Public Speaking Tricks | Dominate The Podium

If They’re Laughing, They’re Learning

Posted on 06. Jan, 2009 by Crazy J.

Where do I start? Oh yeah,  If They’re Laughing, They’re Learning

I guess I need to start somewhere, so I thought I’d start out by referring to something that actually got me started with Stand-up Comedy; “Public Speaking”.

Now, many of you who know me today don’t realize that I used to travel throughout the States and Europe, training various Network Marketing organizations. A very enjoyable but none the less challenging task.

While as a speaker at business conventions of this kind, you usually already have the audience on your side, for they are noted for being hungry for the information you are going to provide to help them get rich, but they still want and need great content and a bit of a performance.

That’s when I started studying Comedy, because I discovered something very important and this is now my speaking mantra:

“If They’re Laughing, They’re Learning” 8

I found time and time again that the presentations where I made the people laugh most were the ones that were remembered longest. Around 14 years ago I did a speech which I titled : “Let Go of Your Peanut”8 (more on that in a later post) and people still approach me that heard that seminar back then and praise me saying they can still remember what I said because I left them laughing so hard that they were in tears. 14 years later!
That is the type of impact you want to leave. Encase your message with humor and people will remember it longer.

Now mind you, using humor isn’t always possible. War talks, funerals and divorce proceedings are places where using humor could backfire on you. But then again you could go out with a laugh. Talk about “killing”.

Traveling internationally and speaking to audiences in foreign countries creates an additional challenge. Many don’t understand English and on top of that their sense of humor is different. I tried on several occasions to be funny in my presentations but found that people in places like Istanbul, Budapest or Brussels just might not get it. I’ll cover performing internationally in another post.

Well that’s it for today. While I was studying comedy and public speaking, one of the resources I found helpful was a book from Paul Evans called “Instant Speaking Success“.

In his book he covers:

# How to speak with confidence and clarity
# How to find the message only YOU can share
# Giving the audience exactly what they want
# The secrets to passion and why it is key
# Using humor to draw the audience to you and build instant rapport

So I can definitely say that I was able to glean a lot of helpful lessons from this book.
You can check it out here: Instant Speaking Success

So Nuff Said!
Cheers, Smiles and Laughs,

Sponsored Ad:
$6.00 Welcome Survey After Free Registration!

Continue Reading

Public Speaking In Colleges And Educational Institutions

Posted on 11. Dec, 2008 by Crazy J.

For decades, professors in the field of education teach students through public speaking. However, many individuals do not realize that these “lectures” are a form of public speaking. It is a way to teach individuals about a topic in large groups without having to have several smaller classes.

By public speaking through lecture styled classes, professors are able to teach a larger number of students at one time. Often times technical equipment such as slides, beamers or power-point presentations are used at these public speaking lectures, so they can take place in auditoriums or other larger buildings instead of a small classroom.

By using auditoriums, gymnasiums and other facilities educational leaders can also have outside professors and individuals in the educational field give public speaking lectures too. Many students enjoy getting another “outside” or “other” point of view in whatever he or she is majoring in or studying.

Colleges and universities will often host archaeologists, astronauts and other leading educational professors as their keynote speakers to lecture on the different places they have explored or projects they have been involved with. This is also a good way for the college or educational institute to raise funds for many needed tools for their faculties as well.

There are also those individuals and professors that literally travel from one college and educational institute to another giving public speaking lectures of educational interest to students throughout a semester or course. These professors are prepared and specialized and in many cases are often the main individual or leader of a group associated with exploration of his or her area of expertise. When this is the case, the public speaking is unique and often captivating for students somewhat like hands on training in education.

Public speaking has not always been a part of the education field and more professors and teachers were actually required at one college or educational institute for teaching. By through the introduction of public speaking and lectures into colleges and educational institutes, the actual learning potential of students has increased tremendously.

Students are able to ask questions and get answers just as he or she would in a small classroom but on a much larger scale. Public speaking ultimately enhanced the educational industry and also benefitted the arena of fund-raising for the schools. Prior to this paradigm change, the instructors, professors, and teachers were bound to several classes a day, repeating the same exact information to different students. Not being able to keep up with this pace, many of these felt that introducing public speaking was a relief on the educational level.

Therefore it could be said that public speaking actually enhanced the educational field by allowing the speaker or lecturer the ability to reach a broader audience and enabling a broader educational foundation.

Continue Reading