Public Speaking Course:
Caricatures, Cartoons and Comic Strips
An artist makes a caricature when they create a cartoon drawing that makes
certain facial features exaggerated, and other features smaller. My public
speaking course will show you the best way to incorporate caricatures in your
presentation.
Studies have shown that people actually find it easier to identify a political
leader from a caricature than from an actual photograph. Have a caricature of
yourself done and put it in your handout material or during your programs to
poke fun of yourself.
You can also use caricatures to make fun of your competition and their
products by exaggerating or diminishing whatever applies.
Caricature artists are pretty easy to find in the yellow pages under the
categories of entertainment or party planning.. Thinking about how to find what
you need is just another skill learned by taking my public speaking course.
How to connect with members of a culturally diverse audience is a very important
skill to master while in your public speaking course. Cartoons and Comic Strips
are the most universally accepted formats for humor across different cultures.
'Show 'em' When You Cross Cultures'
There are three ways that you can add cartoons to your presentation: first, you
can tell the audience members about a cartoon you saw; second, you can cut the
cartoon and show it to the audience; and third, you can draw or makeup a cartoon
yourself.
I saw a cartoon once where a lady was holding a gun to her purse. The caption
said, 'Give up the keys!' I tell the audience about this cartoon in my Business
Lite Seminar when I want to illustrate the use of humor to help ease the tension
in embarrassing situations. When I describe to the audience a cartoon that I
saw, I am helping to paint a picture in their minds and painting word pictures
in people's minds is taught in my public speaking course.
If you don't have the audio/visual equipment to show them the cartoon you can
easily describe it to them instead.
Even though describing a cartoon is fine to do, showing a cartoon is a much more
powerful way to convey its funny message. This is especially true in
international audiences where the visual aspect takes on a greater significance.
In a small audience I might hold up the cartoon or simply pass it around. In
larger audiences, the cartoon should be projected (don't forget to get
permission from the copyright holder) so everyone can see it clearly. I like
this method better because I can control when it comes up on the screen. I want
everyone to see the cartoon together so they will laugh together.
Fill the entire frame with your cartoon or comic strip to create a greater
impact. You will learn how to create an impact to your audience when taking your
public speaking course.
Another way to use cartoons in your presentation is to make them yourself. When
I first started teaching this subject I could not take advantage of this method
unless I hired an artist. Things are a lot different now. There are a number of
inexpensive computer software available which can be used, one of which is Corel
Draw. This program has 25,000 pieces of electronic clip art, many of which are
cartoons. I can make custom overhead cartoons for my speaking engagements. All I
do is pick an applicable cartoon, add a custom caption for my audience.
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