Used correctly, props can add a tremendous amount of significance and variety to any presentation and help ensure that your message is received and understood. And that’s what public speaking is all about.
Next, have a “hook” at the very beginning of your presentation - a joke, a one-liner, a poignant story - something that instantly draws your audience into your presentation. Make it funny, make it serious - it doesn’t matter as long as it compliments your presentation - but make it interesting enough to make your audience listen to you.
Not at all. But consider this - if your audience isn’t listening – if you’re boring them, you’re not delivering your message in an effective manner. And if you’re not getting through to them – you’re wasting your time and your message is being lost. You don’t have to become a comedian to be a good, but you do have to know when to use humor to get your message across.
Don’t feel that you have to cover your entire subject in excruciating detail in order to deliver a good speech – hit three or four high points (depending on the length of your speech) and end it on a conclusive note. There is no need to bore your audience with hours of minutiae – hit the main points and stop.
Using humor in your presentation is another effective tool, but be very careful to tailor your use of humor or jokes to your audience. How many times have you gone to watch or listen to someone giving a speech and been bored to tears? The speaker obviously hasn’t polished their public speaking skills – they speak in a monotone, their stories are lame – and they apparently have no sense of humor. Even if the message they’re trying to deliver is an important one – they’ve lost their audience.
Like it or not, public speaking is part of the entertainment industry – and even if your message is a serious one – audiences still want to be entertained. If you’ve been hired by an organization or a service club to stand up and deliver a message, you need to be able to do just that – or you won’t be invited back. Nor will you receive any recommendations to address any other group they might be connected with.
Identify your audience – who is your target audience? Who are your attempting to deliver your message to? Is it teachers? Drug addicts? Can you identify with your audience, and even more importantly, can they identify with you?
Make a name for yourself – Everyone starts off small. Speak for free at service clubs like Rotary or Lion’s clubs; find a community event like a Chamber of Commerce mixer where you can make an appearance. The more often you give speeches in public, the better a speaker you’ll be.
But props can also be a big disadvantage if you use them incorrectly. For example, if you use a pointer in your presentation, don’t stand up there and wave it around in mid-air aimlessly, because your audience may feel that they’re watching a swordfight with only one participant, and become so engrossed in that display that they stop listening to your words. Or if you plan a slide show or a PowerPoint presentation, don’t mix very bright slides with very dark ones, or else you may leave your audience unable to see either one.