We all learn best through the medium of humor. Here are seven public speaking cartoons poking fun at habits of speakers while providing instruction, too.
The Cartoon Videos
Each of these public speaking cartoons is less than one minute long. Each poke fun at the habits of many speakers:
The Long Sermon
How does a congregation feel about those long sermons?
The Heckler
There is nothing fun about a heckler in your audience.
The Military Uses PowerPoint
Is your PowerPoint show torturing your audience?
Landslide Victories
How does this politician do it?
Criminal Practices
Don’t be caught breaking these laws of public speaking.
The After-Dinner Speaker
This speaker could use some coaching about giving a talk after dinner.
The Budget Talk
Find out how this gentleman’s boss felt about his budget talk.
The Habits
What are some of the habits these public speaking cartoons illustrate?
-Don’t prepare or practice – wing it
-Read their speech
-Don’t have a point – ramble
-No vocal variety – monotone
-A litany of filler words like “ah,” “er,” “um,” or filler phrases like, “You know what I mean?” “That being said…” “So moving on…”
-No humor
-No stories – just facts
-Too many crowded PowerPoint slides
-No Eye Contact
-No body language or too much body language
-Bad jokes
-Unfamiliar words, terms or acronyms
-Weak opening and or closings
-Distracting attire
There are more. But I think these are the most common.
Changing Habits
It is said it takes three weeks of repeated behavior to create, or change, a habit. Where does one do that for speaking? The best place for continued practice is Toastmasters. I’ve been a member since 1987. I’ve seen hundreds of people conquer their fear of public speaking and kick these habits. Other alternatives might be reviewing YouTube videos about public speaking. Take the tips from those videos and record yourself using your smartphone. With the list of habits above, you’ll see some of them. You can take a public speaking course. Those are great. However, it is a limited time, a few weeks. Continued practice is the key. Lastly, you could hire a speaking coach. With Skype, Facebook or Google live video, you can work with a coach that lives anywhere. Skype is how I was coached while preparing for my TEDx talk.
Is it worth it? YES!
President Gerald Ford said this of public speaking:
If I went back to college again, I’d concentrate on two areas learning to write and to speak before an audience. Nothing in life is more important than the ability to communicate effectively.
And Warren Buffet about public speaking:
Now, you can improve your value by 50 percent just by learning communication skills–public speaking.
As the Nike saying goes, “JUST DO IT!”
