Public Speaking - Using Participant Introductions

Interacting with your participants generally increases their learning, holds their attention, helps you make your points, and possibly provides for new information to be shared. Technical presentations hold some different challenges because most of the participants will be writing and taking notes throughout the program. Interactive processes must enhance the learning process and not just provide a break or entertainment. There are lots of proven techniques, but the introduction seems to work best of all and will, as a general rule, get most if not all of the attendees to participate:

Attendees at a technical session generally have a specific need in mind when they sign up for the program. By getting them to open up and share their needs, all the participants stand to benefit from the applications and concerns of someone else. In other words, there is a sharing of goals, concerns, and needs which may become as relevant and valuable to the participants as the materials you present.

Participant introductions serve two useful purposes. First, getting people to say anything at the beginning of a session gets them involved and is a way to establish interest in what you will say afterward. And second, if the participants do not know each other they may find it useful to know who is in the room. On the other hand, introductions can take up a lot of time. People can insert many irrelevant comments and take up valuable time talking about themselves.

If your session is part of a larger program, like a conference, introductions may not fit into the workshop format. The critical consideration in whether to have participants introduce themselves is time. For instance, if there were 15 people in the room for a three-hour session, introductions might be helpful. If there are 60 people in the room for a one-hour program, the time constraint would eliminate the possibility of adequate introductions.

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Presentation Skills - Old Humor Is Good Humor

Humor is only old if your audience has heard it before and if they remember it. Most people don't remember the exact details of jokes, one-liners, and stories. This is not contradictory to the fact that one of the uses of humor is to make your points more memorable.

One of the reasons people don't remember jokes and other pieces of humor is that the humor is usually heard out of context. The humor was not used in conjunction with a point which is the way you should use it in a professional presentation. The humor was used for entertainment value only and was enjoyed and quickly forgotten.

When you bring back some of this old humor, you will be tying it to your point which makes it acceptable to use in the first place. In the second place, even if some audience members recognize the humor, they probably don't remember the punch line. If you tell it well, even these people will enjoy hearing it again.

The technique to tell a very old joke or story is to tell the audience it is old. This is the one time when you should tell the audience you have a joke or story coming. If you don't tell them that you know it is old, they will likely think you are out of touch. If you tell them you are going to tell an old story or joke, you are telling them you know it's old, but it makes the point so well that you think it is worth telling again.

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Presentation Skills - Types Of Pauses

A true NO ZZZZZs presenter doesn't feel that he or she must jabber away constantly to keep the audience awake. Skilled presenters use silence to add to the effectiveness and polish of a program. Theatrical folks have identified a whole bunch of neat pauses which I'm sure they have a ball playing with. I'm only going to address some of the most obvious and important ones here.

Short
The shortest pauses, which last anywhere from one-half to two seconds, are for the simple purpose of separating your thoughts. All you have to remember is to slow down. Give the audience a fighting chance to absorb what you are saying. Change your voice inflection slightly at the end of each thought to cue the audience the next thought is coming. Also, use a short pause before and after any phrase (punch line) or word you want to emphasize.

Spontaneity
Another neat pause is known as a spontaneity pause. This is a planned "unplanned" pause used so that you don't look too rehearsed. You might apply this pause when you want to pretend to search for a word or phrase that you already know.

Long
Long pauses of more than three seconds are very powerful. They command the audience to think about what you just said that is if what you just said was worth thinking about. Please[pause][pause][pause] don't be afraid to be quiet once in a while. It can dramatically increase your impact.

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Tom Antion - Handouts

Handouts are multipurpose tools that enhance most presentations. They are
also another way to get audience members in fun. I provide handouts for virtually every presentation I do. One of the reasons is that audience members really enjoy being able to take something home with them. For me, it is also a way to make sure they have easy access to my name and phone number in case they have questions or if they want to hire me.

Computer programs make it very easy to create totally customized handouts for your presentations. These are valued by the participants and meeting planners much more than generic ones. I always make a customized cover that is printed on colored paper and that uses some type of graphic that pertains to the group. For instance, if I am speaking to the printing industry, I go to my electronic clipart collection and find something that pertains to printing.

In this case I located a large roll of printing paper. If I don't have any clipart that pertains to the industry, I'll put a cartoon of myself standing on a map of their state. Don't be afraid to be creative. If it is customized to them, they will love it. Most of the time I customize the inside of the handout too. I only use modules that I know will pertain to their group and many times I include quotes that I got from the actual attendees during my pre-program interviews.

I always try to put something fun in the handout. This virtually insures that the handout would not be thrown away. I gave the attendees a reason for using the handout when they get back to their offices. The stress reducer exercise is lots of fun and again gives my handout a longer life. For space reasons I don't put my name and address on each page in these examples. But when I am actually preparing handouts all my information goes at the bottom of each page.

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Public Speaking - Stand Up and Be Counted

You've heard of stand-up comics, right? There's evidence from a study done by The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania that you should be a stand-up presenter. These results came from a controlled study of a situation where the presenters tried to persuade people to invest in a new business venture.

For the first group, the presenter sat down and talked across a table. For the second group, all the facts and figures were identical, but the presenter stood up and used visual aids. Can you guess the results? In the first group, 58 percent of the people agreed to invest in the new business. Not bad, right? It's not too bad unless you compare it with the second group where 79 percent of the people agreed to invest.

Another study at the University of Minnesota found that a stand-up presentation using visual aids will cause your customers to be willing to pay 26 percent more money for your exact same product or service.

When you stand up, you instantly command authority, attention, and interest. People know it's time to listen. When you are standing, you can move about, which also keeps attention. Rigid, feet-glued-to-the-floor presenters will elicit loud snoring in short order. People also love visual aids, and you are the best and most reliable one in your presentation.

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Public Speaking - Sources For Speakers

The reason I talked about current information and personal life events first is that they will glean you the highest amount of impact. Using your own life incidents and observations makes you unique. Why should you be asked to speak if anyone could get up in front of the group and recite the same old tired information and stories? I encourage you to spice up your presentations with your interpretations of news events and information and your personal
experience.

However, I go back again to the idea that you must change up. An entire presentation based on you could be considered self-aggrandizing and boring. It is perfectly acceptable and needed to include observations and humor of others to support your points. This information is easily found in reference material for speakers. Many reference books for speakers include both serious and humorous material. Here are just a few of the ones I rely on when preparing a presentation. Note: Some may be out of print, but you can search used book stores and use used book search services to find them.

The Book of Business Anecdotes by Peter Hay (New York: Facts on File, 1988).
Speakers Library of Business Stories, Anecdotes and Humor by Joe Griffith, (New York: Prentice Hall, 1990).

How to be the Life of the Podium by Sylvia Simmons, (New York: Amacom, 1992).

Most of these resources are categorized by subject and they put thousands of pieces of material at your fingertips. I also have a generous supply of used books on many other specific subjects. I really go crazy in the used bookstores and flea markets. For instance, at a yard sale, I found a book of baseball anecdotes that only cost me a quarter. When the time comes that I need a baseball story this book is waiting on my bookshelf to help me hit a home run. (I can't believe I used another dumb joke like that!)

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Public Speaking - Is Anybody Out There?

The body language and facial expressions of the audience are just as important to you as your own gestures and movement. They can be a good indicator of how the audience is feeling. If they are squirming in their chairs, looking around, yawning, or slouched, it is time for you to stop or do something to gain their interest. Bob Lucas, manager of professional development at the National Office of the American Automobile Association and president of Bob Lucas and Associates, says, "If your participants are painfully looking at their watches then they are not learning."

Watch carefully for signs of boredom and/or general disagreement. If members of the audience have their arms folded across their chests, refuse to make eye contact with you, or if they have cross looks on their faces, chances are you are not connecting.

When you see these signs, you must do something different. Take a break if you have to, but do something. If you simply drone on, matters will only get worse. Always have several of the attention gaining techniques listed in chapter 5 ready to go just in case.

If you are successful in regaining the interest of the audience, you will see a definite change in their body language and facial expression. They will turn toward you and lean forward while giving you good eye contact. You will also see heads nodding when you make your points, and laughter and other responses will be heartier.

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Public Speaking - Ten Wanted Men

I staged a gag at a seminar one time that was loads of fun and took less than one minute to complete. Before the program, I picked out about 10 fun-loving audience members to help me. I gave them secret instructions that were to be carried out on a certain cue during the program. To start the gag, I had my assistant interrupt the seminar to give me an important note. The note read (I used a serious expression):

"It appears that someone is in attendance today with another man's wife. There is a large and irate man on his way here right now. If you want out, there is a backstage door you can use to escape quickly."

At this point, 10 men jumped up out of their seats and ran keystone cop style out the door. Once they realized what was happening, several women jumped up and ran out too. It was great fun and the gag sure woke up everyone who had a heavy lunch.

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Public Speaking - Woman Presenters by Lilly Walters

Lilly Walters, Speakers Bureau Owner: Excerpt from Wake 'Em Up Business Presentations

I am a female who speaks and owns a speakers bureau. As much as I dislike the reality of it, audiences still tend to prefer men. For a woman to be a hit on the platform she needs to be much better than a man. I know, I know, thousands of feminists are ready to shoot me. But the reality is, when my buyers make their final decisions, more times than not they are still hiring men. They may ask for a woman when they call in, but they often end up hiring a man.

Academic researchers have found that women actually lose immediacy points for joke telling. Students tend to be more strongly influenced by the amount and type of humor used by male lecturers than by female. The researchers also note that female students are influenced less by jokes and wisecracks than are male students, and more by the use of stories and anecdotes. The lesson to be learned seems to be that female presenters should incorporate humor through the use of stories and anecdotes, especially for predominantly female audiences. For predominantly male audiences, the judicious use of jokes which are relevant to the audience or subject matter should be added.

My personal reflection on this research is that we as women are still not as secure up there as men. It is not the learners and their styles at fault, it is us. Some of us have tapes running in our minds that say "demure" and "feminine," which is fine, if you can add passion. Passion is what sells concepts to your audience. Look at Mother Theresa, plenty of passion, but she uses it with strength. The result is very womanly presenters that captivate the audience. For you technical types that say, "What is demure and feminine?", a little passion is advantageous for you too. It is one of our unique strengths as women, so capitalize on it.

Lilly Walters is a best-selling author, a business executive, and a professional speaker. She is the Executive Director of Walters International Speakers Bureau. Together, Lilly and Dottie, Lilly's world famous speaking mother, publish "Sharing Ideas," the largest news magazine in the world for professional speakers.

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Public Speaking - Stand Up and Be Counted

You've heard of stand-up comics, right? There's evidence from a study done by The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania that you should be a stand-up presenter. These results came from a controlled study of a situation where the presenters tried to persuade people to invest in a new business venture.

For the first group, the presenter sat down and talked across a table. For the second group, all the facts and figures were identical, but the presenter stood up and used visual aids. Can you guess the results? In the first group, 58 percent of the people agreed to invest in the new business. Not bad, right? It's not too bad unless you compare it with the second group where 79 percent of the people agreed to invest.

Another study at the University of Minnesota found that a stand-up presentation using visual aids will cause your customers to be willing to pay 26 percent more money for your exact same product or service. When you stand up, you instantly command authority, attention, and interest. People know it's time to listen. When you are standing, you can move about, which also keeps attention. Rigid, feet-glued-to-the-floor presenters will elicit loud snoring in short order. People also love visual aids, and you are the best and most reliable one in your presentation.

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