Oct 8, 2020
Adding Humor To Your Speaking
James Taylor interviews Tami Evans and they talked about adding humor to your speaking
In today's episode Tami Evans they talk about Adding Humor To Your Speaking.
Tami Evans is a motivational business speaker who believes that laughter is an essential element in the learning process. She is the Past-President of the New York Chapter of the National Speakers Association and her genuine, funny and motivational style gets her booked for keynotes around the world. In addition to her speaking, she has also worked as a professional actor on shows like Sex and the City.
What we cover:
- The transition from acting to keynote speaking
- Tailoring your talk by getting to know your audience
- Adding Humor To Your Speaking
Resources:
- Tami Evans Website - http://tamievans.com/
- Tami on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamievansspeaker/
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Read full transcript at https://speakersu.com/adding-humor-to-your-speaking-sl083/
James Taylor
Hi, it's James Taylor, founder of SpeakersU. Today's episode was first
aired as part of International Speakers Summit the world's largest
online event for professional speakers. And if you'd like to access
the full video version, as well as in depth sessions with over 150
top speakers, then I've got a very special offer for you. Just go
to InternationalSpeakersSummit.com,
where you'll be able to register for a free pass for the summit.
Yep, that's right 150 of the world's top speakers sharing their
insights, strategies and tactics on how to launch grow and build a
successful speaking business. So just go to InternationalSpeakersSummit.com
but not before you listen to today's episode.
Hi, it's James Taylor here. I'm delighted today to be joined by Tami Evans. Tami Evans is a motivational business speaker who believes that laughter is an essential element in the learning process. She is the past president of the New York chapter of the National Speakers Association and a genuine, funny and motivational style gets a book to keep keynotes all over the world. Now, in addition to speaking, she has also worked as a professional actor, and you've probably seen her in TV shows like Sex in the City. But that's another story. So it's my great pleasure to welcome Tami today. So welcome, Tami.
Tami Evans
Oh, James, I'm delighted to be here.
James Taylor
Hi, everybody. So share with everyone what's going on in your world
just now.
Tami Evans
Oh, my goodness. Um, so it's spring currently. And it's just a it's
just a beautiful time of year to begin, you know, the whole cycle
of the speaking industry, right? I mean, we're we're ramping up
into a really busy time for conventions. And I'm just always so
excited this time of year to just get back on the stage and always
be trying new ways to connect with my audience and get my message
out
James Taylor
there. Now, I mentioned you come from the world of the stage, you
come from acting? When did the move into speaking begin? And in
terms of keynote speaking, how did that transition happen?
Tami Evans
Yes, I'm a classically trained actress, I have a Master of Fine
Arts and performance, and also a broadcasting and communications
degree. So basically, I was the news person and on the National
Public Radio, and then moved into theater where I worked with Jeff
Daniels, the actor to start the purple Rose Theatre Company. And
with Jeff's help, I moved to New York City where I got a job on a
daytime soap opera, one life to live and a nighttime soap opera,
Sex in the City, as you mentioned, and several films out in New
York, but it's a it's an interesting world, in theater where you
can work as hard as you want, but you're not in control of any of
your own career. And more times than not, you end up on the cutting
room floor. So at the same time, I was teaching at university I was
teaching presentation skills and communication and it all came
together. When a mutual friend of mine from undergrad Christine
kashin, who is also a she's a world Hall of Fame speaker in the in
the industry and amazing human being really just said, you need to
be in this industry. And from that day on, kind of guided me
through the industry. And I took the teaching that I was doing at
university and the performance that I was doing as an actress and
combine them for the perfect combination for me of education and
entertainment. And I think everything that for most speakers,
everything that we do in our lives, it's like that funnel, you put
everything in there. And it all adds to this, this business that
that we have that we get to share with the world. It's It's
incredible. So Christine was the start of my journey, which led me
to the National Speakers Association, and so many people, too many
people to even name I mean, if there's anything you need as a
speaker, you can reach out and there will be someone there who's
willing to share their their story and their ideas and it is the
most giving generous organization I've ever belonged to. And that
has in turn led me to many speakers who are not even in the
National Speakers Association. And it's just this this culture of
goodness just keeps growing in this industry. And I'm, I'm so proud
to be a professional speaker and to know so many people out there
who are good and giving and really take their power of the platform
and use it for good.
James Taylor
So one of the things I noticed when when I see actors that make
that transition to speaking on stages as speakers, usually they're
much better a number of things in the other speakers are coming
from other profession. One is that they can use their body much
better they understand the how to use presence on stage because
they've had that training. They they usually be good I think
blocking and unsigned and things like that as well. Voice is
usually much better in terms of just having having a presence there
as well. So there's a lot of skills I can see that get moved quite
nicely on to the speaking on stage. The one I always wanted though,
was as an actor, you You're, you're often you're paid to go and
speak other other people's lines. So someone else has written those
lines for you, and then you go and deliver, interpret those and
deliver those on stage. But as a speaker, you have to create your
own lines you're making up, you're both the script writer and you
and you're the person's up on stage. So how was that process for
you, because that requires a slightly different type of
creativity.
Tami Evans
Absolutely. And you bring up a good point that when you're
classically trained, it's this whole idea that, you know, there's a
fourth wall and the audience is there. And there's the willing
suspension of disbelief, and you make your entrance, and you do
your, you know, performance of whatever that is, but you don't
interact necessarily. And so what I found very quickly,
transitioning from the world of performance into the world of
speaking, is that you really have to, you really have to engage
with the audience and break that wall immediately and connect with
people. And it isn't about so much writing a script of, you know,
how you're going to preach to these people. It's more about telling
the stories from your life. So, you know, in addition to acting and
teaching, I was also, you know, is hired to be a pitch coach for
major consultancies for their sales pitches around the world. And I
was also on the design team for Banana Republic, the major fashion
brand. And I found that when I just took my stories from those
experiences, and started to tell those stories, and how they were
applicable to, you know, all of the organizations and corporations
that I speak to, that's when the light went off, because people
said, Oh, she, she isn't a performer, she's an actress. She's a
business person that happens to have classical training and how to
deliver her message, which was like, Oh, the light bulb went off.
And I have to tell you, when you do interact with your audiences,
at first, I was frightened, because I thought, Oh, I don't, this
isn't scripted, I don't know what's going to happen. And I'll tell
you what, the funniest, most memorable, most brilliant things
happen when you engage with the audience and let them be the star.
So now I have several moments in my keynotes where I actually have
it, you know, set up where I engage the audience so that they can
actually kind of be the star of the show, and it's brilliant, it's
the best material that you could ever asked for.
James Taylor
So that almost sounds a bit more. Rather than being like the when
we think of the act of person up on the stage theatre show was all
pre written and you deliver in this audience there, that almost
sounds more like a like a rock concert in that way that I think
about a friend, a friend of mine was managed, managed to Taylor
Swift, the music artists, and Taylor Taylor has a voice coach to
look after her voice. But she also has a performance coach as well,
that it was able to see, okay, this point in the set your song is
it this this level here. So we I need you to be at that part of the
stage, I need you to be doing this with your body, I need you to be
at this stage, I need that high level of interaction with the
audience. Because you can do that you can feel the energy in that
way when you're doing a rock music concert or rock concerts. And so
speaking you you're you're sensing that energy, but you're also
giving yourself time and finding ways to have those interactions
with the audience whether that's just that one on one thing,
they're on a different ways,
Tami Evans
especially if you can bring levity into
James Taylor
Well, that's the part so the levity bit that the humor part as
well. Now, I am one of those speakers. I do not cast myself as a
particularly funny person. My wife on the other hand, she is she's
a she comes as a trained actor, and she's very comfortable. She has
that very natural. No jokes come very easy to lines companies. For
me, it's not it's not so easy. And I speak to a lot of speaking
friends of mine, who have made big transitions in the speaking
because they went to things like improv comedy sessions to learn
some of some of those skills, it made them much better speaker. So
for someone like myself, who is let's say, I'm, I'm hesitant about
using using humor in my speech, either because I feel that it
doesn't come from my natural style. Or I feel I'm talking on a
topic like artificial intelligence, like how to voice creativity.
How do you get that's so funny? And so what what would you say to
anyone that's watching or listening to this? Now who feels a little
bit like me that? Yes, they're going to use humor, but it's just
not quite sure how to do it.
Tami Evans
Yeah. So I think, um, you know, one of the things I think to
remember is that people like people with a personality, I mean,
you're, you're attracted to people because of their personality.
And so when you're engaging with your audience, they want to know
you they want to know a little bit about you. So I always say when
you're going to start with humor or levity, start with yourself
start with things about you quirks ideas around you. And I did have
the wonderful opportunity to see speak at the National Speakers
Association, the winter conference about, you know, kind of setting
up summits and things like that. So and I saw you do an AI speech
as well. So I actually have a couple ideas for you, based on some
things. So we're doing
James Taylor
all this live, I have no idea what time is gonna say. So she may
give me a really hard time here. But like, you're far too serious,
you need to be much, much more liberty. So not to be as strict with
what what, what we're doing. Where is that? Where's the room for
improvement? For example, I'll make sure we put a link here as
well, so that they can get some context.
Tami Evans
Yeah, yeah. So talking about using yourself. So right at the top,
you acknowledge that, because you were speaking to a primarily an
audience primarily from the United States, you made, you know,
already, you called out the fact that you are not from the United
States. And that's great. I think anytime that we can stand in
front of and just acknowledge what's different or noticeable about
us, and find something humorous to say, for instance, you might
say, you know, I really enjoy joining you here in the United
States, um, you know, you may not realize this, I'm not from this
country, and you might find this hard to believe, but I used to
have an accent. And the fact that and you, as much of your broke as
you could, yeah, because the fact is, that you're saying I used to
have an accent. And of course, you know, it's so obvious that you
have and the more you can play it up, the better that will get the
laughed, it will disarm the audience because they're like, okay,
clearly, there's gonna, you know, we understand that that's
happening. So that's great that you use that, you know, talking
about yourself or the situation. So, so that's something they're
not expecting, but you deliver it very straight, because you have a
very authoritative persona. And you look very, you know, you look
very official and, and like a leader, you know, a very strong
leader. So, the more you can deliver the humor straight, the bigger
the laugh will be, the bigger the payoff. Um, so you you talked
about, in one of your speeches, you tell the story about when you
were a young boy, and your parents sent you up into the, into the
mountains of Scotland, and, you know, you, you show a facet,
fabulous picture of you, and you talk about how they sent you up
into the mountains in a kilt. So what you can do in this situation,
which is already humorous, so you're already doing humorous things.
Now, I'd love to employ an act out, it's called an act out or a go
to, and that's where you actually become in the situation. So
again, you would employ the the tool of using your, your Scottish
accent very well, and I am not good to Scottish accent, but you
would be like, you know, alright, so you're gonna go up into the
hills now. And and then you become you and say, oh, for how long
then? And they'd say, oh, till you get to that top, or whatever,
you know what I mean? So you have this little conversation, and
then you you show us, you know, so imagine you're walking up this
hill, and a kilt. Yeah. You know. And then it's like, oh, that's a
bit of wind. And so you actually are in the moment. And and what
you can do is just explore all the different funny things that
could happen to a young boy hiking up the hills in a kilt. Yeah.
And so you take that one moment, and just act it out for us. And
let us just, it's delicious for the audience to imagine with you
what it was like to be hiking in the hills in a kilt, right? So
that's called a full backyard, folks.
James Taylor
So that's that. So that's when you start you start to use also your
your physicality a lot more, you're kind of getting out of just
being under here, I'm delivering to this thing. And then the,
you're using that stage more you're using your body, you're, you're
you're helping people really get into what the story that you're
telling.
Tami Evans
Yeah, like, and if there's a wind that comes it could be, oh,
there's a wind, and then you put your hands down, like you're
holding your your kilt down. Yeah. Because you don't want it to
blow up. And so that, so that's an act out or a go to, and then we
move into Oh, so you were just talking about the rock star and I
know your background was in music and, and you know, booking
speakers and stuff. And so this is a brilliant opportunity to use.
And it's self deprecation really, because you like we said, You are
very, you're, you know, you're very put together. You're very
polished human being. And then you talk about how you were in the
music industry. And so to kind of like cut that down, you can say
something like, I know you're sitting there thinking, yes, I can
totally see him working with rock stars. Right. So then you're
going to get a laugh and you wait and you say, as their accountant.
Okay. Yeah, because you're playing against tight. Yeah, because,
you know, we just we always make these assumptions, right. If
someone saw you, they'd be like, they wouldn't. They wouldn't
realize that you're like, you can hang with the band right? But if
you Put it up in that way. And then you wait and say, you know,
give that kind of self deprecating, and then you can all laugh
together. And then you can say no, really seriously, here's my
experience with rock stars, etc, etc.
James Taylor
So with that basic, also, what you're doing is you're playing into
the audience's preconceived notions of who that person is, or what
you look like, who you're about. So if you look like this, then
you're automatically going to be this type of thing. So you can,
you're kind of having, you're kind of having fun with them. And now
you're kind of toying with it with that, and being much more
flexible with with what that thing is.
Tami Evans
And they're like, if he can laugh at himself, then we can laugh
with him in my programs. I there's one point where I said, All
right, I know some of you Well, I'd say, you know, I know life
isn't all you know, it, there's hard times or whatever I say, No,
some of you are sitting there saying, All right, chirpy, you have
no idea I get huge laughs because there's always a small people,
you know, percentage of the people who are like, oh, for real,
really Pinky, we got to go with this, you know. So if you can kind
of self deprecate and, and, and kind of cut their expectations of
what. And then the final, the final tool that I thought for you is
that you say, so we've, we've done all those, you say, I'm going to
give you the five tools and strategies that will allow you to set
this up, right. And the great thing is, you can say, um, you'll be
happy to know that one of them does not involve wearing a kilt. And
so that's a call back, it's called a call back, where you go and
take something that you mentioned earlier in the keynote, and you
call back to it. And if you can do that three times, if you could
call back three times in your keynote, the power of three, humor is
always in the power of three. So anytime you can do something three
times it really, it really impacts the power of it,
James Taylor
that's a little bottle you haven't like on TV shows, I mean, I
think about the see, like Monty Python, for example. And I think
the first time that they would send me maybe few of watching that
initially, when it came out, they would have said something and the
first thing they say like a line is like, don't get it. Second time
is like, and then the third time, it's like, actually, that's quite
funny now, and so and, and they didn't even know all they have to
do is just like see that one phrase now is like, it's that bizarre
thing of if you've ever spent like, I know you as an actor, you are
being on tour with other actors, or as a musician being on tour
with other musicians. By the end of the second week, if you try and
go into that world from being an outsider, being a civilian is the
strangest thing, because they just have to say, they say one word
to each other, and the whole boss erupts, they'll coach erupts,
because then they've got all these little in jokes. So you don't
even have to see the whole thing, you just have to see that one
little thing. So So you basically can keep kind of pulling back to
that the whole time, you can kind of use that, you know, there's
all kind of mini theme kind of resonance themes, right? Well,
you're saying
Tami Evans
Absolutely, it's creating a common language. And that goes to
connecting. And, you know, that's my work is all about connection
equals culture. So I use humor to connect people and I encourage
people to, to use levity and lightness in in all of their their
work. Because oftentimes, leaders think that levity and leadership
and positivity and professionalism are mutually exclusive, they
don't work together. And I think it's the exact opposite, the more
you can bring that in. As a speaker, as speakers, we we have these
really serious and important messages. But if we don't sprinkle in
the the ability to let people breathe, or lighten up, then
sometimes our messages, it's just too much that it goes over their
head. So I like to say your audiences if if your audiences are
laughing, they're listening. And if they're listening, they're
learning. So that's kind of the the core that I take back into
corporations and organizations, but on the level that works for
them.
James Taylor
You mentioned that with the word culture there when you're, you
know, like ourselves, we're going and speaking in different
countries, different cultures, they, you know, different norms in
those places as well. I'm wondering how what you have to think
about when it comes to using humor, because you can go to I've even
noticed even just countries like the UK or the UK and the US which
on on the outside you can see they're very similar speak the
language pretty much the same slight different conveyors, but
pretty much same. But in terms of what you have to do with human to
feel slightly, it feels slightly different. You can American
audiences feel much more open to being able to have fun in that
way. British audiences or the changing it's a bit of a
generalization, tend to be a little bit more buttoned down. You
have to kind of use humaneness in a slightly different way.
Tami Evans
Yes, definitely. And I'll tell you, James, I spent a lot of time in
Liverpool and I'm not sure they are speaking the same language.
But
James Taylor
if anyone Liverpudlians from the UK North of England or the Beatles
or from the unknown, they think of themselves as the funniest
people in England as well. They use humor and your badge of honor
Liverpudlians.
Tami Evans
Absolutely. And you've got the the mosey and the Ozzy and the blue
Canada Ebro in the hall. Yeah, it's definitely. And that's true for
anywhere. It's honestly true in different regions of the UK, it's
different in different provinces in Canada, it's different in the
different states in the United States. And so the the most
important part of the work that I do before the conference is to
get to know my audience and and what their humor touch points are.
And for that, I use what many speakers use, and that is a
tailoring, I have a tailoring form that leads to a tailoring
conversation, that leads to at least three private conversations
with three people in the industry who are going to be attending the
event. And what those all lead me to, is to learn their language,
it's learning the language of the the culture of the organization,
it's learning the language of that industry, the more you can get
to know the industry, the more you can learn what it is that makes
them you know, what, what makes them you know, kind of anxious,
what makes them laugh, what makes them feel proud. Those are the
things that will allow you to connect, and humor comes from the
personal things that universally affect all of them. So, I, I am
addicted to laughter I love to create Laughter But even better than
laughter is when people nod, you know, head nodding when they think
Oh, yes, absolutely, that. That's, that's absolutely true. And when
someone comes up to me afterwards and says, it's like you work with
us, how did you know us so well, that is the highest compliment
even better than the standing ovation. That is such a high
compliment to me,
James Taylor
because you're speaking their lingo. You're speaking as my friend,
as my friend Jeffrey sure would say, you understand their lingo,
you're speaking their language, if you feel like, okay, is this
such a strong, strong connection with you, you'll feel that you're
speaking from the inside inside about, you really understand their
problems and their challenges. Absolutely. And it does
Tami Evans
take you know, a few, several phone calls ahead of time. And here's
the other thing that I just think it's really valuable is to come
in the day before, honestly, that as early the day before as you
can, because I mean, if you're so I usually do opening or closing
keynote of the convention. So if I'm opening keynote coming in the
day before, I get to be there, when everyone is coming in the
energy is high, usually there's a, you know, pre, pre night,
cocktail hour, you start talking to people, you get the best
material, just by interacting with the attendees. And then if
you're the closer coming in early allows you to get, you know,
material throughout the convention, yeah, that you can actually
pull back on stage. So it's a kind of a convention callback, right?
You're using that humor in the closing keynote. So there is so much
value in connecting deeply with the organizers and the attendees
before the event. And the you know, if you, if you can spend a
little extra time on site at the event, before you actually go onto
stage, it will pay dividends that are you know, enormous.
James Taylor
But as you were going through building your own speaking career,
can you maybe talk about one particular aha moment, you mentioned
arm and resilience, aha moment or insight or where you made a key
distinction in maybe the kind of speaking that you wanted to do the
kind of stages that you wanted to be on the kind of message that
you wanted to put out into the world?
Tami Evans
Oh, yes. In fact, and so you know, I mentioned my, my dear, dear
friend, Christine Cashin, she laughed so hard. It happened when I
was in a huge auditorium full of the teachers of the state of
Oklahoma. I was brought in to kick off their school year, right? So
it was before the students came. It was in August, when the
teachers were all preparing to start their year, and it was
thousands of teachers and I had my prepared speech and, you know,
had been doing it for a couple of years. And, you know, started
started speaking and I had a worksheet for them to kind of follow
along and take a few notes, like, you know, fill in the blank when
you hear the word, you know, all the different tools and techniques
that speakers can use. And then just a short time in, I had an
interaction with an audience member, where they called something
out and I thought, Oh, you know, heckler, or somebody calling
something out. And I walked over with the microphone and the
teacher and I had a conversation back and forth, where the teacher
I asked them a few questions and gave them and they answered very
concise and you know, turned out to be funny way. So they became
the star of the show for that moment. And I thought that is the
power of audience interaction. And I took that sheet of paper that
I had. And I said, You know what, put your paper under your chairs,
we're just going to have a conversation. And I just I started
telling them the stories that I had prepared, but weaving it in
with the interaction with them. So that was the aha moment where I
thought you don't need to be you don't need to have you know, a
worksheet for myself. It's about, it's about crafting, it's about
crafting the talk in a way that leaves room that leaves room for
the audience to be part of the talk as well
James Taylor
is, I mean, that is also touching a huge trend. Every time I speak
with Speaker bureaus or event professionals meeting meeting
planners, this thing coming constantly through now about the levels
interactivity, they might call it experience, they might use that
word experience a lot. You know, I infamous because I think about
in terms of that level of interactivity. And I think it's, it does
a number of things. One also, it, it shows that you're comfortable
enough in yourself and your topic, nothing that you speak about to
know that frankly, if there's 1000 people in the room, there will
be people in there that have had maybe better stories on that thing
they have, you know, experiences that relate to that thing as well.
And just having that confidence to be able to go there, because you
kind of have some of the speaking chops, improvisational chops to
be able to flow with that. And that's, I wouldn't say I don't say
that lightly, because that's something that is not often a natural
thing, when you just get started speaking, having that ability to
kind of flow with an audience like that. And the other thing it
does, is it immediately moves you just to a different type of
conversation, you and I've used this before, you know, moving from
the sage on the stage to the guide on the side. And first, you
know, if we think of the the traditional keynote speaker that gets
up there, and, you know, there's this thing to the audience in
front of the audience, frankly, anyone that's gone to school in
college in the past 10 years, that model is gone, that is gone. If
you're speaking to any millennials, Gen x's, the most of them now,
they will have some one way lessons are going like that. But they
have the flipped classroom now, where they're they're learning a
little bit of that, but but most of the stuff that they're doing in
the classroom now is much more interactive. So if that's the
audience, that's where the things are going, then I see the kind of
stuff you're talking about much can have high levels of
interaction. I spoke to no speaker. Yes. They said that he always
wants to ensure it somehow works. And he wants to get in there with
the audience. And he said, if you're very uncomfortable doing that
the first few times, he said, but it's been transformational. And
it makes it really enjoyable for him. Because if he's speaking on
that same maybe that same speech multiple times, it adds that level
of a little bit of danger into I guess,
Tami Evans
yeah. Oh, yeah. Um, so I do a thing, if I'm ever the after lunch
speaker, you know, the dreaded after lunch spot? Yeah. where
everybody's kind of like a food coma. And you know, they're the
days half over. One of the humor things that I've worked in is it
worked so well, if they place the dessert first, right. So when
people come into the room, the desserts are already on the table,
right? So I watch people and I work the room. And again, Christine
kashin, I just can't say enough about how much she guided me. She
said, Get in there. And she said, Go Go to the north part of the
room and, you know, speak to some people make some friends go to
the south part of the room go to the east of the West. And so now
together, we've we've kind of called it compassing the room, right?
And so we combust the room and get to get to meet people. And I
watched the way people interact with the desserts. And so then I'll
open my keynote talking about personality types, you know, are you
are you the kind of person that that sat down and said, Oh, that's
not the dessert that I wanted. And you like shifted your seat? Or
are you the kind of person that said, I'm not going to sit down
until I see the dessert that I want? Or are you the kind of person
that sat down and said, Oh, that's not what I want. And you reached
over and started, you know, so I talked about, and everyone laughs
because that's exactly what people some people take to desserts,
and something you know, so it's kind of using what's happening in
the room in the moment, putting it back on them and, and it engages
in engages the audience. And one very quick story about you know,
when I worked in the consultancies and helping these major pitch
presentation teams, one of their problems is they give too much
information, without any levity. And so, one of the characters I
was lucky enough to play was Maggie, the cat and cat On a Hot Tin
Roof, and the whole first act of that play is a monologue by
Maggie. I mean, it's just blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Right? So a lot of directors, most directors who staged that play
will have Maggie, you know, putting on a pair of stockings in the
middle of the stage, right? And so she pulls her skirt up. And, you
know, it's the old stockings where they had the little clips,
right. And so, I show a lot of famous pictures of, you know,
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, and all these famous people
who have played Maggie the cat, and it's always the the shot with
her putting her leg up and putting the stocking on right. So my
tagline is, you know, if you have a lot of information to give,
give them a little leg. Right? So it keeps their interest. Yeah,
well, I that I told that story at speaker group of speakers that I
was sharing this with in North Texas chapter on the National
Speakers Association. When I said when you have a lot of
information to give, give them a little leg. From the back of the
room. I saw an NSA member called Philip Hatfield, hilarious man who
has a prosthetic leg, the back of the just slowly lifted up his
prosthetic leg. And all I could do was go, Oh, and I pointed and
laughed, and the whole room turned. And it was one of the best
audience interaction moments I've ever had. We all died laughing.
He was the star. He was so amazing, and generous and funny. And
it's one of my favorite audience moments ever.
James Taylor
But it was a thing of, you know, stories, make people listen to
visuals make people remember.
Tami Evans
I love that. I wrote that. Like,
James Taylor
I think I would have to give credit. I think it was one of our
other guests me that would go on this. I think I'd heard I heard
someone say this line. I remember hearing it the first time and
going. That's so true. I mean, I think about the number of times
I've attended talks by other speakers, and I've frankly forgotten
everything they've said. But I do remember that visual graphic
named James talks about this contextual models. And there's
something that you remember visually, that just not part of the
brain doesn't go away. So I'm interested as we start going to
finish up here. What What is there an online tool or an app? or
some kind of resource that you use find very useful for yourself?
as a speaker?
Tami Evans
Yeah. Oh, he's, uh, you know, I belong to each speaker. And I have
the the professional membership on each speaker. So I run my entire
business through that tool. And I know they have just aligned with
a CRM, and I can't remember off the top of my
James Taylor
head, but I think it's coma speaker that we're working with our
speaker. Yeah, this Yeah, this summer. Yeah,
Tami Evans
yeah. So I, I'm gonna have to make that switch, because I thought
they were gonna link with Insightly. Ah, but, uh, the thing that I
think helps everyone to remember is that, when you find that, that
tool or that, use it, definitely use it. But always be remembering
that things are going to change and things are going to develop and
just be be willing to go there. Because when we get stuck down in,
in places that, you know, I do it this way, I do it this way. And
this goes for for our talks and our tools and our business, then
we're gonna get stuck. And I think you talk all the time about
where you live in a time of disruption. And so just expect to be
disrupted. And then you know, if we do that, and if we can find
ways to laugh about that, if we can find ways to say, you know, I
was really so comfortable, and then whoops, now we're, you know,
doing things differently again, then that's going to allow people
to know that you can laugh at yourself and go with the flow as
well. And if you can help your audiences to laugh at that, that
really helps them and you speak as I know, on that I used PR as
well. And it has a syndrome, there's a part in it, which says you
could actually write down every time you speak, what the jokes were
that you use, yeah, that particular thing, because so you were
using, like,
James Taylor
did I say that to that group or that audience? And so I, I must
have been using that. So
Tami Evans
what about, you know what color pocket square you wore? right?
Exactly.
James Taylor
I also use it for that exactly, little thing, little things like
that. It doesn't mean unless they're lucky at the time, but when
people can come by see he said that drunk last night? And what
about when it comes to books? Is there a particular book that you
find really useful for yourself? You know, as you were kind of,
maybe as you were getting into speaking professionally, or now as
you're building your speaking business?
Tami Evans
Yes. So I, I try to read whenever someone that I know or respect
and my friends come out with a book, I try to I try to read it and
what I do is I read it, I read it knowing that something's going to
stick and pop out. And so currently on my bedside table, I'm
currently sleeping with Andrew tarvin on my bedside table, and so
I'm reading his incredible Story of speaking around the United
States and he visited every state and he, he just tells a story in
each state, and some of them are poignant. And some of them are
funny. And some of them are callbacks to something that happened
earlier. And I thought, as a speaker, we travel so much, there is
so much time in transport in airports and in getting to where we
need to go or getting from there. And to remember to use that as
material for your life for your book for your speeches, for your
conversations with your clients. His book has really like that
really set a spark off for me about that. So I highly recommend it.
It's called the United States of humor, and it's by Andrew
tarvin.
James Taylor
Oh, put that link there as well. Well, but you mentioned travel,
what is in your speaker bag? What is in that bag that you never
leave the home or the office for that? It's got all your things?
What's in that bag?
Tami Evans
Oh, my gosh. Well, I travel with my, my Madonna. Mike, you'll,
you'll remember from the music industry. So I happen to have a
Samson sc 50. And the reason I have that is because before
countrymen came out with all the adapters, the Samson had all the
adapters. So I'm an AV wannabe. So I travel with my microphone, my
slide advancer extra batteries. I travel with all my adapters and
cables. And I go early, and I get to know the AV team because I
love them. They are usually the most grounded, funny, warm people
in the whole room. And I always tell them, you realize you're the
most important people in this room because without you we're not
seen or heard. And I start that relationship very early. And they
always get a kick out of the fact that I travel with my you know,
all my gear and all my you know, little tools and stuff like that.
So I love that microphone. And you know what I just just while
we're on the AV team. The next time you are getting miked up or
you're on the podium and you're testing doing your soundcheck, ask
the person that you're working with. Ask them, what's their
favorite gig they've worked on? It is remarkable, the stories that
you hear Yeah. And it's about that connection, you're connecting
with them. You end up laughing, of course, because a lot of the
stories are really funny. And it's that that connection that
creates the culture of the event so that when you are on stage,
should something happen? You know, you've got a teammate that
you've already connected with. So sorry, you're talking about gig
bags? Yeah.
James Taylor
Nobody, I think that's a great point. Because I mean, having come
from the music industry, I've spent a lot of time I've spent a lot
of time with those people as well. hearing a lot of stories, you
hear some great, very, very funny stories, unfortunately, most of
them are completely unprintable. You could never tell us a bit
about that. Because some of them relate to maybe other speakers or
other people in the business that you can either really want to
say, but, but it's great, because it's a nice thing. Also, from
from a self serving standpoint, you know, at the end of any
conference, they have a, they'll have a post mortem on it. And
everyone's feeding in everything's, and I know that speakers event
professionals have actually said to me, that all the the AV team,
or the people that were running the sand that they said, Hey, you
agreed to work with because you've gotten this thing, and you did
this, wherever the thing was, as well. So definitely kind of pay 40
we don't get anything in return from it. It's just it's a nice
thing to do. It makes everyone's job. I mean, they're doing like
cars, they're going into different venues every day and speaking
and working in different places every day. It's it's just a nice, a
nice human thing to do as well. What about a final question for
you, Tammy, I want you to imagine you've woken up tomorrow morning.
And you have to start from scratch. So you know, everything you
know now, but you have no contacts, no one knows you, you have to
completely restart your speaking career. What would you do? How
would you restart your speaking career?
Tami Evans
Ah, you know, here's my glass of Kool Aid. I, the first thing to do
is to join the National Speakers Association, or find a local
meeting to go to. There are some you know, starting now is it's
easier to find community speaking community online and LinkedIn
groups, Facebook groups are places. So that's how to connect with
the speaking industry community, in order to get myself out there
and I tell this to any buddy who would desire to have speaking as a
business is to speak, speak, speak, speak, speak, even if it's for
free, because you can't shortcut feed on the stage. You have to put
in the time in order to get that that confidence and the
credibility and the cohesion of your message and the creativity to
bring it all together. Those those aspects are just So critical and
the only way to do that is to get out and then people are going to
see you. And they're going to tell someone and then those people
are going to ask you to come and speak. And so that's the actual
speaking bit and then the content bit, right. start a blog, write
articles do guest spots on, you know, people's LinkedIn pages or
Right, right, right. I Someone once told me that writing is the the
true path to wealth. And I think it's true in any industry because
if you're writing, you're thinking you're you're creating things
you're researching, you're, you know, allowing your thoughts to
come out. So yeah, right, right. Right, right, right. And then get
it up on its feet and just start doing it.
James Taylor
Well, Tami, thank you so much for coming on today. You've
definitely got go I've written so many notes here about how I'm
going to hopefully improve my the human liberty of my speaking as
well hopefully everyone else they've got some ideas here about you
know, actor about the different areas, callbacks, loads of really,
really useful stuff. He is also Tami, thank you so much. I'm
looking forward to hearing you speak on stage at some point soon as
well. And I wish you all the best of your speaking career.
Tami Evans
Yes, thank you so much, James. It's been my pleasure and anyone can
feel free to reach out I'm more than happy to share as we do in the
speaker community. So thank you for the opportunity. Best of luck
and I can't wait to see you on stage as well again, thank you.
James Taylor
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