Do You Know That…
… there are some HR companies that will shuffle all the resumes for the week and then throw the first 50 in the trash can because they do not want to hire unlucky people?
I shared this interesting quip with my students at Raffles Junior College the other day and that got their attention immediately.
As a speaker, you are going to face moments where your audience will be bored, distracted or exhausted. More often than not, this happens because there is no variety in your speech. Patricia Fripp, a well known speech coach in States, aptly pointed out that sameness is the greatest enemy to speakers. Put it simply, when you become predictable, your audience switch off.
That’s why it helps if you have a treasure chest full of interesting bits and pieces of information that you can whip out in times of need. Barry Gibbons, a professional speaker, calls them ‘ells’ because the role they play generally begin with the letter “L” - i.e. Looseners, Lighteners and Links.
When your audience is uptight, you can throw one out to loosen them up.
When your audience is overwhelmed with information, you can share one to lighten the mood.
When you are transiting from one main point to another, you can use one to smoothen the transition.
Get the drift?
So what makes up an ell?
Anything that gets your attention (it can be interesting, funny, absurd, all of the above…) Sometimes, I take the shortcut by observing what gets people laughing or talking. And then use them in my speeches.
One time, a friend shared with me this sign board which he saw on the internet. I love it so much that I have been using this as a comic relief for my presentation workshop. I even use this as an example of what a speaker should do - go straight to the point! Works everytime!
And then, I have some pictures taken with my friends in Philadelphia two years back. And till today, we still talk about it. See for yourself.
That’s right - these hamburgers are gigantic! And I love to show them in class. Sometimes I do it just to break the drudgery. Sometimes I do it to prove a point - people talk about this hamburger because it is different; likewise you have to make your speech different so that it becomes memorable.
Yes, this is very similar to keeping a story file or a humor file. However instead of writing down stories, you pay attention to quirky quotes, comments, one-liners, pictures, real life scenarios. When you encounter one that grabs your attention, save it into your computer or write it down. You never know when they are going to come in handy.
Like the “dunking 50 resumes” story, it was a casual comment by a HR friend of mine. Yet it is extremely apt for my interview workshop. In fact, I even went ahead to share some of the resume bloopers which I chance upon eons ago. Here are some boo boos that the students love in particular:
Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you shorty.
As a customer service representative, I confidently dealt with any problems that arouse.
I have a proven track reccord and great experience of accurancy and fixing erors.
I can play well with others.
Please don’t interpret my 8 recent jobs as job-hopping. I have never quit a job.
Here are more from Barry Gibbons that work very well for him.
What’s the shortest verse in the Bible? (Ans: Jesus wept… and the reason is because He was on the phone to his bank’s call centre and he has just been put on hold again.)
Bits of bogus philosophy make great ells such as “You can never underestimate the power of very stupid people in large groups.”
The male gyspy moth can smell the virgin gyspy moth from 1.8 miles away (but does he ever call? Noooo…)
The average bed has more than 41 million dust mites.
A shin is a device for finding furniture in the dark.
There is no such thing as bad weather, there’s only the wrong clothes (by Bully Connolly)
Some days you are a pigeon. Some days you are a statue.
Start collecting! You will be thankful you did. (And if you have any interesting quips, share them with us too!)
Cheers,
Eric Feng
Your Speech Coach
P.S: Some of you will be asking “Say the line comes from a well known person or a book, should I give them the credit?” My take is yes please, especially if the person you quote from is popular. And you don’t want to mislead your audience into thinking that it was from you.
P.P.S: Remember the Her World feature I was telling you about last month? Here it is!
