{"id":516,"date":"2012-02-01T13:28:36","date_gmt":"2012-02-01T18:28:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wholeperson.com\/wordpress\/?p=516"},"modified":"2012-02-01T13:29:10","modified_gmt":"2012-02-01T18:29:10","slug":"top-10-ways-you-can-improve-your-speaking-by-acting-like-a-stand-up-comic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/blog\/top-10-ways-you-can-improve-your-speaking-by-acting-like-a-stand-up-comic","title":{"rendered":"Top 10 Ways You Can Improve Your Speaking by Acting Like a Stand-up Comic"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/wordpress\/fun-five-minute-stress-breaks\/jasheway-small\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-27\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"27\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/blog\/fun-five-minute-stress-breaks\/jasheway-small\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Jasheway-small.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1051,701\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;9&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 20D&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1202224890&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;24&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;100&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.008&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Leigh Anne Jasheway telling jokes\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Jasheway-small-300x200.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Jasheway-small-1024x682.jpg\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-27\" title=\"Leigh Anne Jasheway-Bryant\" src=\"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Jasheway-small-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>10.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The most important thing to do in the first thirty seconds you\u2019re center stage (even if you\u2019re sitting at the conference table) is <strong>make the audience like you. <\/strong>Do this by using a conversational tone instead of a droning academic \u201cI know more than you do\u201d tone, making good eye contact, connecting with specific people in the audience, and giving the audience time to respond appropriately to your jokes and stories.<\/p>\n<p>9.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <strong>Use stories from your own personal experience<\/strong>. The more your presentation is based on your own life, the more the audience will sense truth and human emotion. These are very important elements in getting an audience to accept what you have to say, especially if it is something includes bad news of some kind.<\/p>\n<p>8.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <strong>Plan for things to go wrong<\/strong>. Stand-up comics write \u201csavers,\u201d funny comebacks for the things that might go wrong while they\u2019re on stage. For example, the microphone stops working, cell phones go off, instead of thirty minutes there are now only seventeen for your presentation, half the audience has just rushed out of the room with food poisoning, etc. Being able to respond to problems with a sense of humor shows the audience you work well under pressure and don\u2019t let a few setbacks stop you. And, if you are able to deliver your savers as if you just thought them up off-the-cuff, the audience will be impressed by your quick wit and intellect!<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>7.<strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Apply some of the rules of comedy to your presentation<\/strong>. Comics all know the rules for making things funnier. These rules also apply in many cases to presentations of all kinds.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Rule #1:\u00a0 Your material should be universal; everyone in the room should be able to understand the material, the context, and the emotions behind both. If you are speaking to a room full of accountants and all you keep using references to quantum physics, you\u2019re violating the rule of universality.<\/li>\n<li>Rule #2:\u00a0 Be as specific and visual as possible. The better you can create a picture, the more engaged the audience will be in your presentation. It\u2019s not an office, it\u2019s a 7-foot x 7-foot cubicle wedged between the women\u2019s bathroom and the elevator.<\/li>\n<li>Rule #3:\u00a0 When dealing with topics that are still painful to the audience (recent tragic events, lay-offs at work, new management, budget cuts, etc.), use exaggeration in your examples to keep things in perspective. Here\u2019s an example:\u00a0 \u201cThings have been really stressful at work, what with the new CEO, the changes in our job description, and the dress code that requires everyone to wear prison uniforms on Wednesdays.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Rule #4:\u00a0 KISS (Keep it simple, stupid.)\u00a0 Make your presentation only as long as it needs to be. Avoid complex ideas that require more thought than the audience will have time for; those are better discussed in breakout sessions or meetings. There\u2019s almost nothing worse than an hour-long speech with only ten minutes of \u201cstuff\u201d in it.<\/li>\n<li>Rule #5:\u00a0 It happened today (or at the latest, yesterday.)\u00a0 Use present tense verbs to give your presentation a feeling of being topical and urgent.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Remember<strong>, what you say is only half the game; your emotion is the other half. <\/strong>A speaker can have the most interesting material in the world, but if there is no passion behind it, no personal interest in what is being said, someone will probably fall asleep and it might be the speaker. Some ways stand-up comics show passion in their material include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Using lots of facial expressions and gestures.<\/li>\n<li>Modulating their voice. Vocal variation is very important to keeping an audience\u2019s interest.<\/li>\n<li>Getting rid of the lectern and standing where people can see them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>5.<strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Structure your presentation like a stand-up set. <\/strong>Open strong and close even stronger. In between, vary your material so that your stronger and weaker points alternate. This is also a good way to structure a presentation that includes many points that may be received negatively by the listeners \u2013 intersperse them with whatever good news you can find so that the audience has a chance to catch their breath.<\/p>\n<p>4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <strong>Engage the audience in participatory activities<\/strong>. It\u2019s easier to keep an audience with you if they feel involved, rather than spoken at. Try to keep participatory activities simple, especially if your presentation is in the late afternoon or evening. Hand raising is good (\u201cHow many of you have ever experienced any stress?\u00a0 Okay, how many of you are clinically dead?\u201d)<\/p>\n<p>3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <strong>Be aware of what speakers before you have discussed<\/strong>. This allows you to avoid duplicating material, but more importantly it gives you an opportunity to show you were listening to them too. This simple tactic increases the audience\u2019s affection for you right away. You too have been \u201cthe audience.\u201d\u00a0 And you will get brownie points for being able to show how your topic builds on those of the speakers before you.<\/p>\n<p>2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <strong>When you think audiovisuals include props in your thinking<\/strong>. One way to set yourself apart from other speakers is to broaden your use of visual aids beyond PowerPoint to include any objects large enough to be seen by the audience. Hats can be used to distinguish between different jobs or tasks or sides in a debate. A skeleton is a good way to demonstrate a bare bones budget. Have fun with choosing your props and your audience will have fun listening and watching you.<\/p>\n<p>1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <strong>Honor your fear. <\/strong>Comedians feel fear too. But they know how to use that fear to fuel the energy behind their set. So next time your knees knock and your palms sweat, think how funny it\u2019ll be to the audience. And think how much more they\u2019ll like you because you\u2019re a real human being too!<\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong>Copyright <a href=\"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/store\/leigh-anne-jasheway-bryant.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">Leigh Anne Jasheway<\/a>, 2008<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>10.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The most important thing to do in the first thirty seconds you\u2019re center stage (even if you\u2019re sitting at the conference table) is make the audience like you. Do this by using a conversational tone instead of a droning academic \u201cI know more than you do\u201d tone, making good eye contact, connecting with specific [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[225,37,27,215,227,224,226,8],"class_list":["post-516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-acting","tag-comedy","tag-humor","tag-leigh-anne-jasheway","tag-public-speaking","tag-speaking","tag-stand-up-comedy","tag-wellness"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Top 10 Ways You Can Improve Your Speaking by Acting Like a Stand-up Comic - The Wellness Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/blog\/top-10-ways-you-can-improve-your-speaking-by-acting-like-a-stand-up-comic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Top 10 Ways You Can Improve Your Speaking by Acting Like a Stand-up Comic - The Wellness Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"10.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The most important thing to do in the first thirty seconds you\u2019re center stage (even if you\u2019re sitting at the conference table) is make the audience like you. 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