By Pam Lontos Every business needs a cost-effective way to keep their name, their products or their services in front of their prospects and customers. For many business owners, publicity is the key to such recognition and awareness. When done correctly, publicity develops your name recognition, gives your business instant credibility, and ultimately leads to […]
Read More...Too Bad Only the Good Speakers Will Listen to You: An Interview with Dan Conley
“Public speaking is the only regularly-performed public art where the majority of performers refused to submit to the artistic conventions.” That’s the opinion of Chicago speech writer Dan Conley. Prior to going independent, Dan was the speech writer for Virginia Governor Doug Wilder, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, and IBM’s Senior VP for Sales Bill […]
Read More...Business leader, what do you charge for talks? Appropriate fees for business executives seeking engagements?
I am often asked what fee CEO’s and business executives should charge. Many have expertise, or have run a good business, and would like to gain national media attention and exposure. Recently I was asked, ” Is there a national list or organization that posts that type of info? ”
Read More...Telling a Joke–The Dialogue From The Platform
Anytime you’re giving a speech, always remember it’s a conversation. Sometimes we fall into the trap of thinking we’re presenting a monologue. It’s easy to think of a speaker as the vehicle delivering a load of wisdom. In reality, every speech is a conversation. A two-way conversation with the audience. It’s important to remember that […]
Read More...The Richest Man in the World Speaks in Las Vegas
Bill Gates spoke in Las Vegas on January 7, 2007. Arriving almost four hours early guaranteed me a seat about 100 yards from the speaking platform. Thank goodness for big-screen projection. The crowd and the lines were something like a Rolling Stones concert. Except there were more geeks. About an hour from the start of […]
Read More...Lights, Camera,… HUMOR! The Rule of Three
Fellow students of humor, stand up and make ’em laugh! I say “fellow students” because through teaching others and making techniques and concepts graspable I, too, gain more clarity. I’m still on my own ever-changing path of humor mastery. Many of you have heard me speak in person. One of the favorite things that I […]
Read More...Humor for Selling Products and for Selling Your Message
Twenty to thirty years ago, humor was commonly used to sell low-priced products. We remember Mr. Whipple squeezing the Charmin and Clara Peller asking “Where’s the beef?” Today, when you watch TV, you’re likely to see humor being used to sell automobiles. Over the years, advertisers have gained a greater appreciation of the value of […]
Read More...The Call Back
Every year the World Championship contest is an amazing event. Lance, the 2005 World Champion, was wonderful! He connected with the audience and executed his speech perfectly. Lance’s message was simple and crystal clear. And a speech well worth studying! My favorite line, however, came from one of the other contestants, Rowena Romero. During her […]
Read More...When They Do Not Laugh—What Do You Do?
by John Kinde The eyes of your audience are fixed on you. You deliver your best new humor line. They stare at you in silence. It has happened to all of us. It will happen again. What do you do? The conventional wisdom from experienced professional speakers is valid. Pretend you were serious. Humor, properly […]
Read More...A Humorist Adapts Fripp’s Presentation Principles
An article on public speaking and presentations by John Kinde and Patricia Fripp As one of my humorist speaker friends John Kinde, well-known for his Humor Power newsletter says, “Great speaking skills give you the illusion of competence. The flip side: Poor speaking skills give you the illusion of incompetence! If your presentation skills are […]
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