Presentation Skills
Articles for Speakers

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Timing

Tom Antion
Washington, D.C.

Timing is one of the most important aspects of humor and NO
ZZZZZs presenting. Not only is timing involved in an individual
piece of humor, it is also involved in the placement of that
piece of humor in the overall presentation. Timing is also
involved in spontaneous reactions to "expected" unexpected
developments during the presentation.

Jack Benny said, "Timing is not so much knowing when to speak,
but knowing when to pause." He should know, because he delivered
one of the funniest and most famous lines in the history of
comedy after an extremely long pause. He was being held up by a
robber at gunpoint. The robber said, "Your money or your life!"
Jack didn't say a word for an extended period of time. The robber
became impatient and said, "YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE!!" Jack
finally replied, "I'm thinking." His persona as a cheapskate,
coupled with a long pause indicating he was having trouble
deciding whether to give up his money, or die was hilarious. A
pause lets the audience catch up and draw pictures in their mind.
It is the audience's signal to imagine.

In joke telling, a pause just before and just after your punch
line gives the audience a chance to laugh. Absolutely do not
continue to talk when laughter is expected. Laughter is hard to
get and easy to discourage. Hold eye contact a little bit longer
than you think you should when delivering punch lines because
time is hard to judge when you are pumped-up for a presentation.

The size of your audience will affect your timing. Your
presentation will take less time to deliver to smaller audiences.
Smaller audiences should mean quicker laughter. Conversely,
presentations will take longer for extremely large crowds. Your
pauses will be longer to compensate for the wave effect created
because of the physical distance between you and the back row of
the audience.

Next issue learn how the time of day effects your audience
response.

"In Wake em Up, Tom Antion teaches us how to get our message
across, do it with humor, and keep the audience awake all at the
same time. That's great, although I've learned through experience
that when I'm not doing 1 and 2, I prefer that the audience doze
off. It makes my getaway easier."
Gene Perrett, Author and head comedy writer for
Bob Hope


Note: This article is part of an eleven part series excerpted from
Tom Antion's new book, Wake em Up: How to Use Humor and Other
Professional Techniques to Create Alarmingly Good Business
Presentations. Anchor Publishing, 336 page softcover, $24.95 +
$4.00 S&H, (800) 448-6280 x 1 or FAX to (757) 431-2050 To Order Click Here