One of the old saws of public speaking says that you should "Tell em what you are gonna tell em. Tell em. Then tell em what you told em." When you want to make a point during your presentation, you can use a similar formula. You tell em the point, illustrate the point, then tell em the point again. This formula, however, can seem boring and redundant if you dont spice it up a little. One way to do it is to use humor. Here is the formula:
1. Make your point.
2. Illustrate your point (in our case with a humorous two-liner, but you could use props, humorous props, funny stories, serious stories, case studies, etc.)
3. Restate your point.
Here is an example where your point is "The Importance of Communication."
1. First make your point by saying, Accurate and clear communication is an important part of our everyday lives.
2. Then illustrate your point. In this case use a humorous two-liner. Its like the student pilot who was asked over the radio to state his altitude and location. He said, "I am five feet nine and I am in the left seat."
3. Then restate your point in a slightly different manner by saying, You can see how what we may think is clear communication could be interpreted incorrectly especially when people are under pressure. (Ref: Wake em Up Business Presentations Page 65)
"This book gives you advanced presentations skills and humor training that would otherwise take you years to learn. It is an absolute must read for anyone who wants to be a fantastic presenter."
Patricia Fripp, Past president & first woman president of the National Speakers Association
For Other Public Speaking Tips Click Here
Recent Articles:
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Public Speaking: How To Make A Point With Humor
Public Speaking: Make 'Em The Stars
If you make the audience the stars, they will make you the star by giving you higher evaluations and buying more of your ideas, products and services. Here are a few ways to do it:
=> Get them on stage with you. I find an excuse in virtually every presentation to have one or many people up there with me.
=> Mention their individual names, or subgroups during the program. Praise their accomplishments and mention the good ideas you got from them in your pre program research.
=> Put quotations of the audience members in the handouts. . . . again you could have easily gleaned quotes during your pre program research.
=> Put quotations and ideas of the audience members in custom visuals (overheads, slides and computer generated images). I do custom quote overheads with my company name on them at the bottom. After using it in the presentation, I give it to the person who gave me the information. I've seen these pinned up on the recipients bulletin board long after my presentation.
=> Give out awards. Find out who the unsung heros are and make up an award to present during your presentation.
=> Give out prizes for people who participate in a positive way.
Want to be more professional in the way you approach each speaking engagement? Do at least two of the above items every time you speak. . . . Raise the bar and make them the stars. (Ref: Wake em Up Business Presentations)
For Other Public Speaking Tips Click Here
Recent Articles:
Amazing Public Speaking: Props Part 2
Types of props There are many different kinds of props that can be used to your advantage in a presentation. Extra large or extra small props are funny. Noisemakers are funny. Even though you are attacking the sense of hearing, you are attacking it in a unique way that makes it memorable. Costumes and magic tricks make good props.
I have a friend who speaks on telephone skills. He uses a giant telephone receiver to make a point about the importance of phone skills. I used a clown prop to make the serious point that if we went through with this merger it would be like being in a thunderstorm with a clown umbrella (for those of you that do not know, a clown umbrella is only about 8 inches in diameter).
Noisemakers are fun. I recommended that a sales manager get one of those expressway revenge devices that makes machine gun, ray gun, and bomb noises when you press a button. If XYA company (remember no Zs) gets in our way, this is what will do to them (he pressed the machine gun button while holding the device near the microphone). He got his point across.
I have worn gorilla costumes, brought full-size mannequins on stage and kicked them around. I have done simple magic tricks and many other things to get my point across in a more memorable and interesting fashion.
You dont necessarily have to do wild things to use props. A very creative friend of mine, Carolyn Long, was going to talk about the keys to creativity. She opened by holding up keys, then discarded them in favor of a combination lock. Her point was made.
Tips for using props
=> Normally you should keep your special props hidden until you are ready to use them.
=> Make sure the prop can be seen from all parts of the room.
=> ALWAYS talk to the audience, not the prop (unless the prop is a puppet).
=> Make sure the audience is focused on surprise props before you unleash the surprise. (If using a fake peanut can with pop out snakes, hold the can in full view for an extra second before you open it so the audience does not miss it).
For Other Public Speaking Tips Click Here
Recent Articles:
- Amazing Public Speaking: Props Part 1
- Public Speaking: Be A Little Phony On The Phone
- More Humour For Public Speaking - Making Fun Of St...
- Using Humour For Your Next Presentation - Public S...
- Speaking To Younger Audiences
- Amazing Public Speaking Testimonial Tips
- Public Speaking Book Review: Words That Sell
More Humour For Public Speaking - Making Fun Of Stupid People
40 TERMS FOR THE STUPID:
A few clowns short of a circus.
Dumber than a box of hair.
Too much yardage between the goal posts.
A few fries short of a Happy Meal.
An experiment in Artificial Stupidity.
A few beers short of a six-pack.
A few peas short of a casserole.
Doesn't have all her cornflakes in one box.
The wheel's spinning, but the hamster's dead.
One Fruit Loop shy of a full bowl.
One taco short of a combination plate.
A few feathers short of a whole duck.
All foam, no beer.
The cheese slid off her cracker.
Body by Fisher, brains by Mattel.
Couldn't pour water out of a boot with instructions on the heel.
He fell out of the Stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down.
An intellect rivaled only by garden tools.
As smart as bait.
Chimney's clogged.
Doesn't have all his dogs on one leash.
Doesn't know much, but leads the league in nostril hair.
Elevator doesn't go all the way to the top floor.
Forgot to pay her brain bill.
Her sewing machine's out of thread.
His antenna doesn't pick up all the channels.
His belt doesn't go through all the loops.
If she had another brain, it would be lonely.
Missing a few buttons on his remote control.
No grain in the silo.
Proof that evolution CAN go in reverse.
Receiver is off the hook.
Several nuts short of a full pouch.
Skylight leaks a little.
Slinky's kinked.
Surfing in Nebraska.
Not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
The lights are on, but nobody's home.
24 cents short of a quarter.
For Other Public Speaking Tips Click Here
Recent Articles:
Using Humour For Your Next Presentation - Public Speaking
Test humor is humor that is placed in your written introduction. It is to be read by your introducer, not by you. Pick a couple of these lines and stick with them. The real value of test humor comes when you have heard the same line being delivered in your introduction over and over. The laughter of the audience will tell you if they are ready to laugh. This concept is called "in fun" (see Wake' em Up Business Presentations for a complete explanation.)
NOTE: The "?" is for your name, and most of these pieces of test humor can be used for either male or female presenters
? is one of the greatest speakers ever and that's just not my opinion, it's his/hers too. Let's welcome ? (lead enthusiastic applause)
It has been said that ? is the number one man/woman in the field of ???. And here folks is the man/woman who said it. Let's welcome ? (lead enthusiastic applause)
The man/woman I am about to introduce is so full of ideas I have heard him described as a manic EXPRESSIVE. Let's welcome ? (lead enthusiastic applause)
? is a man/woman who helps people. In fact, he/she would never turn someone away from his/her door if they needed help ...He/she would let them sit there all day if they wanted to. Let's welcome ? (lead enthusiastic applause)
Some people believe that ? is one of the greatest business speakers alive today....Of course some people believe in the Easter Bunny. Let's welcome ? (lead enthusiastic applause)
?'s discussion of (subject) will be very enlightening. She says that after her talk you will still be confused, but on a much higher plane.
? says she is going to speak and hopefully you are going to listen. If you finish before she does, please raise your hand.
? says she will be happy to answer any questions you might have as long as you don't ask, "Why did you bother to come here?"
Although she eventually became a model ? says she wasn't the cutest child. In fact, her parents threw away her kindergarten photo and framed the negative.
? says she doesn't read Fortune, but she has eaten a lot of their cookies.
? says she wants to fly to Hawaii for a second honeymoon and she's getting her husband to drive her to the airport.
? says their are seven ages of women: Baby, infant, Jr. Miss, Young Woman, Young Woman, Young Woman and Young Woman.
? Says the best years of her life were the ten years between 29 and 30.
? Says he was a war baby. His parents looked at him and started fighting.
? Says he was born during the great depression. Not the countries. His mothers.
? Says she will give you in length what she lacks in depth.
She/he wants you to think of her/his talk as the horns of a steer. A point here, a point there and a lot of bull in between.
For all female audience:
? says diamonds are a girl's best friend and dogs are a man's best friend. Now you know which sex has more sense.
? says a businesswoman has to be twice as good as a man. Fortunately, that's not hard to do.
For Other Public Speaking Tips Click Here
Recent Articles:
Public Speaking Book Review: Words That Sell
The title of this article is the same as a famous book by Richard Bayan that is used by marketing professionals around the world. As I was looking through it the other day I realized that the same kinds of words could be used in public speaking to get the same kinds of effects.
We want to sell our ideas don't we? We want to increase our credibility don't we? We want to move people to action don't we? These are all the things that good advertising copywriters try to do in print with their words. Judiciously using the phrases in this book will give you a more scientific way to accomplish the goals of your speech. You will have specific words and word phrases to pick from to get a particular response from the audience.
Example: Let's say you are telling the audience about a good resource that you want them to check out. You want to persuade them to seek it out and take advantage of it. You might turn to the "Words that Sell" book and go to the "Informative" section. There you would find words and word phrases that mean valuable and informative.
You might say:
"This resource will:
take the guesswork out of ...
expand your knowledge ...
help to alter your perceptions of ...
keep you abreast of ...
give you new insight ...
give you the hard facts ...
keep you ahead of the game ...
There were 33 phrases in that section alone. This book will simplify your work especially when you are searching for just the right thing to say to make a particular point. In addition, it is an indispensable tool to have around when you are writing copy for your promotional material and website.
Alex Ryan
For Other Public Speaking Tips Click Here
Recent Articles:
Public Speaking Book Review: "The Shortcut to Pers...
Public Speaking Book Review: "The Shortcut to Persuasive Presentations" by Larry Tracy
Book Review
"The Shortcut to Persuasive Presentations" by Larry Tracy
I'm amazed by Larry Tracy. Larry was an accomplished speaker before I even started. He has the uncanny ability to meet you, learn a few things about you and give a PERFECT introduction as if he'd known you for years.
Larry has endorsements from President Ronald Reagan (the great communicator), Ambassadors and hundreds of other top government, military and political figures.
His book has a very interesting section called "Murder Boards". This is a group of people that hit you with every hard question in the book BEFORE you do your actual presentation. . . . Talk about high level preparation.
One of Larry's jobs was to explain government policy to some of the most demanding and hostile audiences in the country. He did this over 400 times. If you do what's in this book, I don't believe there is anything that could shake you up on stage.
Larry gives exact details on how to deal with difficult audiences and even how to lure debaters into saying things that undermine themselves to their supporters.
I also loved Larry's explanation of "Primacy" and "Recency". He totally made me realize how important openings and closings are.
You can't go wrong with this book.
Tom Antion
For Other Public Speaking Tips Click Here
Recent Articles:
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Public Speaking Tips – Why You Should Tell Stories During Your Speech
Storytelling is a powerful medium when it comes to public speaking and you’ll notice that the majority of popular public speakers these days have a series or wide collections of funny and other emotional stories to tell.
Stories that make you laugh, cry, sadden and other emotional feelings are the best stories to tell as it give your audience a roller coaster of emotions. The more emotions they feel the more of a connection and rapport they’ll feel towards you.
I recall at that at one point I told a story about a dear friend of mine who had lost his way when it came to love, he had everything at one point and then gave it all up and now he’s lost, alone and very sad, my story about my dear friend was a long one (not to be repeated here) and I could feel the energy in my seminar room warm towards me after this story.
Its strange and very funny at the same time.
Storytelling in public speaking is considered a norm these days with many public speakers taking up storytelling classes and coaching to gain that sense of rapport with their audience.
Storytelling is an art form and we should be happy of that, as this means the more we practice the craft of storytelling the better we’ll become at it.
I hope you enjoyed this quick article on storytelling in public speaking.
Alex Ryan
Recent Posts:
Timing Your Speech - Speaking Overtime Is Okay...
Do you ever find you going overtime in your speech?
If so then that's okay and here's why ...
There is a range of arguments out there supporting going overtime when you speak, I always go overtime to ensure my audience gets full value from me.
Another argument is timing is critical in your speech and ensuring you don't go overtime is critical to building respect with your audeince. No audience member appreciates speakers going overtime and it shows disrespect to them and their time.
Alex Ryan
http://www.10PublicSpeakingTips.com
Recent Posts:
Fear of Public Speaking - Why Are You Still Afraid Of Speaking In Public?
Fear of public speaking still grips the majority of speakers to this day. The only difference between a successful speaker and YOU is how THEY handle their fear. Professional speakers look like they're having fun on stage whereas younger public speakers freak and are clueless on how to act.
Enjoy the video!
Alex Ryan
10publicspeakingtips.com
Posts
