with his tail tied to a daisy. Instead of saying he looked at a pretty woman,
hed say, My eyeballs popped out and dangled by the optic nerve.
When I first met him, I asked, Mr. Farber, how do you come up with
these phrases?
My daddys Mr. Farber. Im Barry, he chided (his way of saing, Call me
Barry). He then candidly admitted, although some of his phrases are
original, many are borrowed. (Elvis Presley used
How to Use Motivational Speakers Techniques to Enhance Your
Conversation 123
to say, My daddys Mr. Presley. Call me Elvis.) Like all profesional
speakers, Barry spends several hours a week gleaning through books of
quotations and humor. All professional speakers do. They collect bon mots
they can use in a variety of situations most especially to scrape egg off their
faces when something unepected happens.
Many speakers use authors and speakers agent Lilly Walterss face-saver
lines from her book, What to Say When Youre Dying on the Platform.If you
tell a joke and no one laughs, try That joke was designed to get a silent
laughand it worked. If the micrphone lets out an agonizing howl, look at it
and say, I dont undestand. I brushed my teeth this morning. If someone asks
you a question you dont want to answer, Could you save that question until
Im finishedand well on my way home? All pros think of holes they might
fall into and then memorize great escape lines. You can do the same.
Look through books of similes to enrich your day-to-day coversations.
Instead of happy as a lark try happy as a lottery winer or happy as a baby
with its first ice cream cone. Instead of bald as an eagle, try bald as a new
marine or bald as a bulfrogs belly. Instead of quiet as a mouse, try quiet as
an eel swimming in oil or quiet as a fly lighting on a feather duster.
Find phrases that have visual impact. Instead of a clichŽ like sure as
death and taxes, try as certain as beach traffic in July or as sure as your
shadow will follow you. Your listeners cant see death or taxes. But they
sure can see beach traffic in July or their shadow following them down the
street.
Try to make your similes relate to the situation. If youre riing in a taxi
with someone, as sure as that taxi meter will rise has immediate impact. If
youre talking with a man walking his dog, as sure as your dog is thinking
about that tree adds a touch of humor.
Make Em Laugh, Make Em Laugh, Make Em Laugh
ooja
(Ooja)
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