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
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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)
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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
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Amazing Public Speaking: Props Part 1
The term "prop" is a shortened version of the theatrical term "property," a word used to describe any object handled or used by an actor in a performance. As a presenter you are a performer whether you believe it or not. You have an obligation to use whatever means that are necessary to get your message across to the audience.
I think of props as any physical item that is on stage with you. Your flipchart is a prop. Your lectern is a prop. Overhead projectors, pointers, notes, chairs, markers, pens, and other audio/visual aids are all forms of props. Conversely,props are a form of visual aid.
Why use props?
Props help warm up the audience. They can be used as a substitute for notes. They help focus attention on the points you are trying to make along with illustrating them for you. They make better connections than your words with the visually oriented members of your audience. They create interest, add variety, and make your points more memorable.
Props can be used pre-program to pass around in the audience in anticipation of the program. You see this at large arenas when beach balls and Frisbees are being tossed around in the crowd. I pass out snacks and/or custom-designed crossword puzzles about the group that I make on my computer. The puzzles make especially great icebreakers because the members of the group get together to help each other with the solutions.
Do you hate relying on notes? Props can be a substitute for written cheat sheets. To illustrate this in live seminars and television interviews I use three hats as an outline for a program. The first hat is a gag ball cap that has really long hair attached to it so that you look like a hippie when you wear it. The second hat is a black top hat. The third is a safari hat. Each hat prompts me to talk about a thoroughly rehearsed bit or chunk. Putting on the longhaired ball cap immediately reminds me to talk about when the company was young and aggressive. After that section I remove the ball cap (if you have a fun and playful audience, you could put it on an audience member's head), then I put on the black top hat. The top hat prompts a section on the mature growth years of the company. I then put on the safari hat which kicks off a section on searching for new business. The whole talk is done without any notes at all. You only have to memorize your opening and closing and practice each of the sections independently as you learned in a previous issue.
Didnt someone say a prop is worth a thousand words? Maybe that was a picture, but its just about the same thing. Many times a well selected prop will illustrate your point much better than you could ever do in words. It also focuses attention directly on the point you are trying to make because it is something novel that is occurring during the presentation. People can space out easily on your words, but a unique prop is hard to ignore. Also, the visually oriented people in your audience will perk up and get more value when you use props.
Memorability is another good reason to use props. People remember pictures far longer than words. That is why the great storytellers try to use words to create images in your mind. They know the images will be remembered when the words are long forgotten. If you are not a great storyteller yet, you can use props to help create these pictures.
For Other Public Speaking Tips Click Here
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