Tip: Make ’Em Laugh
By: Marty Marsh (see my bio)
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Last night I joined a few hundred people at a rally in Palm Springs, CA to protest the California Supreme Court ruling upholding Prop 8. Out of about a half dozen or so speakers — all who had great things to say — there were two that really stood out and captured the full attention of the audience.
One was a high school girl who gave a fiery and heartfelt speech (that girl has a real future in politics) and the other was a fellow who was just plain funny. I was reminded that we seem to learn more and retain more of what someone is saying when they make us laugh.
Twenty years ago when I still had a “real” job I hired a guy to come in and teach my entire department how to use the page layout software program, QuarkXpress. The guy was hilarious and kept us in stitches the whole time he was teaching. But we all got it and we all became proficient in QuarkXpress really fast. I’ve never forgotten that guy either and as I — still to this day — use the many tips and tricks he taught us, I can remember the situation in which he taught us those things. Amazing. And all because he made us laugh.
So just remember that anytime you engage your audience with laughter you’ll have a leg up in the remembrance department.
Too bad this post is not funny in the least.
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| Marty Marsh helps his fellow entrepreneurs and small business owners attract and keep more clients with creative, yet affordable, relationship-building marketing and promotional materials including newsletters, postcards, greeting cards, books, brochures and more. Marty is also author of numerous eBooks and Audio Programs, many of which are available at no charge at his website www.martyink.com, including his popular "How to Get the Word Out About Who You Are and What You Do," a seminar-in-an-ebook. |
June 23rd, 2009 at 5:48 pm
What happens if you do not make them laugh in a presentation? There is nothing worse than trying to be funny and failing.
There is a fine line between using humour to help present, and using it to sabotage the serious business of business.
Are there any tips you can offer for one-liners that sound natural and fit well with any presentation topics?