Use Comedy Carefully

I was just browsing through  Ron Hoff;s book  I Can See You Naked  and came across a few very valuable points on the value and use of comedy in a speech.

Flipping through to page 115   I came across the point: "Just think about all the good stuff  from smiling.


Almost all audiences like to smile, to laugh. They're just sitting there waiting for an excuse to laugh out loud...with a burst of laughter...everybody will feel better. Including you."

And that is true. The only problem is that you must be careful in the use of comedy in a presentation.

In his book he reminds  speakers  of a few of the things to keep in mind when trying to use comedy in presentations such as:

• Don't try to write jokes.  Tell your audience about yourself, about some ridiculous mistake you made.
• Don/t build your presentations around jokes. Fit jokes into your message to illustrate a point
• Don't wait for laughs. If the audience does not laugh out loud move on. (They might be smiling  to themselves while getting the point of the joke and your message -- you do not know).
• Don't laugh at your own jokes.

These are all good points to keep in mind for as he says on page 115: "Almost all audiences like to smile, to laugh. They're just sitting there waiting for an excuse to laugh out loud. And up you come."

 In such a relaxed frame of mind so long as the rest of your information is entertaining, informative and  or persuasive your selective use of comedy will make your entire presentation successful.

I once emphasized the point of not giving in to high pressure reactions and acting without thinking about the 

consequences by relating how another driver was looking for me for three months because I yelled at him to get off the cell phone.

What happened was this:  I was driving behind another man who sat in the middle of an intersection for two lights without moving. Finally I pulled up beside him when the light turned green for the third time and yelled: " Get off the phone and drive. Jerk!."

Three months later while I was stalled at another traffic jam at the same intersection a man suddenly appeared at my  car window shouting: " Remember me?  I have been looking for you for three months!  He went away in disgust because I looked at him and started laughing so loud. But he could  have had a gun!

My audience, after they stopped, laughing, appreciated the point I was trying to make about giving in to  high pressure--mindless reactions to what other people do.

Such is the power of comedy  if it is properly used.  Use it but be careful.

Make Effective Use of Presentation Aids

More and more speakers and presenters are using  aids like slides and Power Point Point Presentations and even large graphic recordings of their presentations drawn on electronic whiteboards or other media as they speak by themselves or somebody who specializes in this to enrich their presentations.  Just remember that while they can enrich yours presentation there are things to need to keep in mind such as the following points:

• Make these large enough to be seen clearly by all members of your audience.
• Make sure the slides are clean and professionally organized and written.
• Remember that less is often more. Elaborate  slides or  Power Points presentations can detract from our message rather then make it more memorable or interesting..
• Remember these aids should support your oral presentation -- not the other way around.
• Leave plenty of time to discuss the different points in your presentations in your own words.

Just like photographs in a newspaper or magazine article they should be used like salt and pepper in a meal to season it an make it more interesting.  They should not be the whole show -- unless your goal is to tell the entire story in pictures or graphic illustrations like a photojournalist.

Use These Powerful Tools to Help You Put Together and Deliver Your Presentation

In all stages of your preparation for actual presentation of  your information  use  two very powerful tools if you want to succeed.


These are:   Clustering, developed by Gabriele Lusser Rico Ph.D author of the bestselling book   Writing The Natural Way  and Mind  Mapping created by  Tony Buzan and developed himself and other like Vanda North and Jamie Nast.


Tony Buzan has a number of excellent books, such as The Mind Map Book published  that can help you develop skills in  this technique, while Jamie Nast  has published  her book, Idea Mapping  and  Professor Rico  has a series of books titled, Writing the Natural Way focussing on clustering and other writing techniques.


With clustering  you  write the central idea of your topic in the centre of a piece of paper in a circle (ideally as large as possible and laid out landscape style) and then as quickly as possible  write related ideas  in balloons  around the  the central idea -- attached to it with lines like the strings on a balloon.


With Mind Mapping or Idea Mapping as Jamie Nast describes it in her book  the central idea is also written in the centre of a large piece of paper. Ideally, both Buzan and Nast say,  this idea should be as visual as possible  using an illustration rather than words.


The main points of the topic are written in arms or branches radiating out from this central idea like the branches of a tree.


Both of these techniques can help you to create and organize ideas as well as to analyze, write, and edit them and then you can use them, particularly Mind Mapping  in the actual oral delivery of your ideas and information.

Proper Use of A Microphone

Before the advent of sound systems speakers addressing large audiences, sometimes outside, depended  on lung  power and finding theaters  and auditoriums with good acoustics.


Thousands of years ago speakers used  at least two different techniques to address large audiences. 
Moses, addressing the nation of  Israel in the open air, probably used  assistants  with a keen sense of hearing stationed  at strategic intervals around the crowd to repeat what he said or sought out  valleys or other areas with good acoustics.
 Jesus too used such techniques.  On one occasion at least he addressed a large crowd from a small boat anchored just offshore in the Seat of Galilee because the smooth waters helped to amplify his voice making it easier for everyone on shore to hear him.


Now with modern sound systems speakers  can be hard clearly in locations of all sizes very easily  --providing the speakers use the microphone properly -- which is not the way you see many rock and roll singers doing it -- almost swallowing the microphone.


While the audiences of such stars accept much of what they say being lost or garbled. public speakers or presenters have to be clearly understood. Ensure this with the proper use of a microphone (unless you are wearing once of those wireless clip on models):  (1)  Keep the  microphone about five to six inches away from your mouth. (2) When you are speaking make sure it is directly in front of you. (3) Don't shout into it. In most cases speak no louder than if you were speaking to somebody standing right next to you. (4) Remember to turn your head to one side if you are going to cough or have to clear your voice.