In Sept 2005, I did an act of courage.

That’s me in action at the Toastmasters Humorous Contest 2005 (Club Level)

After much hesistation and procrastination, I joined a US Toastmasters club. It was scary especially since I was new in town (Philadelphia). However, it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

During that one year, my growth as a public speaker shot to the roof.

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Most of you don’t know this but The Public Speaking Blog is not my first blog. I used to write at a personal development blog titled “Life is too exciting to be bored” and then continued at blogspot with “Life is (still) too exciting to be bored”.

It has a mix of personal rants and lessons learned but I stopped last June. Apparently life became SO exciting that I had no time to blog. Alright you nosy people, stop trying to google for the sites. *grins*

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I read an average of 25 blog entries, 2 ebooks and half a book every day. And I still think it is not enough. A good 50% of the content relates to public speaking, the other 50% relates to internet marketing, holistic living and branding. What about you? What do you read on a regular basis?

In a recent survey to my SpeakEZ subscribers (see box on top right hand corner), I posed a series of questions to them including this one: “What other public speaking websites do you visit?”. The results was shocking. A good 74% of them only visits sites that I recommend in my emails and blog. I am not sure if I should be flattered or worried. Flattered because they trust my opinion. Worried because they are lazy… and they don’t bother googling for more speaking resource.

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Want to know how to be funny on stage without sounding lame or looking silly?

Ok that was a silly question. Of course you do.

The ability to make your audience laugh at will is a highly coveted skill that can make you very popular among your audience. The fact that humor has been ranked the “third most important characteristic of a great speaker” makes it even more necessary to have it.

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It takes a lot to make a Singaporean laugh these days. With the rising taxes, erratic weather and high cost of living, there isn’t really much to laugh about. This is also the same country that made an outroar about Gotcha, a local TV program - which is similar to Candid Camera or Just For Laughs - simply because we don’t like to be made fun of…

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This entry is the sixth installlation to a seven part series that answers to some of your most frequently asked questions.

How do I interest, impact and impress the audience?

Can you share with me how I can influence my audience?

How do you make sure that your audience listens intently to you?

What suggestions can you give to help me capture the attention of the audience?

What are all the crucial ways to draw the audience into your speech hence connecting with them. Please elaborate in details each of the way.

E6. Keep ‘em Laughing

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Over the years, we have heard our fair share of public speaking advice that ranges from “Lame” to “Spongebob Square Pants kind-of Lame”. Isn’t it time we bring them out in the open and set them on fire? At least that was what Andrew and I thought. Riding on the wave of ingenuity, we came up with five spoof videos to ridicule the sucky speaking advice that you have frequently receive. We have also included bite-size tips to help you sharpen your speaking skills. All in just 3 to 5 minutes. It’s really easy to watch, especially when you are skiving at work… (grins)

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Just to get your day going… two more days to Friday. Hang in there, buddy.

Cheers,
Eric Feng
Your Public Speaking Coach

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Darren’s quick tip on how to engage the audience was simply ingenious! So much so that this entry was written almost immediately without much editing.

Put simply, it is about leveraging on the moments that the audience has already emotionally connected with.

If the speaker before you did something that causes the audience to erupt in laughter, find some way to bring back that funny act he did in your speech. Or, if the speaker shared a mesaage that created an AHA moment for the audience, find some way to link your speech to that message. In short, tap into what the audience ALREADY love and then ride on the wave.

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Weekend is coming - in a couple more hours - so I figure I should write something light. Humor immediately comes to mind. In my opinion, adults are wayyyyyyyyyyyyy TOO serious and they should really start to lighten up and laugh a bit more.

As a speaker, being funny is a highly coveted asset that makes you stand out from the rest of the oh-so-typical speakers. In fact, being humorous has been voted as one of the top three attributes that people look out for in a speaker. The other two atrributes include sincerity and content. (Full Article Here)

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