Public Speaking Articles: Week in Review [2008-04-26]

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

Topics featured this week include:

• the launch of a Toastmasters article series;
• media training;
• slide design;
• speaking cliches; and
• insight into speaking fees of professional speakers.

Week in Review: Six Minutes

Three articles were featured this week:

• Stop Rehearsing! 3 Critical Things to Do Before Your Speech
  Study the venue, meet your audience, and participate in the agenda — these are all more important than last-second rehearsing.
• Toastmasters Speech Series: Your Guide to the First 10 Speeches
  The launch of an article series which will examine public speaking fundamentals according to the Toastmasters educational program.
• Toastmasters Speech 1: The Ice Breaker
  Tips, techniques, ideas, and sample speeches for the first Toastmasters speech.

Week in Review: Public Speaking Blogosphere

These are the best public speaking articles from the past week:

• John Windsor argues that it is better for a speaker to be effective than electrifying.
• Rhett Laubach emphasizes the steps you need to take before you generate your outline.
• TJ Walker gives a brief lesson in media training by showing the types of quotes an interviewer loves.
• Cliff Atkinson gives a tutorial on slide design.
• Diane DiResta shows (in video) how to move around with purpose when speaking.
• Pete Ryckman explains that public speakers have an advantage over many other communications media: a captive audience.
• Ian Griffin tells all as motivational speaker Alison Levine reveals her speaking fees.
• John Kinde outlines the timing to use when attempting humor with visual aids.
• Melissa Lewis exposes “five tired, worn out speaking cliches.”

Toastmasters Contest Articles

• (District 51 Speech Contest Champion) K Loghandran provides 15 tips for contest success.
• From the Oameni Si Fluturi blog, here is a first-hand account from a contest in London about how a speech can touch the soul of spectator.

Make Your Slides Simple…

Here’s a warning from the web comic xkcd.

“Bear with me for a moment” may buy you a few seconds, but audiences won’t be patient forever. If you find yourself saying this over and over again, it’s a good indication that your slides are far too complex. Eliminate unnecessary elements, and retain only the meaningful bits of any slide.