|
15455. Magoseph - 6/13/2005 2:53:21 PM Hello, Mac and everyone! What’s going on with you? Finally, the birds are back on our property. Apparently, the smell the harrier hawks left is gone. After my morning walk, I sit on the front stairs and whistle back to them 15456. thoughtful - 6/13/2005 9:18:46 PM any advice to someone who has to give an after dinner speech?
I know...make it like a woman's dress....long enough to cover the important points, but short enough to make it interesting. 15457. Magoseph - 6/13/2005 9:22:17 PM It depends on the dinner guests--tell us more about that. 15458. Ms. No - 6/13/2005 9:27:06 PM Avoid carbonated drinks, overeating or eating anything that will give you heartburn. You don't want to burp during your speech. 15459. arkymalarky - 6/14/2005 1:27:31 AM Start with humor. 15460. Macnas - 6/14/2005 10:41:51 AM Do not shout or pound the podium with your fist. 15461. PelleNilsson - 6/14/2005 11:00:15 AM And not with your shoe either. 15462. Macnas - 6/14/2005 11:32:30 AM ah ha ha, Nikita had style. 15463. Magoseph - 6/14/2005 12:29:45 PM Who's Nikita, Mac? 15464. PelleNilsson - 6/14/2005 12:53:03 PM He was the leader of a big country. His last name begins with C. I will say no more. 15465. Marc-Albert - 6/14/2005 1:05:45 PM Or with K in a number of languages, including French. 15466. thoughtful - 6/14/2005 1:15:40 PM Pound the podium with my shoe! What a great idea! Hadn't thought of that one.
It's a work crowd where I'm supposed to talk about work-related things and my boss will be in the audience.
I remember hearing an after-dinner speaker once who mixed this wonderful blend of good points he made with some very dry, very funny statements that made it a thoroughly enjoyable experience. That would be the ideal.
My problem is though, I'm funniest when I don't try to be and not very funny when I make the attempt. I'm thinking of contacting my old boss who has had success with humorous speeches ... wonder if he can mentor me some... 15467. Magoseph - 6/14/2005 4:40:27 PM Or with K in a number of languages, including French.
Merci, Marc, ce sacré Pelle, il peut être parfois plutôt enquiquinant.
thoughtful, it's a good idea to ask your boss for some pointers. I wish Arky would come in--I'm sure she could come up with some good ideas. 15468. PelleNilsson - 6/14/2005 5:29:35 PM French language exercise:
enquiquinant (adjectif). [familier] Qui importune, qui ennuie, qui embête. Synonymes : ennuyeux , pénible , déplaisant , agaçant , importun , fâcheux , désagréable , rébarbatif...
15469. arkymalarky - 6/14/2005 5:36:54 PM Borrow some of Laura Bush's stuff, Thoughtful! 15470. arkymalarky - 6/14/2005 5:45:29 PM I've spoken on a number of occasions, but few were very formal and only a few times at dinners and they were mostly senior banquets, so that really doesn't count. I had to speak several times this last year. In the fall I spoke to a group of administrators, but I was one of several people, including a couple of politicians who are VERY long winded, and I just cut to the chase to make the points I needed to make. It was the same when we spoke at the capitol last year to the press, legislators, and administrators. I also spoke as part of a panel presentation at the national conference I went to in WV this spring. I always feel like I need to hurry through those because everyone else is so crapping long-winded or there are too many others speaking. And I absolutely detest people telling me to be sure to keep it short, which happens all the time at those things--and of course it's usually the ones who hem-haw around the most when they're up there, speak first, and leave everyone else about 30 seconds each to say what they need to say.
How many are speaking at this event? Where do you fall in the line? If you're the only one, that's great, imo, and you could really have some fun with it. Also if you're first. Last, of course, is the worst. 15471. Magoseph - 6/14/2005 5:57:32 PM I would say, Pelle, the sense of the adjective I used is 'agaçant' rather than any of the others. I mean, think about it--you put Nikita C. I felt like a fool googling it, so that makes you 'embêtant', if not 'emmerdant'. One more thing, I never insult people and now, you made certain that everyone knows that I can be as 'déplaisante' as some people I won't name. I could just cry if I still knew how to do that. 15472. Magoseph - 6/14/2005 5:59:39 PM Pelle, :-) 15473. PelleNilsson - 6/14/2005 6:10:57 PM This is work-related you say? So people know you? In that case you cannot deviate too much from your normal personality. Do you have a message? If so start with some seemingly outrageous statement, then meander about for a bit and finish with some sensible and upbeat conclusion/advice (check Friedman's columns for this technigue). If you will do jokes do not introduce them with "have you heard the one about ..". Fall silent for a few seconds, adopt a vacant look as if you were searching your memory and say "that reminds me of ...".
Very important but also difficult: don't rush the delivery, don't sound and look as if you want to get it over with. 15474. thoughtful - 6/14/2005 6:47:57 PM Thanks for the advice Pelle & Arky.
I'm to be the last speaker of the day at dinner...after a full day of everyone sitting around listening to other speakers. That's why I feel a need to keep it light and entertaining, though useful as it is work-related.
I do a lot of presenting, so not rushing it is not a problem. But most of my presenting is done in a classroom setting where I can run the gamut of being light to expounding to Q&A and all. Emoting is key and I have no trouble doing that. But an after dinner speech is something quite different and something I've not done before.
I like the advice of being friedman-esque. That would be a good approach. I'm usually better at telling anecdotes that are pointed rather than funny. That would certainly fit better with that style. And yet over the years, there have been a few presentations I've given where I managed to be quite light and quite funny which the audience has really appreciated...but for some reason, those usually coincide with my being ill and on medication!
There was one talk I gave with my boss in the audience in Minnesota. Happened to be the start of duck hunting season there. So I told this story about 2 easterners going to minnesota to go duck hunting...hours go by and they were completely unsuccessful. So one turns to the other and says, "I don't know...do you think we're doing something wrong?" and I turned to my boss and said, "I don't know...maybe we're not throwing the dog high enough." The whole room roared.
|
