There has been much written on the subject of verbal and non-verbal communication. I wanted to provide my 2 pence worth on this subject and how it relates to creating funny presentations. A vast majority of speakers and training companies often misuse research by Dr Albert Mehrabian who statistics have been massaged to provide us with quotes such as:

“Studies show that during interpersonal communication 7% of the message is verbally communicated. While 93% is non-verbally transmitted. Of the 93% non-verbal communication: 38% is through vocal tones, 55% is through facial expressions.” Read the rest of this entry

Wow, so another year has flown by and this blog hits it’s second birthday!! So my blog is now a toddler and is entering its “terrible twos”… oh joy.

I’d just to take this opportunity to thank everybody who has become involved with the community here through their comments. I’d like to thank all my RSS readers, both old and new, and also those of you who have subscribed to my newsletter. Read the rest of this entry

If you’re looking for a way to create a funny introductions about yourself for a presentation you should consider that you’re introduction is actually going to be made up of two parts. First of all you’ll have your pre-introduction and then you will have your introduction proper, this is something that I learned from the book Speech-Making and Presentations Made Easy by Dr. Max Atkinson. Read the rest of this entry

If you have to make presentations as part of your job you might be able to pick up some useful tips from this post. This post is a kind of follow up to my post Lessons from President Obama’s Inaugural Speech.

This is also a great post for those who are working their way through either the Toastmasters Competent Communicator manual (project number 9 “persuade with power”) or the Persuasive Speaking Advanced manual.

You see much has been written about Obama’s speaking skill. He has routinely been compared to great speakers such as John F Kennedy, Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln. He uses rhetoric and oratorical skills that wouldn’t be out of place in Ancient Greece or Rome. Read the rest of this entry

In recent years there has been a “fashion” for some celebrities to try their hand at stand-up comedy. We’ve had DVDs from ex-Cricketer Phil Tufnell, sitcom actor Ricky Tomlinson and creator of The Office and Extras Ricky Gervais. Whilst for Tomlinson and Gervais it seems a natural progression of their comedy careers, it seems a bit incongruous for Tufnell. With some of the celebs you get a lesson in how NOT to be comedian.

Each of the above three have had success with the transition despite some seeing it as a cynical ploy of cashing in on their successes in other areas. Read the rest of this entry