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Great Speaking Vol. 3 Number 06
New England Speakers Conference
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GREAT SPEAKING
Circulation 16,012
Vol. 3 Number 6 - March 16, 2001
Publisher: Tom Antion tom@Antion.com
http://www.Antion.com
(C) Anchor Publishing 2001
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No one ever lost credibility by
being interesting.
==========================================
*** SPEAKER BUSINESS LEADS ***
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Please recommend this E-Zine to anyone you
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=============================================
IN THIS ISSUE
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1. Quick Presentation Skills Tip
2. Advanced Presentation Skills Article
(Beginners should read this too)
3. Humor Technique Series
4. Speaker Marketing Tip
5. Speaker Humor
6. Websites for Speakers
********** OUR SPONSOR ***********
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1. Quick Presentation Skills Tip
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DON'T GO TO THE BATHROOM by Tom Antion
I just spoke at an association meeting where I had set up all my
equipment and got everything working just right. Before the
event, I made the big mistake of going to the bathroom while
other audio visual people were coming into the room. When I
returned, my entire setup was moved. They actually picked my
table up with my laptop and moved it about 8 feet closer to the
screen which made the picture so small no one would have been
able to see it. They insisted on using their projector which was
a piece of junk (we ended up using mine anyway) and they
generally disrupted my entire pre-program setup work.
So, don't leave a careful setup unattended and always be there
early to take care of nightmares like this BEFORE the attendees
arrive.
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2. Advanced Presentation Skills Article
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STORYTELLING TIPS Part I by Tom Antion
=> Use stories during public speaking engagements to illustrate
points and state the point in addition to telling the story.
Always make your story relevant to the subject at hand.
=> Select stories to match the intelligence, experience,
occupation, and age of the audience as well as the nature of the
occasion. You don't want to talk over the heads of the audience
members and you don't want to bore them with stories that are too
simple.
=> Space stories at intervals to provide a change of pace and to
reemphasize your message.
=> Tell about your troubles, stupidity, or ignorance. People like
you when you use self-effacing humor because they see themselves
mirrored in your weaknesses.
=> Eliminate inconsequential detail. Use the fewest number of
words that convey the message in an interesting fashion. Writing
the story out will help you see words that can be eliminated
without hurting the story.
=> Keep your humorous stories short during your public speaking
engagements. The size of the laugh is inversely proportional to
the number of words used to get to the punch line.
Rule: The longer a funny story is, the funnier it must be. You
must make jokes and humorous stories believable up to a point.
Use factual, specific details that the audience can relate to,
i.e., say the brand name like Lots-o-Suds rather than a laundry
detergent. The more truthful and specific the story sounds the
more your audience will get caught up in what you say.
(excerpt from the "Wake 'em Up Professional Speaking System"
http://www.antion.com/speakervideo.htm
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********************************
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3. HUMOR TECHNIQUE
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4 Sources of 'Found' Humor To Punch and Impact to Your
Presentation. Part I by John Cantu
Cantu's number one rule of being funny: Always follow the
laughter. Whenever someone laughs at anything you said or did
that you did not intend to be funny, assume that it can be re-
created another time for another audience and look for HOW that
can be done. Here are four tips.
Your Best Source of New Material #1 - You on the platform
One of your best sources of fresh, funny, creative, original
material is the line that you inadvertently ad-lib while on your
way to saying something else. Here is one of the comments that I
frequently hear. Sometimes it will come up when I am coaching
executives and professional speakers and other times it comes up
during the Q&A after one of my humor workshops:
"Some of my best stuff comes when I am just talking to the
audience ad-libbing and these lines come out."
In response, I always ask the same question "What do you do with
those lines?" And invariably all I get is a blank look.
Think about it for a moment. The principle is: If an audience
laughed at the line once, they might laugh again. This is the
reason why it is always a good idea to tape record your
presentations. So when you ad-lib that perfect laugh line; that
witty phrase, that trademarkable motto, you have it captured for
future use. So, from now on, when you 'write' (i.e., ad-lib) a
brand-new line without sweat, blood, or tears for goodness sake
record it, recall it, and reuse it.
If you were a professional performer this would be second nature
to you. Performers will often come off the stage and excitedly
ask a friend, "What was that new line I ad-libbed that got that
great laugh?" Or they will rush off to listen to their taped set
to find it. But for speakers this is great source of material
that is too often used once and tossed away forever. It isn't
intuitive to most speakers to recycle a line that was funny the
first time out.
Your Best Source of New Material #2 - You off the platform.
You should also treat as possible new usable material your ad-
libbed lines and spontaneous off-the-cuff lines that you deliver
in every day conversation. The lines you ad-lib off stage in
casual conversation might also be grist for your platform humor.
I noticed long ago that some people who consider themselves as
spontaneously funny, still need a line (or situation) to play
off, in order to create a funny line. Thus, all ad-libs are
simply an on-the-spot joke creation.
If you look at the process of how most ad-libs in every day
conversation are really created, you will realize they are most
often a joke writing collaboration with one of the writers being
unconscious of the fact. I.e., the funny person (you) usually has
a straight person who sets you up, with he or she being unaware
that he/she is being a straight man.
He/she says "(LINE)", you cap on it (cap on it means reply with a
remark meant to be funny). And YOU get the laugh and the CREDIT
even though it was a collaboration. Since most people look at
events in their life as a series of disparate events you might
have perceived the capping line as a just a singular one-time
funny spontaneous punch line. But you can often recreate the off-
stage situation on the platform by describing what lead up to the
ad-lib, and thus you have increased your opportunities for new
material.
You do this by saying something along these lines. "I was talking
to (INSERT WHO YOU WERE TALKING WITH WHETHER IT WAS AN INDIVIDUAL
OR A GROUP OF SOME SORT). He/she/one of them said (INSERT WHAT
WAS SAID) and I replied (YOUR TAG LINE)" and now you've got a
brand new 'joke'.
Sometimes the ad-libbed line doesn't have to be something someone
said. One time Sam Horn (author of "Tongue Fu") told me about a
comment that Bob Murphy (Murphy is a delightful humorist and long
time National Speaker Association member) once ad-libbed in
response to an extremely visual scene.
Standing in a hotel lobby he saw a bellboy pulling a wheeled
stand with a potted tree on it. In his dry, droll, Nacagdoches,
Texas accent he said, "Looks like some dog has ordered room
service."
Do you see how easy it would be to think that was a 'You hadda be
there' situation? But all you have to do is do as Sam Horn did
for me. You describe the situation and tell your listeners what
you or your friend said in that situation.
Now, once in a blue moon, you will discover yes, it was a 'you
hadda be there' situation. But always come to that conclusion
very reluctantly. Always apply time, effort, and creativity to
find a way to recreate laugh before giving up.
Next issue John will give us two more ways to "find" humor.
© 2000 John Cantu, Some material originally appeared in HumorMall
JokesWeekly - for subscription follow directions at
http://www.HumorMall.com/survey/subscribe.shtml For articles on
how to create and/or deliver humor effectively go to
http://www.HumorMall.com/
********* GREAT SPEAKER REFERENCE *******
BE THE HIT OF YOUR NEXT PRESENTATION!
"Wake em Up! How to Use Humor and Other Professional
Techniques to Create Alarmingly Good Business Presentations"
"Toms program and materials will cut five years off a speakers
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-- Cavett Robert, Founder National Speakers Assn.
Now available for immediate download in pdf format
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4. $$$$$$$ SPEAKER MARKETING TIP $$$$$$$$
=====================================================
RECOMMEND THIS PAGE by Tom Antion
You always want to make it easy for other people to recommend you
or things you have created. Their third party endorsement is much
more powerful than anything you might say about yourself or put
into advertising copy. You can now make it really easy on a
visitor to suggest your website to their friends and/or
colleagues.
You can put a tiny piece of code on each of your webpages that
creates a recommend form. This form allows your website visitor
to easily send the address of the your webpage (URL) to a friend
or colleague. This will result in many more visitors to your
website because it is so easy for your visitors to do. I'm in the
process of adding these forms to every page of my new website
http://www.public-speaking.org
You can try out a simple version of this form at
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To find out how to get one of these for your site
mailto:webmaster@mastersyndicator.com or call 804-733-2843.
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5. SPEAKER HUMOR
=====================================================
SIGNS
=> In the front yard of a funeral home: "Drive
carefully, we'll wait."
=> At a car Dealership: "The best way to get back on
your feet - miss a car payment."
=> Outside a Muffler Shop: "No appointment Necessary,
we hear you coming."
=> Billboard on the side of the road: "Keep your eyes
on the road and stop reading these signs."
=> At a tire shop in Milwaukee: "Invite us to your
next blowout."
=> Door of a plastic surgeons office: "Hello, can we
pick your nose?"
=> Plumber -- "We repair what your husband fixed"
DEFINITIONS
=> TOP BUNK: where you should never put a child
wearing Superman pajamas.
=> TWO MINUTE WARNING: when the baby's face turns red
and she begins to make those familiar grunting noises.
=> AMNESIA: Condition that enables a woman who has
gone through labor to make love again.
=> DUMBWAITER: One who asks if the kids would care to
order dessert.
=> FEEDBACK: The inevitable result when your baby
doesn't appreciate the strained carrots.
=> STERILIZE: what you do to your first baby's
pacifier by boiling it and to your last baby's
pacifier by blowing on it.
Job Application
=> SEX: Not yet. Still waiting for the right person.
=> DESIRED POSITION: Company's President or Vice
President. But seriously, whatever's available.
If I was in a position to be picky, I wouldn't be
applying here in the first place.
=> DESIRED SALARY: $185,000 a year plus stock options
and a Michael Ovitz style severance package. If that's
not possible, make an offer and we can haggle.
=> MOST NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT: My incredible collection
of stolen pens and post-it notes.
=> DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL SKILLS?: Yes, but they're
better suited to a more intimate environment.
=> SIGN HERE: Aries.
LETTERS FROM CHILDREN
=> Dear Pastor, Are there any devils on earth? I think
there may be one in my class. Carla. Age 10, Salina
=> Dear Pastor, I liked your sermon on Sunday.
Especially when it was finished. Ralph, Age 11, Akron
=> Dear Pastor, I would like to go to heaven someday
because I know my brother won't be there. Stephen. Age
8, Chicago
=> Dear Pastor, I know God loves everybody but He
never met my sister. Yours sincerely, Arnold. Age 8,
Nashville.
Much more FREE speaker humor at
http://www.antion.com/humor/speakerhumor/speakerhumor.htm
=====================================================
6. USEFUL WEBSITES
=====================================================
http://www.wap.com/ Your guide to the wireless Internet
http://www.anywhereyougo.com/ More wireless Internet resources
http://voicedatabase.com/ All kinds of resources for voice,
voiceover, and voice care.
http://www.ritzav.com/ New & Used Projectors and carrying cases
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details visit http://www.antion.com/referrals.htm
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