Speaking Out with Speaker's Roundtable

Volume 3,  Issue 27   June 7, 2004

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                                   * In This Issue:

* A Note From Speaker's Roundtable

*  Hone Your Sense of Humour

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                     * A Note From Speaker's Roundtable

Dear Subscriber and Friend;

Speakers Roundtable is an invitation-only association of 22 of
America's foremost professional speakers. The members of
Speakers Roundtable are a "Who's Who" of experts, business
owners, professional speakers, authors, trainers, and
consultants. Collectively, they have published over 100 books,
produced hundreds of audio and video programs, written over
1,000 published articles, own and run several high-tech and
low-tech business, and serve as consultants and board
members of many well-known corporations. This ezine will
share some of the best of their insights,tools and tips that can
improve your life, love and business.

Feel free to email any questions regarding the content of this
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* Hone Your Sense of Humour

While being wheeled into the operating room after being shot
by a would-be assassin, the ever-persuasive President Ronald
Reagan got a chuckle when he wisecracked, "I hope the doctor
is a Republican." We may not all be so cool in a crisis, but we
can all profit by not taking ourselves too seriously.

Humor is an infinitely variable commodity, on the part of both
the sender and the receiver. Witness the range of comics from,
say, The Three Stooges to Mort Sahl or audiences as disparate
as Shriners and anthropologists.

My suggestions for improving your sense of humor: First, find
out what your strong suit is, humor-wise. Ask a friend who'll
be honest with you. Second, research your audience. Find out
who they are, what's made them laugh previously. Third, work
on your timing. Try out your best lines on your family, friends,
and associates. Fourth, if humor hasn't previously been in your
repertoire, proceed slowly. It's better to use humor sparingly
than to be remembered as a buffoon or insensitive.

Fifth, sprinkle your humor throughout your talk, not just at
the beginning or end. Sixth, make it relevant to the subject,
not just a funny line you paste onto your speech for laughs.
And, last, remember that some of the best stories are those you
tell on yourself. A little mild self-deprecation can go a long
way toward making your audience feel at ease with you.

Such conversational first aid not only makes the other person
or group more persuadable, it helps you both keep your
perspective. Humor not only can be an icebreaker, but if the
going is tough, to those in the trenches it can also be an
affirmation of dignity, a declaration of your collective faith
in the ultimate triumph.

Tony Alessandra
Member: Speakers Roundtable
Web site: http://www.speakersroundtable.com
Email: office@SpeakersRoundtable.com

Speakers Roundtable is a consortium of 22 of America's
foremost professional speakers, sales trainers and seminar
leaders. All members are dedicated to serving their training,
motivation and consulting clients with pertinence, excellence
and extraordinary value. FREE Ebook - Success Secret
available at http://www.speakersroundtable.com