Making Public Speaking FUN: Interacting With Your Audience
(This is a previously published article – get the complete e-book containing over 40 great ideas on Making Public Speaking FUN! by subscribing to our Inner Circle Newsletter – fill in the form on the upper right column just below our photo)
Thanks to a flood of responses from HARO, we’re going to share some great ways to make your next public speech or presentation fun for both you and your audience.
For instance…a great way to turn a dry topic into an interesting talk comes from Rajesh Goel with Brainlink International, Inc.:
“I speak on fairly dry topics “information security”, “trends in financial crimes”, “security compliance”.
“One way I make my talks fun, and memorable, is to focus on case studies — analyze well known news events (Societe Generale fraud, TJ MAxx credit card breach, Sams club breach, George Bush choking on the pretzel, The Long Island maid-slavery case) or obscure organizations (Northeast medical centers, etc).
“I tie real-world events to security regulations and show how these impact us in real life, and how they tie-in to the audience’s organizations.”
Jill Starishevsky with http://www.HowsMyNanny.com pulled out one of her talents to grab the audience’s attention at one of her appearances:
“I spoke at and assembled a safety panel for Baby Celebration LA last year. As I started to speak, I realized the turn out was bigger for the children’s fashion show that preceded us than for a panel on various child safety subjects (including my subject of how to keep kids safe from child sexual predators and how to make sure your nanny was doing a good job).
“So I decided to pretend I was walking down a runway as I gave my presentation with hopes of drawing a big crowd. With only a spattering responding I kicked it up a notch and said this is LA, I bet you’ll respond to a little ‘American Idol’ and I asked the audience what song I should sing. We chose ‘Under the Sea’ from Little Mermaid and I belted out an off tune ditty. That brought them in and then I proceeded with my important lecture. Lots of fun!
Wow, could you sing a song on the spur of the moment?
Let’s go for one more:
Denny Andrews, Author and International Speaker says he kicked up his speaking by working on his comedy act:
“One of the best ways I have been able to make my speaking more fun for the audience was to read up on and then go to open mike nights and practice standup comedy.
“Nothing has helped me more or improved my speaking better than this exercise!”
Just a handful of fun ideas…lots more where those came from – just subscribe to our Inner Circle Newsletter (see form on the right) and you’ll get the free e-book once your subscription is confirmed.
