The Seven Strategies of Master Presenters - Lifecycle Performance ...

142 / THE SEVEN STRATEGIES OF MASTER PRESENTERS
different, a speaker would be a fool to poke fun at that country’s
leaders. For example, David was honored to be invited to speak in
Thailand a few years ago.
David: Before I spoke, one of my hosts politely asked if I intended
to make any reference, humorous or otherwise, about the
King or any member of the Royal Family. I told him I had
no intention of doing so, to which he replied: “Good. You
shouldn’t do that here.” It was a good reminder that what
works in one country can be totally unacceptable in another.
Humor has both its risks and its rewards. When it works, it’s wonderful.
When it doesn’t, it’s deadly. So is it worth the risk? Our advice:
Let common sense be your guide. It’s better to err on the side of
caution, so when in doubt, leave it out.
Another factor to consider is that jokes or humorous stories usually
increase the attentiveness level of the individuals in your audience
for a very short time. Unless you are naturally funny, and/or have developed
a routine of jokes and stories that will raise the attentiveness
level of your audience for sustained periods of time, there are other
techniques that may serve you better, such as novelty and surprise.
Novelty and surprise. Brad attended the National Speakers Association
conference in Los Angeles in 1997. The session he remembers
most vividly was a session by Master Presenter and presentations coach
Robert Pike. 3 Robert was able to raise the participants’ level of attentiveness
before the session even began by using the power of novelty
and surprise. This is how he did it.
Brad: When I entered the room, I noticed that instead of reading
their programs or talking with the person next to them,
everyone in the room was split into small groups. They
seemed to be working incredibly intensely on a project. The
first thing I did was check my watch. Could I have been
late? The answer was no. In fact, the session was not due to
start for another five minutes. Boy, was I curious. Robert
then instructed the people who had just come in to join a
group. One of my group members informed me that our
task was to list the top 10 languages in the world in order of
how many people spoke each language. I was hooked, as