Public Speaking: Top Ten Ways to Make Money Public Speaking

SELL YOUR KNOWLEDGE This is my overriding principle that came from years of hard knocks trying to get people to hire me to speak. I get more speaking engagements than I ever had before when I quit trying to sell them and began selling my knowledge in as many different formats as possible. The idea is that infinitely more people can buy what you know through books, tapes, CDs, Ebooks and videos than could ever hire you to speak. Your name recognition because of your knowledge distribution makes speaking engagements much easier to come by because the people that could hire you have already heard you and your message on your knowledge based products. In the mean time, the money from the product sales keeps your business thriving.

Photographic Memory

Would you like the audience to think you have a photographic memory? Would you like them to look at you in awe?

Time of Day Matters

Public speaking has aspects related to time of day that you must know about. The first speaker of the day for an early morning (7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.) program should not expect hearty laughter. People are not conditioned to laugh a great deal in the early morning. Many won't even be awake yet. Use more information and less humor. I was asked by a sales speaker to open up an early morning public seminar. He said, 'I just want you to get them laughing before I start speaking.' I told him that it was not a good idea, but he insisted. I opened up the seminar with some sure-fire humor to test their responsiveness and got little response. I cut my material and brought the speaker on stage. He couldn't get them laughing either. I sat in the audience and watched. By 10:15 a.m. they were laughing at just about anything...

YOU as a Public Speaker!

Tips on Public Speaking

Public Speaking: Be Careful

I was doing an event for 3200 people in California and it was a really big deal. I had a two stage managers with headsets counting down 30 seconds till show time, a personal assistant and complete video crew for tape and image projection. Everything was hustle and bustle and rush, rush, rush.

Public Speaking: Bilingual Help

One good idea is to take pictures of the various items you may need (overhead projector, white board, etc.) and carry them with you to the event.

Public Speaking:Words are Funny

Some words are simply funnier than others. Your word choice can be the key to creating a successful witty line or a dud. All professional comedy writers agree on the following fact. The sound of certain words can virtually guarantee a laugh. In particular, the 'K' sound in words is the granddaddy of all funny sounds. In Neil Simon's play, The Sunshine Boys, Willy, a main character, gives his nephew a lecture about comedy:

Public Speaking: Self-Effacing Humor

Self-effacing humor, or making fun of yourself is quite a contrast. It is a very powerful form of humor that gets its strength from highlighting your weaknesses. It seems that people who have the ability to laugh at themselves in just the right amount during a public speaking engagement are perceived as secure, confident, strong, and likeable.

Public Speaking: Funny Question and Answer Sessions

Question-and-answer sessions are great opportunities to show off your sense of humor and get audience participation during a public speaking engagement. Let's see how we can have some fun with them.

Public Speaking: Numbers are Funny

Most businesses have numerous uses for numbers, both written and oral. Some numbers are funnier and more interesting than others. A number like zero has other names that are funny that aren't even numbers.

Public Speaking: Malaprops

A malaprop is an absurd misuse of words. It can be from words that sound alike (sadistic and statistic) or from explanations that don't make any sense. You can use these on purpose as a humor technique during your public speaking engagements. Consider some of the classic examples below:

Public Speaking: Fake Facts and Statistics

Stating falsehoods as if they are absolutely true is another fun way to play with the audience during a public speaking engagement. However, you must make the statements obviously false by your words and your facial expressions. When you use this technique in this fashion, you don't want to leave any doubt in the audience's mind whether you are being funny or not.

Public Speaking: Callbacks

If you refer to a word or phrase you mentioned earlier in your presentation, that's a 'callback.' It works well if the previous piece of material got a good laugh, or if it was a groaner. If the previous material was good, mentioning it again will get more laughter and will make you look polished for being able to tie the previous material to the present material. If the previous material was poor, the callback will show your willingness to tease yourself, which is an admirable quality the audience appreciates.

Public Speaking: Acronyms and Abbreviations

You can use acronyms and abbreviations as a form of humor during a public speaking engagement. An acronym is basically a form of abbreviation where the letters of the abbreviation form a new word, i.e., HUD means the Department of (H)ousing and (U)rban (D)evelopment. There are many acronyms and abbreviations that are universally known such as the IRS and the CIA. There are many more that are unique to your audience. All you have to do to make them humorous for use in your public speaking engagement is to change one or more of the words that go with your well-known abbreviation or acronym.

Public Speaking: To Laugh or Not to Laugh... that is the Question

Some humor 'experts' say that you should not laugh at your own jokes and stories when you are speaking in public. This may work for some, but it is definitely not my style. When I'm in front of an audience, I'm having a great time. I'm there because I love humor and laughter and I love sharing it with the audience. I can't help laughing sometimes. I laugh at what I say. I laugh at what they say. I laugh at unexpected occurrences during the presentation. That's my style. I believe that to fully connect with an audience, you must be accepted as one of them. If I expect them to laugh, then I should laugh too.