A celebrity speaker,wading his way through entangled wires to the podium,slips and falls flat. Lying down,he speaks through his lapel microphone “for the first time in my 20 years of speaking career, I’ve reached the level of my audience !”
Another speaker who tripped and fell said ” I am now ready to take questions from the floor !”
I am not sure what their topics were but I feel the audience would have lapped up anything they said after the remarkable way in which they opened their speeches by converting their problems into opportunities…
I find this to be the toughest form of humor- recovering from a crisis/setback. Malcolm Kushner uses the term “reframing” to describe such quick thinking. While lesser speakers would have floundered at the fall, both the speakers instantly reframed their misery into a mirthful, self deprecating dig !
Earlier posts :Speech Openers Still more Speech Openers Some more Speech Openers
Good ones Chendil…
I am reminded of a tip you had given me when I had sought your help to improve my pathetic table topic performances…
It was a one line…
something about … "Before I …audience finding out what a fool I am"
I wish you would refresh my memory…
Come on Sowmya,you've always done well in table topics !
the quote: "it is better to keep your mouth shut and let people wonder whether you are a fool rather than open it and remove all doubt !"
And in fact this quote is covered in August's edition of TM magazine…The article makes an interesting read.
Abraham Lincoln said it…"It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt".