Public Speaking Cartoons

http://www.AmazingPublicSpeaking.com

You must be careful using cartoons during your presentation. Tom tells you a couple ways that are more safe. Over 450 public and professional speaking videos.

Humor For Public Speakers - Stupidity

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.

Get more great speaking humor for your presentations!

Professional Public Speaking - Sexist Language

The use of sexist language is something you must also be careful to avoid in order to be in tune with today's society. There is an excellent section about this topic in the book Speak Like a Pro by Margaret Bedrosian. A salesman is now a salesperson. A fireman is now a firefighter. You don't look for a chairman for a meeting, you look for someone to chair the meeting or a chairperson.

You must be very careful in your use of humor in these sensitive times. People may fixate on one wrong word and tune you out and/or be offended. You may personally feel that using a little off-color joke once in awhile is OK, or you may think that no harm is done in using sexist language whenever you feel like it. I can assure you that you are wrong when it comes to professional presentations. Do whatever you want with your friends, but if you persist in any of these behaviors you will be labeled as "out-of-touch" and largely unpromotable in virtually every major corporation.

How will you make more money per speech in 2012?

Public Speaking - Solving Problems Early

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Tom Antion shows you a little problem and what you should be prepared for before you speak.

Public Speaking Tips - Interplay

I love to interact with the audience. It is much easier now that wireless microphones are so readily available. I can go right into the audience, I can sit in one of their chairs, I can sit on an audience member's lap if I want to (by now you should have realized that I am inclined to be totally irreverent if I know the audience can handle it).

You don't have to be as wild as I sometimes am to get the job done. You can calmly go into the audience with a wireless handheld microphone. Let the audience members ask their questions directly to you while you hold the mic to their mouths so that everyone else can hear. (Don't forget to bring the microphone back to your mouth for the answer.)

Another technique I use frequently is to speak directly to one audience member. It goes like this, Sharon, this is just between you and me. Whenever I do this, I can see out of the corner of my eye everyone else killing themselves to eavesdrop on Sharon and me. They feel like they are getting to hear something secret.

One-on-one interplay is also good when you are teasing or doing a little roast humor on someone in the group. Joe, lots of people believe that you are one of the top sales managers in the company. . . . Lots of people believe in the Easter Bunny too!

I'll go right up to someone in the audience and touch them on the shoulder while I'm talking (don't do this in Asia). I might say (reading their nametag to get the name) John here may have the highest sales volume, but if his net income is no good, John is not a happy guy.

Some speakers make up skits and give the audience members easy, but funny, parts to play. This is just an advanced form of role-playing.

Don't be afraid to get right in there and get your audience involved, physically, mentally, and emotionally and you will be on your way to becoming a NO ZZZZZs presenter. Bonus quotation lesson: Here are three different quotations that make the same point. Different audiences would relate to each differently. Always think about the make-up of your audience before you select your quotes.

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Presentation Skills - Saver Lines

Saver Lines are what you say when your supposedly humorous statement does not get a laugh. You shouldn't be ashamed to have to use saver lines. The top comedians in the world need them and some purposely make mistakes so they can get a laugh from the saver line. Johnny Carson was an expert at this. After a poor response to a joke he would say a comically insulting line like, "May an aroused herd of Yaks make an everlasting commitment to your sister" or "This is the kind of crowd that would watch Bambi through a sniper scope."

This method is most effective when a speaker shows a high confidence level and is fairly experienced. Say a witty, mildly attacking line to force them to laugh after they didn't laugh at your joke or one-liner.

* Do any of you out there speak English?
* I've got a book for sale outside that explains these jokes. You may want to pick up a copy.
* (If one person is laughing) Will you be kind enough to run around the room so it looks like everyone is having fun?
* You have marvelous self-control.
* I've got 20 more bad jokes just like that one and no one gets out until you start laughing.
* [Pick out a well-known person in the crowd] Joe that's the last time I'm using one of your jokes.
* I know you're out there, I can hear you breathing.
* I'm not going to wait forever for you.
* I was waiting on you a little on that one.
* That was a Polaroid joke. It takes one minute to get it.
* Everyone doesn't have to be funny all the time and I just proved it.

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Involving Your Participants: 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.

Learn more about great presentations!

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.

What other tips can increase your speaking effectiveness?

Public Speaking - Lecterns

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Tom Antion shows you a lectern with wheels. He discusses what you would use this for.

Public Speaking - Use Volunteers

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Tom Antion shows you the value of volunteers. Get volunteers by letting them attend the event for free.

Public Speaking - 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 don't 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've worn gorilla costumes, brought full-size mannequins on stage and kicked them around. I've done simple magic tricks and many other things to get my point across in a more memorable and interesting fashion.

You don't necessarily have to do wild things to use props. A very creative friend of mine 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.

Learn more great public speaking tips!

Public Speaking - Block off the Sound Area

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Tom Antion goes into detail on how and why you should block off the sound area from people bumping the equipment.