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.

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