Page 103 - Today’s Business Communication; A How-to Guide for the Modern Professional

92 TODAY’S BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

poetry. She said, “If I should have a daughter, instead of mom, she’s
3
gonna call me Point B, because that way she knows that no matter what
happens, she can always find her way to me.” These were the first words
out of her mouth, and they had a profound impact on her audience.
Watch her TED Talk here: http://www.ted.com/playlists/77/new_to_ted.
html.

Tell a Personal Anecdote or Relay an Experience

We like these because stories are how people learn. It’s the reason we’ve
included so many in our book.

Use humor

We like a good joke. But, we caution you to be very careful with humor.
What one person laughs at, another finds incredibly offensive. Save your
best retelling of Chris Rock jokes for your bar buddies.

Reference Expert Opinion

We like using expert opinions because it is a way to build credibility.

Tell a Success Story

We Americans love success, almost as much as we like to see successful
people fail and come back from their failures. And remember, you can
always use hypothetical stories, as long as that is clear with your audience.

Maximizing Your Impact

Having a supercharged introduction should get your audience engaged in
your presentation. However, as we can tell you from years of experience in
the classroom, getting an audience’s attention and keeping it are two dif-
ferent things. As speakers, we need to work to keep our audience plugged
in during the heart of the presentation as well. Figure 7.3 summarizes 11
ideas for keeping your audience engaged and maximizing your impact
during a presentation.