Great blog posts, like great presentations, need to be carefully edited. They need to be logically consistent. In an ideal world, they need to be free from marketing hype (“250 Things… Guarantee… Success”) and blatant self-promotion. (Is your book really the 2nd best book ever written?)

233. Don’t be afraid to say this to your audience – “RIP ME APART!” Repeat after me, “RIP ME APART!”

Consider yourself ripped, Eric. You can do better, and you have done so many times on your excellent blog.

Update – 2007-11-23

Eric demonstrated that he listens to his audience by trimming his original list down from 250 to 50. The resulting list is of significantly higher quality. Well done, Eric! Does this mean I should look at the posts on this blog and edit them down to the best 10% too?

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Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.

Every public speaker should be able to:

1. Research a topic – Good speakers stick to what they know. Great speakers research what they need to convey their message.
2. Focus – Help your audience grasp your message by focusing on your message. Stories, humour, or other “sidebars” should connect to the core idea. Anything that doesn’t needs to be edited out.
3. Organize ideas logically – A well-organized presentation can be absorbed with minimal mental strain. Bridging is key.
4. Employ quotations, facts, and statistics – Don’t include these for the sake of including them, but do use them appropriately to complement your ideas.
5. Master metaphors – Metaphors enhance the understandability of the message in a way that direct language often can not.
6. Tell a story – Everyone loves a story. Points wrapped up in a story are more memorable, too!
7. Start strong and close stronger – The body of your presentation should be strong too, but your audience will remember your first and last words (if, indeed, they remember anything at all).
8. Incorporate humour – Knowing when to use humour is essential. So is developing the comedic timing to deliver it with greatest effect.
9. Vary vocal pace, tone, and volume – A monotone voice is like fingernails on the chalkboard.
10. Punctuate words with gestures – Gestures should complement your words in harmony. Tell them how big the fish was, and show them with your arms.
11. Utilize 3-dimensional space – Chaining yourself to the lectern limits the energy and passion you can exhibit. Lose the notes, and lose the chain.
12. Complement words with visual aids – Visual aids should aid the message; they should not be the message. Read slide:ology or the Presentation Zen book and adopt the techniques.
13. Analyze the audience – Deliver the message they want (or need) to hear.
14. Connect with the audience – Eye contact is only the first step. Aim to have the audience conclude “This speaker is just like me!” The sooner, the better.
15. Interact with the audience – Ask questions (and care about the answers). Solicit volunteers. Make your presentation a dialogue.
16. Conduct a Q&A session – Not every speaking opportunity affords a Q&A session, but understand how to lead one productively. Use the Q&A to solidify the impression that you are an expert, not (just) a speaker.
17. Lead a discussion – Again, not every speaking opportunity affords time for a discussion, but know how to engage the audience productively.
18. Obey time constraints – Maybe you have 2 minutes. Maybe you have 45. Either way, customize your presentation to fit the time allowed, and respect your audience by not going over time.
19. Craft an introduction – Set the context and make sure the audience is ready to go, whether the introduction is for you or for someone else.
20. Exhibit confidence and poise – These qualities are sometimes difficult for a speaker to attain, but easy for an audience to sense.
21. Handle unexpected issues smoothly – Maybe the lights will go out. Maybe the projector is dead. Have a plan to handle every situation.
22. Be coherent when speaking off the cuff – Impromptu speaking (before, after, or during a presentation) leaves a lasting impression too. Doing it well tells the audience that you are personable, and that you are an expert who knows their stuff beyond the slides and prepared speech.
23. Seek and utilize feedback – Understand that no presentation or presenter (yes, even you!) is perfect. Aim for continuous improvement, and understand that the best way to improve is to solicit candid feedback from as many people as you can.
24. Listen critically and analyze other speakers – Study the strengths and weakness of other speakers.
25. Act and speak ethically – Since public speaking fears are so common, realize the tremendous power of influence that you hold. Use this power responsibly.

Which skills have I missed? Are all of those on the list essential?

Additional Skills for Professional Speakers

Note that I have not attempted to cover additional skills which professional speakers must have that relate to marketing, advertising, product development, and other aspects of running a professional speaking business. There are other resources which address these, such as:

• Eight Professional Competencies
• Expertise, Eloquence, Enterprise, and Ethics

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Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.