Public Speaking Skills - The Size of the Audience

The size of your audience has a direct effect on the types of humor which are most appropriate, the expected audience response and the timing of the presentation.

Members of very small business groups tend to be too self-conscious to laugh much. Use short one-liners. Be brief and informal with your humor; don't use any long stories or jokes.

In small groups laughter will come more quickly. It's now OK to stretch to jokes and short stories. Your presentation will take less time to deliver than to a large group.

A presentation to very large crowds in enormous rooms or venues such as stadiums will take longer to deliver because laughter comes in waves. The portion of the audience right in front of you will laugh first. Then most of the rest of the crowd will laugh. The third wave will come when those slower to get the joke finally do, and when those who laugh because everyone else is laughing kick in. You must allow time for this phenomenon to occur. In large crowds you must play to the back of the room. These people are hardest to reach.

Why do you need public speaking to boost your career?

Speaking Training: Presenting Like a Pro

http://www.AmazingPublicSpeaking.com

If you want to get paid for your public speaking engagements then you
need to know what professional speakers know.
Over 450 public and professional speaking videos.

Public Speaking Gags - He Tripped Me!

And now for the ultimate audience gag. Drum roll, please. I do an old, old banquet gag that I recycled for the 90s.I call it Cuss Your Lunch which stands for Cuss(tomer) Service Your Lunch.

Through my practical joke company, I have done literally hundreds of performances as the Clumsy Waiter at banquets, luncheons, and wedding receptions. These performances were done mainly for fun and they are not messy unless, of course, you want them to be. When I started speaking more and more to business audiences I wanted to find a way to incorporate this outrageous routine. Now Cuss Your Lunch is a live training session on customer service, but the participants don't know it. I get the company to arrange an appreciation luncheon for the managers or employees of the customer service division.

I am planted as the waiter at the function. The participants really feel what it is like to get rotten service. There are two ways this can end. One way is to prat fall to the floor and make a really big commotion. I claim that some innocent attendee tripped me. The banquet manager or head waiter then comes in and fires me. Then I reveal the joke and immediately go into a customer service presentation based on what they have just experienced. The other way to end this presentation takes more time and effort, but is more fun. In this case, I storm out of the room after being fired. I immediately go somewhere and change into a spiffy suit. I change my hairstyle, take off my glasses and return to the meeting as the guest speaker whose plane was late. The looks on the participant's faces are something you have to see to believe. If you want to see for yourself, you can hire me to do this for your company. Ha-ha.

Don't be afraid to have fun with an audience. Gags are a good way to do it and they can really help you drive home your point too.

Get more great speaking gags and tricks!

Attention Public Speakers: I Don't Know How She Did It...

and I don't care...

If you've known me for a while, you probably have heard me talk
about the fact I wanted the "Ka-ching" sound on my cell phone
as my ring tone. I gave up trying to figure it out myself knowing
it would take me all day.

A young, geeky girl in the office heard me complaining about
this. She took the phone and came back in five minutes with the
Ka-ching sound on the phone.

Do I know how she did it?.....NO
Do I care how she did it?.....NO
Was the job done quickly without any hassle on my part? .....YES!

This same geeky girl edited a video for me that has made me I
would estimate at least 5 million bucks since she did it.

I'VE BEEN TELLING YOU THIS FOR YEARS

If you want to be successful online, you need to get a geek. I
recruited my first one in 1997 and he was a major part of my
success today.

The fact is that you shouldn't be wasting time trying to figure
out complicated technological things when a local nerd could do
it easily for practically pennies.


Here are just a few things a geek can help you with:

=> Tutoring to help you operate your computer, IPAD, IPhone,
Droid, etc. better than you currently can

=> Social networking

=> Answering your dumb questions over the phone hahahaha without
making you feel bad about it.

=> Formatting e-books for you and

a ton of other things that will be outlined for you at the link
below.

The only problem is that people go out and try to find geeks on
their own, and they do it the wrong way which usually ends in
some kind of emergency disaster call to me.

That’s why I’m excited to tell you about a young student of mine
Zach Swinehart, and his "Geek Guidebook".

NOTE: I've never really promoted something this cheap that could
have such a profound effect on your business.

In the guidebook Zach walks you through EVERY step of the
process of finding and working with a geek. Here are a few of the
things included with the book:

=> Training about the five different types of geeks, and how
each one can benefit you

=> Step-by-step instruction on each of the 4 approaches you
can take to find geeks

=> Insight on how much to pay your geek, and how to pay your
geek

=> An outline of how long it takes professionals to do
things, so you will know if your geek is slacking off

=> Convenient downloadable pdf & doc formats, so that you
can start reading minutes after your purchase

=> Instruction on how to keep your information secure, so
that your geek doesn't compromise your security

PLUS

A bunch of bonuses, sample ads, interview questions and
customizable templates to find the perfect geek(s) for you.

Don’t let your Internet marketing success be delayed by your lack
of technological knowledge. Check out the super cheap Geek
Guidebook, and have your geek worry about the techy things, while
you work on the important stuff.

Another note: I built my Internet empire with Geeks. You'd be
crazy for this cheap amount of money to ignore this young man's
new book.

Check it out at:

http://www.GreatInternetMarketing.com/geekguide

Catch ya
Tom Antion

http://www.GreatInternetMarketing.com/geekguide

Corinne Gregory's Testimonial For The "Ultimate Guide To Professional Speaking"

http://www.antion.com/ultimateguide

Speaker Corinne Gregory talks about how Tom Antion's Utimate Guide gave her great money making tips.

Presentations in Non-Hotel Venues

When you are speaking at an event that is NOT in a hotel setting, you must pay particular attention to making sure you have everything you need to make a smooth event.

Here's a brief checklist of things that may not be available if you aren't in a hotel:

*Projection Screen
*Flip Chart
*Extension cords
*Power strips
*Ice
*Refreshments, coffee, juice, water, etc.
*Lunch
*Cups
*Napkins
*Pens
*Pencils
*Microphone and sound system
*Adapters
*Signage
*Copies

Add to the above list any items particular to your event that the hotel usually supplies. Pay close attention to every detail because there may be no time to head to Radio Shack or some other outside vendor before your event starts.

Checklists, forms, agreements and more, all in one place!

Public Speaking - Presenting Like a Pro

http://www.AmazingPublicSpeaking.com

If you want to get paid for your public speaking engagements then you
need to know what professional speakers know.
Over 450 public and professional speaking videos.

Public Speaking - What to Know About Speaker's Bureaus

1. The bureau must please their clients. Their aim is to have the client use the bureau for speakers on a regular basis. If you please their client, the bureau will use you again and again.

2. The client belongs to the bureau forever. Just as a sales rep's clients belong to them. The manufacturer is careful to give all commissions on business from their sales reps back to their reps. If they fail to do this, the sales rep will find other manufacturers who will do so.

3. The bureau looks not only for talent and content, but also for a speaker who is a pleasure to work with.

4. There are many speakers who speak on your subject. It is a competitive market. Speakers are easy to find. Clients are hard to get.

5. The bureau spends thousands of dollars in direct mail, advertising and telemarketing to find a client that wants to book you. You pay the bureau when they get you a job. Straight commission. Experienced speakers reveal that 50% of the fees they obtain for themselves go to marketing costs. So when you receive a bureau booking (most bureaus charge 25% - 35%) it is a bargain. This is why experienced speakers obtain 85% of their bookings from bureaus. They work hard to develop the relationships.

6. Ask bureaus for advice. If they offer career consultations, pay for it. They work with the buyers all day, every day. They are experts. What better source could you find?

7. If you team up with 20 bureaus that each get you one $2,000 talk per month, you will gross $40,000 monthly, or $480,000 per year. The client pays all travel and hotel expenses. When your calendar is full at the $2,000 price, it is time to raise your fees. Always give your bureaus plenty of advance notice of a raise. Many speakers we work with began at $1,000 and now charge $50,000 for a keynote.

8. Discuss the selling of your books, audio's and videos in bulk to the client. Give them written rates and commissions. Same with consulting and training fees.

9. Be available. Have the best answering machine or answering services you can find. Check you messages every 2 hours. If a bureau has a client waiting, they cannot hold on until you return their call a week later.

What else don't you know about speaker's bureaus?

Public Speaking - Humor to Avoid

The overriding principle is that you should not tease the audience about beliefs that are important to them or about any topic that is currently upsetting them. In addition, never use the following types of humor: Racist, sexist, religious, puns, any type of off-color humor, or humor about physical or mental disability.

I was preparing a presentation for a large hotel chain and from my pre-program work I uncovered a topic that was ripe for humor. The hotel chain and the franchisees were having some clearly ludicrous contract negotiation problems. When I approached the meeting planner about the topic, he told me that the franchisees were pretty upset about the way things were going. My comments, even though they were funny, might make them think about a painful situation. I chose to cut them. Why should I take the chance? It was also another good lesson in clearing humor before use.

When it comes to the nevers mentioned above, there are established pros who get away with ignoring them. Dr. Jarvis has been doing a hilarious bit on religion for twenty years without a problem. But, he has done the bit thousands of times and knows exactly what he is doing during the rest of the presentation to be sure the audience is receptive. I've talked to him recently and he tells me that people are so sensitive now he uses extreme caution when using the bit.

Use public speaking to make yourself the expert.

Tom Antion - Cruise Ship Speaking

http://www.AmazingPublicSpeaking.com

Learn how to take wonderful cruises and become cruise enrichment
speaker.
Over 450 public and professional speaking videos

Presentation Skills - Humorous Acknowledgments to Tough Situations

There will come a time when you will either be in front of a hostile audience or a hostile question will pop up during a relatively calm presentation. This is a tough situation at best and you have to handle it with kid gloves. Humor can save the day and maybe even help you become President.

When a hostile situation arises, you have to be especially careful that you don't antagonize the questioner or group further by making a flippant response. You can use humor to distract the antagonism, but you should always make a serious reply to the question at hand.

Example:
Let's say you are speaking at a stockholder's meeting and you are telling them about all the wonderful new products that are coming out. Then someone yells out, "What about the supreme turkey of a widget you came out with last year?" Now you are on the spot. If you ignore the question you will look like you are hiding. If you use a comeback that attacks the questioner or makes fun of him or her you will turn the rest of the group against you. So what do you do?

Use a prepared one-liner or some mildly amusing admission of guilt and then immediately go into a serious response to the question:

"We are donating all those widgets to the Navy because they have a shortage of boat anchors this year [pause for laughter]. But, seriously folks, based on all the available research we had at our disposal the widget looked like it would be a good solid seller for us. Then when the gizmo industry took a big hit, we no longer had a market for the widgets."

Then get back to your agenda.

Learn more great speaking tips!