Dear loving people,
Humor and humility are always a great way to make a presentation more
enjoyable. It can also actually relax you to make you feel more at ease. This
has worked quite well for me. It should for you.
By adding humor and humility to your presentation, you are not only entertaining your listeners but you are also relating to them as well. After all, being humble makes you more credible, more believable and more respected. Just think about this for a moment.
By simply standing up in front of an audience and sharing some of your own weaknesses and mistakes, you create an environment where your listeners can acknowledge their shortcomings as well. This automatically resonates with them and relates you to them where in essence you become “one of them” instead of just the presenter. Heck, you can even combine together the humor factor with the humility factor.
Take for example, try telling a humorous story about yourself that also demonstrates some point you are trying to make, i.e., some mistake that you made that you now laugh about. This will immediately resonate with your audience and go a long way in building rapport with them.
So, just be yourself and be open. Don’t be afraid to show your vulnerabilities, even if they seem awkward. I once saw a man speak at a timed speech where he messed up the timing for the auto-slides, and was completely embarrassed. He talked about how embarrassed he was and tried very hard to keep going. The entire audience was sympathizing with him and was rooting for him to succeed.
Another way to make the time fly when you are giving a presentation is to engage the audience. This also will relax you and dampen any anxiety you may have by responding to your audience.
Talk to you next loving people when we will dwell on the next strategy; Interacting with your audience.
