Jul 01

Bombproofing a Funny Work Presentation

If you have to give a funny work presentation one of the areas that people often wonder about is “is it possible to be bombproof?” To clarify, you bomb when a punchline you expect to gain a laugh actually fails. It happens to us all, the difference is when you’rein front of a bunch of people that feeling gets magnified. Material that is bombproof would resistant to such laughter failure. So is it possible? Yes… and no. Continue reading

Jun 25

How to Make Research Presentation Interesting or Funny

How Do You Make a Presentation Interesting?

Some people ask; “How do you make a research Presentation interesting or funny?” Inevitably you will, at some point, want to give a funny work presentation or maybe you have to give a funny medical presentation, or what have you. If I was in your shoes, I wouldn’t start off with Powerpoint or Impress. I would start off with a pen and paper. Remember those? Continue reading

Jun 12

Humorously Speaking, part 3

Here’s a post about the 3rd project in the Humorously Speaking manual. The first video in this series is viewable here Humorously Speaking 1. and the 2nd post is here. There’s more to creating humour than just comedy writing techniques; this video goes “beyond the rule of three”.

As I’ve said before, if you want to learn to be humorous, this video is can help you add humour to your presentations whether you’re a member of Toastmasters International or not. This clip is 18 mins long, so you may want to set aside some time to watch it. Continue reading

Jun 04

Rewrite, Rewrite, Rewrite

You’ve probably heard the expression “great speeches aren’t written, they’re re-written”. It’s a clichéd expression that has been adapted countless times and has previously been used for novels, screenplays, theatre scripts and so on.

It’s become a cliché because an element of truth can be found in it and it’s absolutely applicable if you have to write a speech or make a presentation. One the areas that you want to watch out for when editing a speech is tautology. Fowler’s Modern English Usage defines it as “saying the same thing twice”. This is different from repetition of meaning, which can improve the style of a piece. Continue reading

Jun 03

How Room Design May Affect Your Presentation

“…the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture in San Diego are encouraging interdisciplinary research into how a planned ­environment influences the mind…” Scientific American Mind, April 09

It’s interesting that research is being done into how the architecture of buildings affects mental ability. I think this research is interesting for those of us who have to make presentations.  Continue reading