Public Speaking Course: 

Quotations

Another public speaking course tip is to use quotations during your presentation. It doesn't really matter if the quotation is funny or not since you are just reciting it. You didn't write it and it can still be used to illustrate your point.

You can use the power of the name of who said it to make an even greater impact. If the remark is funny, people will be more likely to laugh or at least chuckle if a well known or famous person said it. These are some of the benefits that you will learn from your public speaking course.

If you are not sure who stated a particular quotation, it doesn't really matter at all. Unless I am absolutely certain who said something, I always give myself an out. I usually say 'I BELIEVE' it was ____________ who said. Saying this keeps me from getting into trouble by attributing the quotation to the wrong person. Sometimes I say, 'My great, great grandpappy used to say . . .;, or 'My old aunt Maude used to say . . . ;. However, if you know for sure who said something and their name carries weight, go ahead and use it for it gives power to what you are saying.

There are tons of different quotations available to you that you can find in your pre-program research. You can stop at any bookstore and find a quotation books or you can look on the internet for quotation web sites. Here are just a few examples of some of my favorite sayings that are part of my public speaking course:
"I am a friend of the workingman, and I would rather be his friend than be one." -- Clarence Darrow
"Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits." -- Thomas Edison
"When you have got an elephant by the hind legs and he is trying to run away, it's best to let him run." -- Abe Lincoln
"It takes less time to do a thing right than to explain why you did it wrong." -- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"I never made a mistake in my life; at least, never one that I couldn't explain away afterward." -- Rudyard Kipling
"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened." -- Winston Churchill
"Get your facts first and then you can distort them as much as you please." -- Mark Twain
"Many of us spend half our time wishing for things we could have if we didn't spend half our time wishing." -- Alexander Woollcott
"He is more apt to contribute heat than light to a discussion." -- Woodrow Wilson
"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." -- Franklin Delano Roosevelt
"In the first place God made idiots; this was for practice. Then he made school boards." -- Mark Twain
(Take out school boards and substitute anything that fits your purpose).

When you are trying to be funny, don't feel bad about twisting the quotations around to meet your situation. Woodrow Wilson will never say a word about it. Neither will anyone else if you introduce your quotation by saying, 'Someone once said,' or 'My great, great, grandpappy used to say.' Then, as is taught in my public speaking course, you can change the quotation around any way that suits your presentation.

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