Public Speaking: Involving Your Participants

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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Public Speaking: Enthusiasm

I was doing some work for a government agency where I was hired to critique
and improve the sales presentations of the program staff. It was an early
morning program full of typical mistakes by typical untrained presenters. The
audience was nearly asleep from the boring presentations and sugar crash they
were suffering after eating pastries when they got there.

I had been watching one particular presenter prior to his segment and I was
thinking to myself, "I'm going to have to really tear this guy up on his
evaluations." He was poorly groomed, including big dandruff flakes on his
poorly fitting sports jacket. His tie was hanging out over the top of his jacket
button. His pants were way too short I mean WAY too short. He appeared to
be just a goober of a guy.

When it was his turn to present his boring legislative issues topic, I got the
shock of my life. He virtually flew up on the stage. He was running around like
Groucho Marx. He was spouting off facts and figures. He made a perfect ad-lib
when the electrically operated overhead screen started to go up by itself. The
audience woke up and they were laughing and learning from this man. He
actually got applause in a meeting that wasn't even a setting where applause
would be appropriate.

From that experience I learned the value of enthusiasm. This man made
almost every technical error a presenter could make, but I gave him the highest
evaluation of all the other presenters. If you are ultimately enthusiastic about
your topic and let it show, many of your errors will go unnoticed. It's the same
way with storytelling and presenting in general. Your enthusiasm can make or
break your overall performance.

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Public Speaking: Get Coaching

When you really get serious about improving your presentation skills, you will
probably want to get some professional coaching. A good speaking coach will
be able to objectively evaluate where you are now and help you formulate a plan
to get where you want to be. There are no quick fixes, but you can make
significant improvement quickly if you work at it and have the proper direction.
The old joke is that the only way you can get fixed in one session is if you're a
dog.

A speaker coach will evaluate you either in person or with the help of video
and audio tapes. He or she will need to interview you to see what you think your
strong and weak points are and to see exactly what you want to accomplish. The
coaching necessary to prepare for a one-shot presentation on television would
be completely different from the coaching you would get to be a better trainer.

I like to use video when I train speakers although it is not absolutely
necessary for improvement. A speaker coach may use any number of different
techniques to try to help you toward your goals. You might be asked to stretch,
or do deep breathing exercises. You might even be asked to read from a child's
book. Your coach will do whatever he or she can to help you improve.

Your investment for private coaching can run from $20.00 per hour to
several thousand dollars per day. If you are a beginner, you probably don't need
the high priced Madison Avenue intensive training program. However, if you are
a CEO with a major keynote presentation coming up that could help secure
millions of dollars worth of business, then an intensive program might be right
for you.

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Banquet/Luncheon Tips

I have done many public speaking engagements in settings where meals were part of the program. You may want to politely remind the program coordinator to consider some of the following points:

ROOM SET-UP

(Many of these tips work whether food is being served or not)

Avoid spacing round tables widely apart in an attempt to fill the available space. Distance makes audience involvement and participation much more difficult. A better idea would be to space the tables as close together as practicable (allowing enough room for comfortable waiter and waitress movement). Empty room space could be filled with a decorative divider of some sort.

Avoid a great distance between the head table /dais / speaker area and the first row of tables. Again, distance is a great barrier to speaking and interaction.

Try to set the head table / speaker area on the long side of the room. This means that the back row participants will be closer to the speaker than if you set the head table / speaker area on the short side of the room (participants will feel they are really far from the action).

Consider allowing the speaker an option of speaking areas. Many top speakers can do a better job if they are not confined behind a head table and/or lectern. Most public audiences like being closer to the speaker too. To accomplish this, place extra chairs near the front of the room to be used by the head table participants after dinner (of course, this would depend on your overall program). You would not want them seated behind the speaker during the program. Set head table back from the front of the podium. Speaker can perform in front of the head table.

Set buffet tables far to the side or on the opposite end from the speaker area. If someone goes back for late seconds or arrives late, he or she will not be disruptive.

Discourage use of doors anywhere near the head table/speaker area.

Click here if you want tips on timing while speaking and a banquet.

Public Speaking: False Guest Speaker Gag

One of my favorite gags is the false guest speaker. The length of the bogus
speech is easy to vary to suit your program. Some speakers have a canned act
and speak on a generic topic like stress reduction. They then go off on bizarre
tangents to the point of lunacy until the joke is revealed.

A better version includes a presentation that is customized for the group. An
insider or accomplice provides industry buzzwords and authentic issues so the
speech starts off in a believable and relevant fashion. The speaker then rambles
off on unrelated topics that are weaved into the real information to lead the
audience down the path to bewilderment.

Really good speakers open up the microphone for a question and answer
session in which they ad-lib or give pre-written comical answers to expected or
planted questions.

The speaker doing an impostor routine has to be ready for anything. One
thing to avoid, unless you are really good at ad-libbing, is being pinned down
before the program on questions you couldn't possibly answer. To avoid this
situation, I usually rush into the in-progress meeting carrying my luggage as if
my plane was late. Then I let them have it. The downside to this type of entrance
is that you do not have a chance to check the room setup and microphone before
you go on. Make it clear to the meeting planner how important these items are
if you decide to try this gag.

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How to Close a Speech

One of the worst mistakes you can make as a public speaker is talking too long. Not only will you send some folks to never, never land, you will make some of them downright mad. It doesn't matter if your entire speech was brilliant and the audience came away with information that will change their lives. If you talk too long, they will leave saying, "That speaker just wouldn't quit." Don't let this happen to you! Say what you have to say and sit down. Before you do, give them a well thought out closing.

The last thing you say may be the most remembered. You must put as much time into selecting and practicing your closing as you put into any other part of your presentation. Just like your opening, your closing does not have to be humorous. It could be motivational, challenging, thoughtful, respectful of the length of the presentation, or it could restate your point in a different way. This ending segment will have a strong influence on what the audience takes home with them when you are done. Please, at sometime during your talk ask the audience to do something. Many a great NO ZZZZZs talk went no further than the walls of the meeting room because the audience wasn't moved to action. If you haven't ask them to do something by now, the closing is your last chance.

If the subject is appropriate, I happen to be fond of humorous closings for several reasons. If you leave them laughing and applauding, you will exit, but an extremely positive impression about you will remain. Another good reason to leave them laughing is that the room will not be deadly silent as you are walking back to your seat. I hate when that happens. I do love laughter and feeling good; finishing a speech humorously gives me and the audience an opportunity to feel great.Speeches that are for entertainment purposes only should generally leave the audience laughing.

Finally, if the subject is not appropriate to end with laughter, you could end with a touching story or quotation that leaves the audience thoughtful and quiet. Even the most serious public speaking subjects can benefit from humor, but the humor should be sprinkled throughout the body of the presentation. Don't put it at the end because closings are powerful and the audience will think your overall attitude toward the subject is flippant.

This same technique can be very effective in ending a mostly humorous speaking engagement. Have them laughing all along while you make your points. Then finish seriously. This contrast will create a great impact. It will convey the fact that you believe in a lighthearted approach to the subject, but the results are very serious to you.

Don't be afraid to use humor when you speak in public. Just make sure you learn to do it right.

Public Speaking: Alcohol

An audience that has been at a cocktail event of one hour or longer usually
means you will have some boisterous audience members to deal with. You could
be faced with hecklers, disruptive and loud people, loud snoring sleepers, etc.
Unless you are a comic who is very good at mild insult humor, you SHOULD
NOT use heckler lines like: Hey, buddy. There's only one Mic. and I've got it.
Or, If I'm going to make an ass of myself up here, I want to do it myself.

When you suspect you may have a problem because of a long cocktail hour,
let the meeting planner know in advance that he or she should be prepared to tell
the heckler that there is a phone call waiting. This gets the person out of the
room where the meeting planner can try to calm them.

Request in advance that the bar be shut down when you are speaking, or
people who really like to drink will be getting up and down during your
presentation distracting everyone.

Many professional speakers guarantee their work EXCEPT when the
audience is drunk or too tired. Patricia Fripp, C.P.A.E, told me about a time she
was booked to speak to a vegetable company. They had the meeting in a winery.
The entire group including the president were pickled. The meeting planner
forced her to go on. Patricia said, "Half the crowd missed me completely and the
other half saw two of me. I guess it evened out."

Remember, you are the one standing up there looking foolish. Take every
precaution you can when alcohol is flowing.

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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.

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Public Speaking: Use Product Related Stories

You can bring your product to life in the eyes of the client with stories. I learned
about this from the general manager at John Wanamaker Department store in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where I was doing a customer service presentation.

The manager was telling me about the time he and his wife were shopping for
a handmade quilt to give as a wedding gift. They went to several different shops
in eastern Pennsylvania. The people working at the shops were uninformed
about and indifferent to the questions being posed about the history of the quilts.
They eventually came upon a shop where the proprietor went into great detail
about the person who actually made the quilt and about the origin of the
material, thread, etc. Guess where the manager bought the quilt?

Of course, not all customers would want this level of detail. But the ones that
do may be influenced to buy immediately if you are ready with this kind of
information about your product, idea, or service.

You should also develop interesting or humorous stories or one-liners about
how your product was used. For example when I was in high school, I used to
sell matchbooks with advertising on them to small businesses. On a sales call
I would put a used match in my wallet which I would pull out with great
ceremony and say, "This is THE match that lit the bonfire we had just before
winning the homecoming football game. You can have a match similar to this
one." That would get the clients smiling. Then I sold them one or two cases of
matchbooks.

Think up ways such as my one-liner to talk about your product, idea, or
service to keep it in the customer's mind with a nonsales sales pitch. Product-related stories or jokes lend a favorable light to your product without increasing
sales resistance.

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Public Speaking: Pleonasms

A pleonasm is the bringing together of two concepts or words that are
redundant. A pleonasm is the bringing together of two concepts or words that
are redundant. How many times do I have to tell you? I stole that from Dr.
Blumenfeld, but I've already credited him a couple times and Art Buchwald says
that's enough.

Combinations like frozen ice, sharp point, killed dead, sandy beach, young
child, positive praise, and angry rage are pleonasms. Here are some ways you
can use comical juxtaposition in business world presentations:

Use a large copy of your company logo or company name on a slide or
overhead, or in a drawing on your flipchart. Next to it, place extremely small
logos or company names of your competitors. Use this as a greeting slide to
a meeting or let it pop up as a slide or overhead at a strategic point in your
presentation. You could draw an outline of a large duck around your
company logo and little duckling outlines around the competition. You could
say: Our company was born to lead and the others were meant to follow.

Use an oxymoron in conjunction with a simile to drive home the point that
something is a little out of kilter.
You could say, Acme Co. claims that its market share is increasing, yet
their sales are down while everyone elses' are up. It's just like a Jumbo
Shrimp. It just doesn't make sense.

Invite a tall person and a short person on stage when you call for audience
participation. If you are considerably shorter than the tall person say, I don't
want you to talk down to me. If you are considerably taller than the short
person say, I don't want you to feel like I'm talking down to you.

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Public Speaking: Bombing

Are you afraid of bombing when you get up in front of a group? You don't have
to be. With proper material selection, a few prepared comments in case of
unexpected problems, and attention to time, worries about bombing can be
virtually eliminated. Also remember one key point that Mike McKinley, past
president of the National Speakers Association, told me: "The audience doesn't
know your script.

If you make a minor mistake, so what. Just keep on talking." When you want to get a message across using humor, there is one overriding principle that will give you the greatest chance of success along with the least chance of failure. If you make all your attempts at humor relevant to your presentation, you get an automatic excuse from your mother if your humor is not
all that funny. If your humor is received as funny, so much the better; but if it isn't, at least you made your point. Audiences will be much more tolerant if the humor ties into the subject at hand.

At social functions, relevance is not as critical as it is in serious business
settings. If you stray off the main topic just for fun, it's no big deal. However,
if you are still a little apprehensive about your humor skills in a presentation, the
theory of relevance will always keep you safe.

Even if your delivery is not great at this point, the proper selection of
material will carry you a long way. You must consider the nature of the
audience, your personality and style, and the nature of the subject.
If you keep the above principle of relevance in mind, you should never have
to suffer the embarrassment of your humor bombing out.

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Public Speaking: Technical Presentations

Are you ready for a sweeping generalization? Well here it is. Technical and
financial information can be boring and dry. There, I said it. Technical and
financial presenters need the information in this book more than anyone. The
good thing is that they don't have to use too much of the information in this
book to dramatically increase their effectiveness.

A survey of the faculty of engineering schools showed that 15% of an
engineer's future success depends upon engineering skills, while 85% depends
upon communication skills. The problem is that most engineering schools don't
emphasize communication skills. There are so many numbers and equations
flying around that no one worries too much about whether someone can explain
them or not.

At conferences, many technical presenters are picked on the basis of their
research. Many of them hate presenting or even being with people. That is why
they chose a profession that hides them away in a lab. Some brilliant technical
people think the audience just isn't smart enough to understand their concepts.
They take no responsibility at all for making their information understandable
and interesting. They think it's "Mickey Mouse" for them to try to be
interesting.

Why are most technical presenters horrendously boring to a general
audience? The technical professions train people to look for detail. If a detail is
missed, the whole project falls apart. A techie once told me, "When I'm talking
to you or to an audience, I m carefully building a bridge in my mind. I'm going
to tell you about every part of that bridge whether you want to hear it or not."
That might be OK for a technical audience that has to go out and build the same
bridge, but it is bomb city to an audience who is only interested in finding out
where the bridge is going.

Was that techie at fault? Not really. He was just applying the learning
template he lived by all the way through school.

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Public Speaking: Diverse Groups

If you are not familiar with your intended audience, you might ask in your

pre-program research, or questionnaire How diverse is your group?

What are some of the characteristics of the members from each of the countries
represented? The answers to these questions will help you plan your strategy
for connecting with a particular audience.

When I was doing my planning for a presentation in Washington, D.C., I
found out that 25 percent of the audience was Asian Indian. I knew very little
about the Indian culture and didn't have long to plan. What I did know was
that the Dunkin' Donuts store located near my home was owned and operated
by Indians. That was a good excuse to stop in, down a few eclairs, and do
some research. I told the proprietor what I was trying to accomplish and he
was glad to help. Out of all the information he gave me about humor in India,
I only used one line. That was all it took to connect. The line was, I want to
tell all my new Indian friends I'm sorry Johnny Lever couldn't make it.
Johnny Lever was one of the top comedians in India. They lit up and I went on
with the program.

If your local donut shop isn't run by the appropriate nationality for your next
presentation, don't worry. There are other sure-fire methods to get the
information you need. If you are presenting out of the country, get the opinion
of local people before you attempt to use humor. If you are presenting in the
U.S., seek out members of the nationality to whom you are presenting. If you
don't happen to know any, you can always call their embassy.

I've called our State Department, The World Bank and even Voice of America for
information. Just tell the receptionist you want to speak to someone from the
country of interest. Don't forget to tell them you want to converse in English.

Learn more about speaking to a diverse audience.

Tom Antion: Humor In Sales Presentations

If anytime is critical to create excitement in a presentation, this is it. If you can't
get someone excited about your idea, product, or service, it is unlikely you will
ever be great in sales. I'm not necessarily talking about the wild excitement you
see at some multilevel sales rallies. That kind of excitement might get you
kicked out of a conservative organization. I'm talking about your ability to
create the appropriate level of excitement to cause your client to want to sign on
the dotted line.

One of the best sales tools I know of to create excitement is humor. Let me
again qualify that. I mean appropriate humor. I say this because I also believe
that if you won't take the time to gain the skills needed to determine appropriate
levels and types of humor, you will do yourself more harm than good. It's just
like we determined when we talked about touchy subjects. The rule is, "If in
doubt, leave it out." According to Ed McMahon in his book Superselling, there
are three facts when it comes to sales:

Fact 1: We tend to buy from someone we trust.
Fact 2: We tend to trust someone we like.
Fact 3: We tend to like someone who makes us laugh.

His conclusion: You can become a more effective and successful salesperson
by using humor in your sales presentation.