I guess this will come off as snarky given the huge amount of time that obviously went into this. But what kind of person states up front that this is basically the first time he has ever given a talk - and then writes a several thousand word treatise on how to give talks? Again, I don't mean to sound snobbish or grumpy (but I'm sure I do), but there must be something really interesting about the psychology of someone who does something once for the first time ever and then sets about writing a comprehensive guide on it.

I've given quite a number of talks to decent size audiences and there are some giant smoking turds of BS in here that I hope nobody giving a talk ever reads. Take for example this:

"Depending on the length of your talk, the memorization needed, and your speaking time, you can either start practicing the day before or the day of your engagement."

What the hell are you smoking? Practising a talk for the first time the day before you deliver it (let alone the actual day) is just about the worst advice I ever heard. Unless you are a certified egomaniac, this will probably destroy your confidence as you realise you can barely stutter your way through even the first two slides in the time alotted.

I guess I have to apologise to the author for sounding negative about something he has clearly put huge amounts of work into in an attempt to be helpful, but this kind of post just rubs me the wrong way.