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Tell it AS IF it's Amusing

By Lynn Grasberg

Okay, so you have a presentation to make at a conference or to your team at work – lots of numbers and serious issues to cover. How are you going to present it?

1. Give a dry, boring, "just the facts" lecture or
2. Make your presentation humorous and interesting so the people in your audience are informed and motivated to take action?

Hmmm. Tough choice. For most people,

1) is familiar and 2) is scary. Why? Because your inner critic says, "Don't bother. You're not funny."

I bet you are, though - at least sometimes when you're relaxed, like when you're playing with a dog or a small child, or talking to a good friend or two.

Maybe, you've been surprised when you tell a story to those friends and, out of the blue, they laugh. "What did I say?" you ask. "It's not WHAT you said," they answer. It's HOW you said it."

Something worked, but you don't know if you can do it again. Now what?
You can be the source of humor - intentionally - if you follow this basic principle:

Tell the story as if it's amusing!

I've seen this numerous times with my clients and students - amazing shifts in expression and audience reaction. If you actually take on the attitude that what you're saying is amusing, it will be. And you don't have to strain or force the humor. It's just naturally there.

When you tell a tale as if it's amusing, your body language shifts, as does your tone of voice, and even the words you choose. Essentially, you get playful and even surprise yourself. Playful and surprising - audiences LOVE that.

By the way, telling amusing stories is a learnable skill. The more you do it, the better you'll get at it.

Why Bother?

If you want to hold a crowd's attention, it's important to be entertaining. And if you want people to remember what you say, humor and drama are essential. That's where storytelling comes in, especially when you are presenting serious content that you want to sink in deeply with your audiences.

"But there are few stories in the world, after all. There is the story of Wickedness, the story of Good, the story of Love, and the story of Time. It is the telling that is the charm, for it is the expression that gives to our imaginations the experience of the tale." - Mary Oliver, Long Life: Essays and Other Writings

Don't settle for boring

when you can be brilliant!

Deliver your message as if it's amusing and watch yourself get funnier.

Copyright © 2007 Lynn Grasberg

This article is excerpted from Ta-DAH! Lynn Grasberg’s free monthly newsletter.

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Lynn Grasberg lights up the stage at conferences, conventions and retreats as a keynote speaker and musical comedienne. As a presentation skills coach, she helps individuals and organizations make powerful presentations, handle change with humor and resilience, and develop top-notch communication skills.  Contact her at 303.913.5226, LynnGrasberg.com. 

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