Can You Make a Serious Audience Laugh?

Have you ever gotten a laugh—on purpose—during a serious presentation? Well, keep that trend alive! Audiences (actually everybody) love to laugh. When your audience is laughing, then you know they’re listening (hopefully to you). But how can you pull this off and why should you bother?

• WHY: When you get your audience laughing, you’re making a connection with them. They’ll keep listening—just in case you make them laugh again. And your message is easier to remember, when you tie it to a little humor.

• WHEN: So you’ve decided to add humor to your presentation. Congratulations! Now, ask yourself two questions. #1. Is the funny story or comment relevant to my topic and my audience? (If the answer is “yes”, add it. If the answer is “no”, leave it out.) #2. Will it help my audience remember one of my points? Don’t add pointless humor, just to get laughs. The funny comment should make your message unforgettable.

• HOW: When you add humor to a serious presentation, try to be an A.S.S. Be animated, surprise your listeners and stop talking. ANIMATED – Use facial expressions, gestures and vocal variety to drive home your humor. SURPRISING – Don’t tell your audience something funny is coming. Slip in the humor, and catch them off guard. Never ask, “Do you want to hear something funny?” STOP – When you hear the laughs, stop talking. Stand there and enjoy the ride. Don’t be rude and talk over the laughter!

For more ways to get laughs during a serious business presentation, like my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/BetterSpeakingSkills)

Rate Yourself on the 3 Jobs Speakers Have

Have you ever done public relations? Do you deliver packages for FedEx? Are you a construction engineer? Probably not. But you have three jobs when you’re giving a presentation. Ignore your job title. When you’re a speaker; you’re also in PR, you’re delivering packaged information and you’re building a bridge. Let me explain:

 • JOB #1 - PR: During the first two minutes of your presentation, you’re a public relations person. Your job is to get your audience to view you and your message favorably. You're trying to make a winning impression.

• JOB #2 - Package Carrier: Then you need to deliver your package—information that’s appealing and easy to understand. If you don’t deliver your information the right way, your audience won’t receive the package they were expecting.

• JOB #3 - Construction Engineer: You built your presentation. You have laid the foundation of trust with your audience. Now you have to build a bridge from your message to your audience, which makes a memorable connection.

How would you rate your PR skills, your package delivery skills and your bridge-building skills as a presenter? If you are not a “10”, go to the Better Speaking Skills Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/BetterSpeakingSkills) for tools you can use to raise your score. You’ll find daily tips on how you can become a PR pro, a presentation delivery expert and an audience connection engineer—while multitasking as a speaker!

The 5-Step Recipe for Speaking Success

Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey top the list of the Most Admired Women in America. The Former First Lady and the billionaire media mogul, who ranked #1 and #2 in the 2018 Gallup poll, are powerful speakers. And these ladies share a speaking style that you can use to build your influence and stand out as a presenter.

The Obama-Oprah speaking recipe can take your presentations from good to great. If you master the five-step recipe, you’ll become a more influential, impressive and entertaining presenter. To follow their recipe for speaking success, you need to:

Step 1: Be Authentic – Bring your “off-stage” personality on stage. Your audience wants to see you at your best. If you like to smile and tell jokes with your friends, look for ways to get a smile and a few laughs from your audience. You’re most appealing when you’re being yourself.

Step 2: Connect – Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey connect with audiences because they talk about topics we can relate to. When you speak, point out how your message impacts or is relevant to your listeners.

Step 3: Be Conversational – Deliver your message like you’re having a conversation with one person. Ask questions, make lots of eye contact and check-in to see if you’re being understood.

Step 4: Tell Stories – Share personal and professional stories about you that reveal the lessons you’ve learned the hard way. Show your audience your flaws, failures, firsts and frustrations.

Step 5: Have Fun – Speak with energy and enthusiasm. All eyes are on you. If you’re not having fun, no one else will.

For more ways to win over an audience like a superstar, like my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/BetterSpeakingSkills)

3 Ways to Pull in Your Listeners

You want them to like you, listen and hang on to your words. Don’t you? But you have to work for that kind of loyalty. What can you do to pull your audience into your presentation and keep them deeply involved in what you’re saying? Give them a chance to laugh, learn and be entertained.

When you’re working on your next presentation, make sure you mix up your delivery by:

1. Changing Your Voice – Change the speed and volume of your voice to keep your message interesting. Talk faster, to build excitement. Slow down to emphasize a key point. Use different voices to make characters in your stories distinctive. For example, you may use a deeper, louder voice for an old man and a higher, softer voice for a young girl.

2. Involving Everybody – Don’t do all the talking. Include your audience in your presentation by asking questions, telling stories and adding audience activities that keep your listeners physically and mentally involved.

3. Reliving Your Stories – Bring your stories alive with action. Don’t retell a story—using “he said” or “she said”—relive the story. Recreate a conversation between two or more characters and make each person distinctive. Use different facial expressions, voices, gestures and body language for each character. Give your audience ring-side seats to the action!

For more ways to pump energy, enthusiasm and engagement into your audience, like my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/BetterSpeakingSkills)

Do You Carry Mental Baggage?

How much mental baggage do you drag into your sales or business presentations? Do you pull pounds of doubt or lack of confidence into your mindset? Think about these questions. If you are not sure of yourself, self-doubt will be reflected in your body language; and the power and passion of your words.

But there are three things you can do to kick negative mental baggage to the curb. Just take these steps to overhaul a power-less mindset and replace it with an empowering mindset:

1. Free Yourself – Free your mind of messages that don’t build your confidence. Stop saying these things: “People will judge me”; “I must be perfect”; “I hope I don’t blow this opportunity”!

2. Erase the Past – If you did not do a good job the last time you gave a presentation. Let that experience die. Don’t revive it. You can always learn from your mistakes. You don’t have to relive and repeat them.

3. Follow the “IPAR” Recipe – IDENTIFY one presentation skill you want to improve. PRACTICE that skill every time you speak. ASK for feedback from a coach, mentor or someone who excels in the area you want to strengthen. REFINE that skill, based on the feedback you received. Speaking is a skill that gets better with practice!

Speaking success begins in your mind. For more mental mastery tips, like my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/BetterSpeakingSkills)

Are You a Lion, Turtle or a Rabbit Speaker?

What animal do you most resemble when you’re making a speech? Are you a lion, a turtle or a rabbit? If you’re confident, you’re like a lion. If you’re in control, you’re like a turtle. And if you get to the point quickly, you’re like a rabbit.

The best speakers have the confidence of a lion, the control of a turtle and the concise delivery of a rabbit. Here’s how you can add the three C’s of powerful presenters—confidence, control, and concise delivery—to your next presentation:

• Look Like a Lion – Your body language reflects your confidence level. To scream “confidence”, stand up straight with your weight evenly distributed on both feet. Look at your audience, smile, and speak with calm confidence!

• Control the Discussion – When you’re a presenter, there’s no time to hide in your turtle shell. You’re the front man/woman, the discussion leader. Ask for audience interaction, answer questions, but keep the group on your message. You get the first and last word on your topic!

• Get to the Point…Swiftly – Rabbits are quick, efficient and precise. No wasted energy. Always go for a simple word or shorter sentence. You’re speaking to be understood, not to impress everybody with your big vocabulary. Say “later,” instead of “at a later date”. Or use “occasionally,” instead of “from time to time”.

What animal do you most resemble when you’re making a speech? Borrow from all three if you want to raise your speaking skills to the next level!

For more ways to be concise, confident and in control while presenting, like my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/BetterSpeakingSkills)

3 Ways to Get Your Audience to Take Action

After you finish your presentation, what do you want your audience to do? If you’ve done your job, they should have something new—a different perspective, new ideas or a valuable tool/solution.

How can you get your audience to take action? It starts before you stand up to talk. Before you prepare your presentation, ask yourself this question: “What do I want my audience to think, feel or do differently at the end of my talk?” The answer to this question drives your content, delivery and results. Craft your presentation so that you are constantly giving your audience incentives to act on your message. That means, you should:

1. Lay the groundwork for “yes”.
2. Focus on benefits, from beginning to end.
3. Give your audience a clear path, only one specific next step.

1. Lay the groundwork for “yes”: From beginning to end, look for ways to find common ground with your audience. When you get nods, smiles and agreement early, it’s easier to get your audience to buy into your point of view at the end.

2. Focus on benefits: Let your audience see how they can gain (what’s in it for them) from your message. All throughout your talk, point out the advantages and benefits they’ll reap from adopting your viewpoint, project, product or service.

3. Only one next step: Ask your audience to take one clearly-defined action to move them closer to a solution to their problems. Recommend a specific step they should take (call, email or text—not all three). Make it easy for your listeners to implement your call to action!

For more ways to make your next audience more likely to act on your message, like my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/BetterSpeakingSkills)