By Peter J. Fogel
Yesterday on CSPAN I was
watching retired elder statesman George McGovern giving a speech to college
students on how the Bush Administration, (because of the Iraqi War) should make
a concerted effort to mend fences with our allies, especially France. The talk
was dry and monotonous and contained information we’ve all heard before from
other democrats.
Mr. McGovern thought it was
counter-productive that we were boycotting French products and that the Senate
commissary had renamed French Fries as “Freedom Fries.” George, matter-of-factly looked at his
audience and said, “What’s next? Do we ban French kissing? Well, the audience
was completely caught off guard by the flippant remark and responded with
LAUGHTER and APPLAUSE.
But it got better. You see,
George then looked at the mediator
seated to his right for a response and all he could muster was, (and I am
paraphrasing now) “Well, it’s been a long time for me, George. I’m more
concerned with not going blind.” The auditorium full of at least 500 people of
academia showed their approval with
even bigger LAUGHTER and more APPLAUSE.
For a brief respite these
men, who didn’t set out to be, were now “Martin and Lewis.” And they couldn’t help but soak up the adulation from their audience. Whether it was planned
or not, the mediator had topped George.
Together these two men had turned a very dry (and overly discussed
subject) into an enjoyable listening experience for all who attended that
afternoon. (And I am sure those funny remarks will be discussed at the water
cooler the next day.)
To Succeed As An
All-Around Speaker You Can’t Ever Be Boring!
And this proves a very
important point for your own speaking career. And that even though you’re an
authority in your field and you have the knowledge to change your audience and
seminars attendees professional and personal lives with your information, it
sill won’t mean “hill of beans.”
Why? Because your message will be lost if you
look out into the audience and notice their
collective heads have snapped back and there are zzz’s cascading out of
their mouths.
Yes, you want to make an
impact! Yes, you’d be giddy if you got a real standing ovation… (and not the
one where the attendees were rising and leaving the room anyway.)
But to help you get it… to
assist you in your quest to break away from the pack of other speakers… to
become the superstar platform star or seminar leader that you’re destined to
be… you’ve got to get out of your comfort zone and learn to effectively
intertwine humor in your speeches.
As shown by George McGovern,
you should use humor because it will
·
surprise and keep your
audience off-guard so their defenses are lowered.
·
done correctly it will entertain and
enlighten your listeners so your message is absorbed better.
·
Breaks up the monotony
of a very heavy content driven speech
·
Show your humanity which will make your audience
bond to you quicker. (Strong content, plus humor = higher evaluation forms)
Three Effective Ways to Use Humor!
1)
Know Your Audience: Humor is subjective. If you’re making a playful
remark about a particular person in the room… or you’re making light of a
particular situation that happened to the attendees. Go with your gut and clear it with the organizers, first. You want laughter – not security escorting
you off the premises.
2) Humorous Story: Since cave-man days stories have enthralled and always drawn us
towards speakers. (especially if they’re holding a spear) But your story should
be organic. Never tell a humorous story (or anyone for that matter.) if there’s
no point to it. Sprinkle little comedic tidbits through out the anecdote and
end on a HUGE punch line… which is your payoff!
3)
Local Humor: If you’re visiting a town for the first time… pick up some funny tidbits about the area
that everyone knows and can relate to. Your audience will know you “did your
homework” and appreciate you for it and
laugh even harder!
Perfect Practice Make
Perfect!
Remember:
Test your humor first in on impartial audience. If it works, great. Now
if it fails--- always have a “saver line.” (Johnny Carson was a genius at
that.) And don’t immediately discard
the joke. If it works two out of three times, analyze why it didn’t “hit” that
third time.
Was
your delivery off? Was it for the wrong
audience? Experience will show when a particular “bit” is a keeper. Naturally, don’t repeat a joke if it fails
over and over again hoping that you’ll
catch lightning in a bottle on the umpteenth time. If it’s dead weight, lose it.
Instead apply the “jokes that deliver you a strong ROI every time. Rinse
and repeat procedure over and over again for success
And
remember: You can’t ever afford to be
boring!
Peter J. Fogel speaker/copywriter/consultant and author of the book
“If Not Now… Then When” Strategies
and Stories of People Over 40 Who Have
Successfully Reinvented Themselves. As a performer he’s worked on such shows as
“Whoopi” “Hope & Faith” and “Married With Children,” and has appeared on
“Evening At The Improv” “Carolines Comedy Hour” and “Comic Strip Live.” A
veteran actor, and stand-up comic for over 23 years, he’s shared the stage with Ray Romano Dennis Miller and has performed in Las Vegas, opening for such stars a J.J.
Walker & Rita Rudner. He coaches
speakers and seminar leaders in speech writing and presentation skills. His website is www.fortune500comedy.com. He can reached
at 718-847-0647
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