i don't know if this is the right forum to ask but i figured i'd give it a shot-
for the last 4 years i have produced,edited,written,printed and published
a one of a kind periodical
each year there are several events where i am able to address several hundred of my fans,readers, and those who are or could be interested in it
it's a small "nitche" i am very well known by those around me
i have in the past had to be "on stage" and say a few words at various times
in the last 4 years with moderate success (in my opinion) of keeping
the crowds attention , and a little entertaining audience participation too
but having only a few good lines to make folks laugh only goes so far
next week i will be in the similar situation and will have the opportunity
to once again say a few words about what i do, why i do it, the good it does
,the current and future plans of expansion and how the promotion of our collective interest is effective working together as we have
- looking for some ideas to liven things up next week
any advice is welcome , thanks in advance

Hi One-Man-Band
I was a professional speaker for 15 years and know exactly what you're talking about. Can you give me an idea of who the audience is and what you do? That will really help me help you.
Aloha, Bob

__________________
Join the soon-to-be largest community of marketing experts in the world. Join Here! Join Today!

wow that was a fast reply , Hi Bob and thanks
to describe my audience without "identifying" my audience ,most times
i would say they are a semi family oriented biker like crowd of automotive enthusiasts
in a very relaxed non formal setting in crowds of well over 2 or 300 at a time
this next event will be a little less family oriented and is more with an
"organizational" excuse for a yearly vacation in an exotic location every feb without the family .. hotel based , sun and sand
and from every corner of the globe they will travel from to attend
estimated attendance expected will be well over 300 in a massive conference room
so having everyones attention is what will be most important
crowd participation tricks are more for the smaller events of crowds less than a couple hundred ... not sure i can type how i get em to do that
aside from not being very "family oriented language" that works very well
just getting kind of inappropriate to use more often now a days it seems
(more kids in the crowd as years go by)
- i did this last year but kept it brief , said who i was .. the owner/creator of the
publication that is dedicated to the support and promotion of their enthusiastic interest , we've donated to a few childrens charity's ,helped those in need from disasters ect ,did OK but seemed like many wanted to hear more too
this year things are on a much bigger scale due to it's tropical location as opposed to it's arctic location last year where attendance was moderate but lower
because of location location location

I understand what you're saying about not being comfortable with audience participation exercises after the crowd gets over a couple hundred people. Not knowing your personality, it's hard to know what will work for you and what you would be comfortable doing.

Here are a few ideas I've seen other people use with great success, but again, this my not be what you're looking for.

1. Do a David Letterman style top 10 things about your publication. This could be very humorous and educational at the same time.

2. Do a pre-meeting questionnaire before you see your fans and ask them to list or suggest certain things and then briefly tell the audience what you learned from them. You can always twist this into something funny.

These are just the first two ideas that came to me. I hope they help.

Aloha, Bob

__________________
Join the soon-to-be largest community of marketing experts in the world. Join Here! Join Today!

now that could work a top 10 things NOT heard at an event kind of thing
may work for another large venue i'll be at in july , Dave is great
the Q&A may work better for this trip i like that idea too
thoughts to ponder for sure on the 20 hr train ride there
THANKS!

Just a quick thought - don't abandon the easy/obvious! Even simple hands-up-if or stand-up-if interaction in your presentation is better than nothing... and it'll work better in larger crowds too, if there's a clear majority etc.

S

__________________
We do presentation skills training so you can do presentations. North England based and covering all the UK.

hello,

my only advice for you is to be spontaneous,its the only the only thing that you need to do in order to capture and entertain your audience simultaniously.

__________________
The First Public Speaking Tips Blog

Hi Simo92 - I'm not sure I agree. I think you might be more right if you say that being flexible is a good approach to the presentation - that will look like the speaker is being spontanious to the audience if it's done right, of course, but with all the added advantages of being rehearsed.

Spontanious things can soooo easily go wrong!

Simon

__________________
Presentation skills training for groups: presentation skills training for individuals.

HI Simon, actually i do believe that all advanced public speakers are spontaneous to a certain degree,simply because it adds a sort of credibility and profeciency to the whole things.

__________________
The First Public Speaking Tips Blog

If you watch my acceptance speech, you'll notice a lot of things that look spontaneous ... but they're not. At the beginning of my speech I stepped away from the lectern to wave at the photographer. Neither he nor the audience was expecting me to stop my presentation to have my picture taken. It was funny and it looked spontaneous, but I planned it long before I walked up to the microphone.

Yes, it is wonderful when you can improvise. Improvisation is where we try out new humor. If it works, we work it into all of our speeches and try to make it look as spontaneous as possible.

Don't you just love this stuff?

__________________
Join the soon-to-be largest community of marketing experts in the world. Join Here! Join Today!