1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking: Fresh, Timely, and Compelling Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers, and Speakers [Paperback]

Michael Hodgin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2, 1995

You have something important to say. Are you sure your audience is listening? Clocks start ticking in the minds of your listeners the minute you begin your presentation. These clocks measure the amount of time you have to interest them before their attention wanders elsewhere. Could be three minutes. Could be thirty seconds. But make your audience laugh and they forget about their clocks. They are too busy listening. Make them laugh and they will listen. Humor is one of your most powerful tools as a speaker, and 1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking lets you wield it with power. Michael Hodgin has compiled hundreds of humorous anecdotes on dozens of topics and brought them together in one book. From 'Ability' and 'Accidents' to 'Work' and 'Worship,' Hodgin's illustrations are arranged according to topic and indexed to help you quickly find the perfect anecdote. The book also provides space to record the times and places you use each illustration, so no one will hear you tell the same joke twice. Ideal for preachers, teachers, executives, and anyone else who speaks publicly, 1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking will keep your audience laughing -- and listening to every word you say.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

You have something important to say. Are you sure your audience is listening? Clocks start ticking in the minds of your listeners the minute you begin your presentation. These clocks measure the amount of time you have to interest them before their attention wanders elsewhere. Could be three minutes. Could be thirty seconds. But make your audience laugh and they forget about their clocks. They are too busy listening. Make them laugh and they will listen. Humor is one of your most powerful tools as a speaker, and 1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking lets you wield it with power. Michael Hodgin has compiled hundreds of humorous anecdotes on dozens of topics and brought them together in one book. From "Ability" and "Accidents" to "Work" and "Worship," Hodgin's illustrations are arranged according to topic and indexed to help you quickly find the perfect anecdote. The book also provides space to record the times and places you use each illustration, so no one will hear you tell the same joke twice. Ideal for preachers, teachers, executives, and anyone else who speaks publicly, 1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking will keep your audience laughing -- and listening to every word you say.

About the Author

Michael E. Hodgin is the author of 1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking and 1001 More Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking. He edits The Pastor's Story File and Parables, Etc., two newsletters for pastors and public speakers. He lives in Platteville, Colorado.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (January 2, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310473918
• ISBN-13: 978-0310473916
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #131,890 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Helpful for Communicating, June 12, 2010

By 

Charles H. Thompson III - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking: Fresh, Timely, and Compelling Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers, and Speakers (Paperback)

I have an opportunity by the Lord to preach and teach at church on a regular basis. This book has been helpful to add some humor to the messages and it is clean.

The book is set-up by topics easy to turn to in alphabetical order. There is even a place to record down the date and place it was used to assure it is not spoken to the same congregation over and over.

There are other additions available if you need more than this one book!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Useful, November 7, 2010

By 

D. Rolle "tuckerjade" (fargo nd) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking: Fresh, Timely, and Compelling Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers, and Speakers (Kindle Edition)

This book does in fact have a number of good stories that you can use for presentations, social events, gatherings and the like. It is heavily geared and would best serve the religious setting (for a sermon) but there are plenty of other stories and anecdotes that you could use for a non-religious setting.

The concept here is that you grab the book, look for a relevant topic and you have almost a thousand stories that you can pick from. This can be useful when you are preparing a presentation and most of these are funny enough for you to be able to use to "break the ice" in a setting like this.

If you need content and you do a lot of speeches and presentations paying less than $10 for the Kindle version is a pretty good deal.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, quick read that is well organized., January 22, 2010

By 

Mitchell Ito "Merc" (LA, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking: Fresh, Timely, and Compelling Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers, and Speakers (Paperback)

I like this book and will definitely read it a couple more times. Not all of the stories/jokes/illustrations are new to me, but most were. Some were derivations of other common stories that have been around for many years. I liked the organization of the book and that makes it worth the money.