| Have you ever
fallen asleep when listening to a speech or presentation?
Sometimes a little nap during a presentation
can boost your energy for the rest of the day. Speakers-
if you want to be the one to send your audience to sleep,
so they will be fully alert for other people’s presentations
follow these ten tips.
-
Make sure that your material is dry
and boring. Make sure that your material is either highly
technical or complex. If at all possible fill your speech
with specialized academic content that is not easily
understood without prior study and research.
- Do not include any explanations or illustrations to
make the content understandable to the average person
in your audience.
- Schedule your speech to be at the end of a long day
or after a big meal. This will give added incentive for
drowsiness and lethargy.
- Speak softly and avoid any expression or vocal variety
that might distract or interest your audience.
- Stand still behind the lectern for the entire speech.
Any movement or sudden gestures could wake up your audience.
- Avoid any variation in style in your presentation.
Do not change from talking to using a flip chart, PowerPoint
or any other kind of visual aid or prop that will attract
attention.
- Do NOT include any humor or stories in your speech
that might illustrate the important points you wish to
communicate.
- Do not keep to the topic of the speech. Spend a large
amount of time rambling about subjects or personal experiences
that are boring and totally off topic.
- Speak about a topic that is very familiar to your audience.
Keep your content to things that they already know.
- Provide highly detailed handouts, so that your audience
will not miss out on any important information during
their snooze. Make sure that you do not say anything
that is not included in the hand out. For best results,
just read the handout word for word.
Hopefully, by following carefully the ten tips outlined here,
you will have the satisfaction of seeing an entire audience
snoring quietly and happily throughout your entire presentation.
If you do not follow these tips you may be alarmed to discover
that your audience is alert and interested in what you have
to say. |