If you look up the word entertainment in the dictionary you will find that it means fun, interesting and enjoyable. So, to become a more entertaining speaker, you need to become more fun, interesting, and enjoyable for your target audience.
Here are some practical suggestions to help you improve your entertainment quotient as a speaker.
1. Focus on the needs and wants of your audience. Remember that a boring person is ME in the depths of a conversation. To avoid being boring, focus on the audience, not ME. Talk in terms of your desire to be recognized, to belong, to feel important, and to enjoy pleasure and laughter. People need attention. There is nothing more affirming than the undivided attention and appreciation of another. If you want your audience to give you their full attention, give them yours.
2.Put a smile on your face the moment you enter the building and keep it that way until you leave. I remember listening to a speaker who was very good at speaking, but before he started and by the time he finished, his smile was nowhere to be seen. Be aware of the importance of his smile in satisfying the needs and wants of his audience.
3. Be enthusiastic about your life and your message. Enthusiasm is contagious and attracts attention. Ask yourself if you were a member of your audience, would you be listening carefully to what you are saying?
4 Tell stories. A study was conducted at an American university to look at factors that positively impacted students’ attention and retention of course content. It was found that when the teacher used humor and storytelling in a lesson, retention of the material and attention to what was being taught increased significantly. Here is a good message for us as speakers.
5. Laugh at yourself during your presentation. There is nothing that people enjoy more than hearing and seeing a speaker laughing at his human foibles and frailties. He gives the audience permission to laugh at themselves when they see their own shortcomings and weaknesses reflected in his. He promotes an “we’re all in this together” attitude. I tell a story about the time I had parked my car in front of our local post office. I went out and found a beautiful middle-aged woman on the step of the post office. I sucked in my stomach, smiled as she bounded up the steps like a young gazelle, and gave the woman an enthusiastic “HELLO!!” When I came out after doing my work, she was still there so I once again gave her the time of day and got in my car looking and feeling pretty smooth. When I took out my keys and tried to insert them into the ignition, they wouldn’t fit. I looked in the rear view mirror only to see my car two cars behind me. In my exuberance to impress and look stylish, I had gotten into the wrong car. All I could do was walk out, look at the object of my attention, and say, “OOOPS WRONG SELF.” Every time I tell this story, the audience roars and when I finish my presentation, I usually have three or four people come up to share similar experiences with me. We are all in this together.
If you don’t laugh at yourself, you leave the job to someone else.
6. Use your voice as an instrument. Show excitement, joy, intensity, fun, frustration with your voice. Whatever you do, don’t be a monotonous speaker. they are deadly
7. Have fun with your audience. Near the end of each presentation on humor and fun in the workplace, I offer a rhythm band experience to my audience members. Normally I select 8 people willing to participate in this musical experience. I give each member of the group a rhythm band instrument similar to the instruments we all remember from elementary school. With the instrument comes a brief instruction on how to play it. I don’t teach them too much as the fun comes from seeing them get creative playing their instrument. I play and sing a song on the guitar and my band goes crazy. If you don’t know how to play the guitar, don’t worry. Simply select a song from a CD and play it for the band to accompany you. The song is not that important, but the fun is. I’ve had CEOs of big companies on the band having a great time. After the concert, some audience members said, “I’ve never seen him like this before. Actually, they were having fun.” Such is the liberating power of play.
8. Tell stories to your audience. We all love to be told stories, whether we are six or sixty years old. In my audio CD “How to Use Storytelling for Public Speaking” I talk about the importance of storytelling and show you how to use it effectively in your presentations. Stories amuse, inform, and entertain your audience, so use them often.
9. Be yourself. Get rid of the masks you hide behind and let your audience see and enjoy the real you.
10. Relax and enjoy the experience of speaking. The public is not your enemy. They want you to be good so they can meet their needs and reward their investment of time.
These are the basic elements involved in being a more entertaining speaker. Take one at a time and try to incorporate it into your presentations. You will be satisfied with the results.
