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15478. arkymalarky - 6/14/2005 8:13:38 PM ...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!
Then I'd scrounge around the back of my medicine cabinet. ;-)
15479. thoughtful - 6/14/2005 8:18:20 PM No you didn't come across as disparaging Pelle...in fact I appreciated the advice and the reminder. You're right about not speaking too quickly. It is a common mistake.
I'm one of those who like to roam about and if I can burn off some of my excess energy and use my body to communicate, I'm much more comfortable. But after dinner talks tend to be up at a table stuck behind a podium...a far more difficult situation. I tend to feel more formal and as a result come across very stiff. Not a good thing.
I'm also well practiced using slides for speaking to, and I have a feeling this would be a talk without slides, so certainly need to be something more practiced as, at our firm, one never ever ever brings a piece of paper to a talk.
Paul Craig Roberts has a style about him that is very easy to listen to...though I almost always disagree with him. He has a very quiet, laid-back way of speaking like a low-key preacher that keeps you listening. Very different from my style, but would work well behind a podium. 15480. arkymalarky - 6/14/2005 8:19:33 PM How long do you think you'll be speaking? 15481. arkymalarky - 6/14/2005 8:25:06 PM Looking at your boss while telling your joke about throwing the dog in the air is a good way to pull people in. If you remark on a few people in the audience with a humorous line or two, I've seen that done to good responses here. Ray Simon (who is now with the US Dept of Ed and, due to the Peter Principle, is moving up fairly quickly) was very unpopular for the job he did at the AR Dept of Ed, but his ability to pull in individuals with a humorous anecdote or line was always very disarming. People generally liked him personally and listened to what he had to say because of that, even though they'd be kicking themselves later for not getting answers to important issues from him. 15482. thoughtful - 6/14/2005 8:26:08 PM There was a tribute show on c-span paid to the guy who was the impetus behind bringing news to npr...can't remember his name. He was also part of the mcgovern campaign. Anyway, all these people were telling funny and touching and interesting stories about him. There was one that was too much...though as I'm sure you can tell, I don't remember all the details well.
Seems on the Mcgovern campaign, it was one of those days where he had 6 stops 3 states in one day or some such thing...far through the campaign so he was very tired and he had the flu besides. On his way to his next stop some person stopped him to bug him about something that people had been harping on him and he'd had it. He replied, "Kiss my ass." He didn't think there'd be consequences, but the remark was overheard by a member of the press and it became quite a public brouhaha. So there are the top leaders of the campaign discussing how mcg should handle this...deny, apologize, explain... and so on. Finally, very late at night, the NPR guy says, why don't you let me handle it. I'll come up with something by morning.
So the next morning they held a press conference and he got up and said, "As you all know, George McGovern is the democratic candidate for president, so what did you expect him to say? Kiss my elephant?" At which point the press all laughed and that ended that. 15483. Magoseph - 6/14/2005 8:39:16 PM Judith, come on in--called you, but no answer yet. I want to know how the sonogram went and all that. 15484. judithathome - 6/14/2005 9:16:19 PM I'm back from the sonogram and it was interesting. Somewhat painful and more involved than I thought it would be. The technician had really strong, skinny fingers and she poked and prodded my leg from the ankle all the way up to the groin area and it took about 40 minutes.
Now I just have to wait for the doctor to receive the report and call me. 15485. thoughtful - 6/14/2005 9:22:04 PM Fingers crossed for you juds. 15486. judithathome - 6/14/2005 9:28:02 PM Thanks! 15487. thoughtful - 6/14/2005 10:00:14 PM Thanks Arky...all good tips. I'll keep that in mind. Other thing I will do is try to focus on anecdotes/personal stories, esp about my boss, who is the direct manager or dotted line manager for all the other people in the room. If I can come up with some stuff that is either self-denigrating or gentle ribbing of him, I'm sure it'll go over well.
My old boss used to tell a story to illustrate compensating errors. He stopped at the convenience store to run in quick for something. Gets back out to the car and realizes he made a big mistake...he locked his keys in the car. As he's cursing and struggling to think what he's going to do, he realizes he made another, compensating error...he forgot to lock the back door! 15488. wonkers2 - 6/14/2005 10:45:58 PM Thoughtful, KEEP IT SHORT! Few speakers can hold an audience's attention for more than 10-15 minutes. (One of my side jobs throughout my career was writing speeches for various bosses. The longer I did it, the shorter they got, or at least I tried to keep them short. My worst experience was early in my career when I worked on a presentation for a company VP at a big 3-day management conference at The Greenbrier, W. Virginia. I wasn't invited to the conference, so when those who attended returned I inquired how my VPs presentation went. I got some strange answers until a friend finally told me that all anybody remembered was that he was "in the bag" when he gave the presentation. What a disappointment! I'd worked on it for a month. 15489. arkymalarky - 6/15/2005 12:00:27 AM You're welcome, Thoughtful. Let us know how it goes! 15490. arkymalarky - 6/15/2005 12:01:04 AM I hope all goes well, Judith! I guess it's too late for you to know today? 15491. arkymalarky - 6/15/2005 12:02:19 AM In the bag? 15492. Magoseph - 6/15/2005 11:55:55 AM Hello, Mac, Ali, and everyone--I have been up for three hours and guess what I was doing until this moment. 15493. PelleNilsson - 6/15/2005 12:05:29 PM Filing your toe nails? 15494. Magoseph - 6/15/2005 12:32:04 PM That's one, Pelle. 15495. Macnas - 6/15/2005 1:13:16 PM I don't know Mago, tell us. 15496. thoughtful - 6/15/2005 1:24:03 PM Thanks for the advice wonks. You're right. The secret to a good speech is to have a really good beginning, a really good ending and make sure those two come as close together as possible.
It is really embarrassing for the audience when a presenter is drunk. We were at some big dinner celebration for a firm and the pres was clearly potted, yet he was expected to introduce the next speakers and so on. Imagine how embarrassing as he essentially said goodbye thanks for coming to everyone even though we'd gone less than half-way through the agenda, which of course was printed up and at everyone's place setting. At that point, a 'second in command' took over and did the rest of the event. Not a good thing. He was also the one who sent me a thank you note afterward thanking me for the presentation i gave, though I'd given none. And yes, he's still running the co! 15497. thoughtful - 6/15/2005 1:24:22 PM mags, hanging wallpaper?
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