Are you learning something new every day?  At least doing enough poking around to be reminded of things that you once bumped into previously but forgot?

Tom Antion is one of the first people I started reading before there were blogs, multi-tabbed browsers, or web conferencing and online presentation tools.

He points out that when using humor, you do NOT want to repeat a punchline.  To which my little brain leaps and goes AHA!  If you have to repeat the punchline, you probably didn’t tell the joke very well and you probably didn’t prepare as much as you should have!

And in so doing I realize (and now confess!) a bit of my own bias…   I’m almost entirely immersed presenting to educate or motivate (as in ‘sell’ or get someone to take an action) and teach others to do just that.  I therefore approach most presentations with one thing I teach:

If tomorrow morning your audience remembers a scant couple things you said, what are those things (and does your presentation put all its might behind delivering those messages)?

Learn to repeat for emphasis and memorability… when it’s appropriate to your presentation.

Another easy way to add impact to your presentation is to employ a technique that storytellers, comedians, and news anchors have been using for eons:  the pregnant pause.  Paul Harvey’s my favorite demigod at this, but we don’t need to have been broadcasting for 60 years to add it to our bag of tricks.

To start, just become consciously aware of your tempo, or pace of your delivery.  Speak too quickly and you’ll sound frenetic or nervous; too slowly and you’ll put ‘em to sleep.  Either way, having an awareness of how you sound to someone else is a step toward being a pro.

And just like a drummer sets the pace (tempo) of the tune, they also set forth emphases that become recognizable… that’s how you recognize the beat as rock, hip hop, or bossa nova.  This ‘rhythm’ element isn’t something you’re going to apply to a whole business presentation, but there may be elements – such as the three key points that you repeat – that you emphasize in a rhythmic way.  Da da da da DA da DA da DA! I don’t suggest manufacturing something, but rather just making it a point to consciously avoid the monotone and lean toward the drama already inherent in how the words flow.

Finally, the pregnant pause is simply a pause or hesitation that heightens the tension or creates anticipation…     …and then releases to deliver optimum impact to what is said right after the pause.  The reason this is so powerful is simple.  Our sensory systems tend to most readily pick up changes, differences, or disruption.  Someone in your audience who’s only half-listening is most likely to be drawn back to giving you their attention when something interrupts their zoning out.  Da da da da DA da DA…   …da DA!

Command attention.  Master the pregnant pause.

There are multiple ways to deliver a point with emphasis, and since web/audio conferencing events (mostly) eliminate the value of you waving your arms around wildly.

One of my favorite speakers, whose personal mission is teaching, is a master a repeating his key phrases.  Not only does he repeat the soundbite when he makes the point, but he brilliantly transitions to the next point by repeating his first.

The lesson learned, if we feebly attempt to turn it into a formula, looks like this:

1.  Literally repeat the phrase.  If appropriate, change up where you place an accent.

“Sometimes the the enemy of the best is the good.  Sometimes the enemy of the best is the good.”

2.  Use a repeat of the phrase both to summarize and close that point, but also to set up or transition to the next point

“…sometimes the enemy of the best is the good.  And what does this demand of us?  We can’t say NO to good things until we get clear on the one thing. We can’t say no to good things… until we get clear on the one thing.”

Repeat for emphasis and transition