Casting;a;reality;check;on;real-world;conundrums
Reviving the Dead
“I would use a technique I call
‘Name;the;Game,’;which;means
not ignoring the elephant in
the;room.;If;you;don’t;address
it in some way, you will never
regain;the;audience’s;full;atten-
tion. The key is not to linger
there nor embarrass anyone
in;the;process.;An;example
of this happened during a
daylong training I gave the
day;after;the;Columbine;High
School shootings. Because I am
a motivational comedian, the
client obviously hired me to be
funny. But I named the game
by saying, ‘I know you hired me
to be funny, but I have to be
honest;with;you,;I’m;not;feeling
very;funny;today.’;We;spent;the
first hour sharing our feelings
about the tragedy, and then
the rest of the day flowed well.”
—Karyn Ruth White
Denver,;Colo.
For whatever reason—the event is
behind schedule, the audience just
got bad news, the previous speaker
was awful—the audience is lifeless.
How do you re-engage attendees?
i would ask the
audience to stand, take
a one-minute break and
introduce themselves to
three or four new friends in
their immediate area.
—ed Scannell, cSP, cMP
Scottsdale, ariz.
i don’t believe i would even comment on what has
gone before. i would just double my efforts to deliver a
stunning program and hope that i could help them blow
the blues away.
—lou heckler, cSP, cPae, Gainesville, Fla.
i just did two
keynotes with this
situation. each had a ceo
who spoke before me and
went way over his allotted
time (and was boring to
boot). here’s what i did
and you can, too:
—Sharon l. Bowman, Ma
Glenbrook, nev.
What Would You Do? is a regular
column that presents a real-life
dilemma faced by professional
speakers. NSA members are encouraged to submit a dilemma for
possible discussion in this column.
Please submit dilemmas to ethics@
nsaspeaker.org. NSA reserves the
right to edit submissions for length
and style. All dilemmas will be
anonymously attributed. Opinions
expressed are those of the individual respondents, not NSA.
“There is no pat correct or incorrect answer. It all depends on
how;long;ago;‘it’;happened.;From;the;assassinations;of;President
John;F.;Kennedy;and;Martin;Luther;King;Jr.;to;the;shuttle;explo-sion to Katrina, I have been scheduled to speak around many such
occasions. If some time has passed, I completely ignore what hap-pened;and;get;down;to;why;I’m;there,;heeding;what;one;meeting
planner;told;me, ‘Please;don’t;bring;it;up;again—every;speaker
has.’;If;they’ve;just;heard;what;happened;and;people;are;visibly
shaken,;the;speaker;has;to;address;it. Then;it’s;up;to;each;speaker’s
style and what that meeting planner wants to be done.”
—Jeanne;Robertson,;CSP,;CPAE,;Burlington,;N.C.
This column was compiled by Don Cooper, The Sales Heretic™, who helps salespeople,
business owners and professionals dramatically increase their
sales. Find free sales-boosting
resources at www.DonCooper.
com or follow him at www.
Twitter.com/DonCooper.
