Good points. Storytelling is so important in delivering a message and having people successfully learn and remember it. I would say a key point is to keep in mind what you want the audience to actually remember from the story -- it's easier to tell a story and have people remember the interesting bits, but more difficult to structure the story in such a way that places the focus on the bits you would like the audience to remember. Daniel Willingham in his book "Why Students Don't like School" spends a decent amount of time talking about the value of good storytelling.

On another note, the Presentation Zen blogger and author, Garr Reynolds, was a professor in a course I took a few years ago. Although the class he was teaching at the time had nothing to do with giving presentations or speeches, he was so passionate about the topic that peripherally* I ended up learning more about giving great presentations from his class than any other class I've ever had (including Speech in college). His blog is a great source for improving too.

*The topic constantly came up and Garr constantly organized related events outside of class

His class at Kansai Gaidai? Every time I read another one of his blog articles, I regret even more not taking his class when I had the chance.

I have fond memories of his classes (took 2). Possibly the only lecturer I've ever met who was actually trying to help his students get jobs by organizing networking events. Astounding.

Funny, yeah that's the one. I switched to his class after I heard one of his presentations in the international building one evening.