An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Focus on your message, not your fear.
I still get nervous when I speak. I look at that nervousness as being excited about sharing my message with an audience. The more I focus on my message, the less fear I have.
At some point in our lives, many of us will have to give a talk to a large group of people. What does it take to be a highly effective public speaker? How can you improve your public speaking skills? How can you overcome a fear of speaking in public? What does it take to give a very interesting and engaging public talk? In this interview series called “5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker” we are talking to successful and effective public speakers to share insights and stories from their experience. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Allen Klein.
Comedian Jerry Lewis has said that Allen Klein is “a noble and vital force watching over the human condition.” Klein (aka “Mr. Jollytologist”® and “Ambassador of Light”) shows people how to use humor and positivity to deal with life’s not-so-funny stuff. He is an award-winning professional speaker, a TEDx presenter, and author of numerous books including, The Healing Power of Humor, You Can’t Ruin My Day, Embracing Life After Loss, and The AWE Factor. www.allenklein.com.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I grew up in a five-story walk-up apartment in the Bronx. My playground was the cement sidewalk and gutters of New York City. My schools had hundreds of students. I went to Hunter College, which was part to the city college system. Looking back, I’m amazed that it only cost $22 per semester…and that included all my books. Being in the heart of the city, we had some of the top artists in the world as teachers. And, I’m honored that they selected me to be included in the Hunter College Hall of Fame.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
I became a speaker and author to share how humor helped me deal with the loss of my wife when she was thirty-four. I wanted to tell the world how important therapeutic humor was to help us get a perspective on our challenging and dark times. My first book was The Healing Power of Humor, now in a 40+ printing and 9th foreign language translation.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
My editor for The Healing Power of Humor kept wanting stories and more stories to illustrate what I was writing about. After searching everywhere to find those stories, I went to a used magazine store and bought a stack of Reader’s Digest magazines. I found several anecdotes in their pages that fit with what I was saying. I rewrote one of the stories. I changed the names of the people in it, but basically kept the same ending. When my book came out, my publisher sent a copy to Reader’s Digest for review. The only thing they chose to print from the book was the story that I originally found in their magazine.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
One of my first big presentations I did was on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry Hotel, in Nashville, TN. There were 1,500 people in the audience. Instead of coming onto the stage from the side, I thought I’d make a grand entrance center stage and enter threw a slit in the curtain. After they introduced me, I tried to find the opening in the curtain, but couldn’t. It took a long time spreading the curtain apart trying to find the opening. Finally, I did.
What I learned was that if I’m going to try something new, make sure it works before doing it.
I also learned that I probably should have shared my dilemma with the audience. It probably would have gotten a big laugh.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
There were other speakers who I admired who helped me along the way, either by their advice or by observing them on stage. Just by watching them, I learned what to do, or even more importantly, what I shouldn’t do on stage. The National Speakers Association was the biggest help. 90% of what I did in my presentations, I learned for other speakers who were also NSA members.
You have been blessed with great success in a career path that can be challenging and intimidating. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?
Passion for your message will help you deal with your speaking challenges and setbacks. I almost failed speech class in college. I hated getting up in front of an audience. Yet, because of my passion to share what I learned when my wife died at the age of 34, and how humor helped us through that difficult time, I put my fear of speaking behind me in order to share my important message with the world.
What drives you to get up every day and give your talks? What is the main empowering message that you aim to share with the world?
The world is often in a sad place these days. People often ask, “How can you laugh at a time like this?” My answer is, “How can you not? Finding the humor in a situation helps you rise above it, helps you get through it, and gives you a different perspective on the situation. Yes, there are tragic moments in the world but there are also comic ones to at the same time. That is the message I want to share with the world.
You have such impressive work. What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? Where do you see yourself heading from here?
One of my most rewarding events in my speaking career was when I was asked to speak at a weekend retreat for burn survivors.
At first, I was reluctant to accept the job. I wondered how I’d face people who were severely disfigured, especially for three days. But even more than that, I was in doubt about how I could teach people like this to lighten up, after all they have been through a horrific situation, I haven’t.
But I’m glad I took the speaking engagement. They taught me so much…especially about laughing through loss, and, about unconditional love.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
It is my own quotation: “Our attitudes are the crayons that color our world.”
It is how I live my life and how I have gotten through many dark times.
Ok, thank you for all that. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker?” Please share a story or example for each.
- Focus on your message, not your fear.
I still get nervous when I speak. I look at that nervousness as being excited about sharing my message with an audience. The more I focus on my message, the less fear I have.
2. Have a memorable opening.
The first few minutes of your talk is often the most important. You either get the audience’s attention or you don’t. Open with a powerful or funny personal story or an intriguing question, quotation, or fact. Make sure it is related to your talk, then build on that.
I’ve seen many speakers open with a joke; that often doesn’t work because the speaker is not a good joke teller, or, it has nothing to do with their talk. Steer clear of joke telling unless you do it well.
3. Have a dynamic closing.
The second most important part of your talk might be the ending. Send ’em off with something that will remind them of your theme. I, for example, ask the audience to take an interactive “humor oath.” It reminds them to get more laughter in their life.
4. Be yourself.
Over the 20+ years that I’ve been a professional speaker, perhaps the greatest lesson I’ve learned has been to be myself on stage. When I first started out, I thought I could not do what I was doing because I’m not boisterous or use off-color language as many comedians do. What I learned from audience evaluations was that people related to my message because of my quiet gentle humor.
5. Have fun.
Another thing I learned, from my longtime speaking career, was that if I’m having fun on stage, so does the audience.
As you know, many people are terrified of speaking in public. Can you give some of your advice about how to overcome this fear?
As above, focus on your message and have fun. If you make a mistake, use it to poke fun at yourself. If something goes wrong, use it as grist for the mill. The audience will love you more the more you can show them that you are flexible and go with the flow. Like life, things happen on stage that were unplanned. Use whatever happens.
You are a person of huge influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
Train every world leader how to lighten up. Why? Because you can’t function fully when you are stressed out. Humor helps de-stress, and, people like you better.
Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!
Woody Allen (Maybe he’ll see this an invite me to lunch)
Are you on social media? How can our readers follow you online?
Facebook: facebook.com/allen.klein
Twitter: @allenklein
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/allenklein/
This was so informative, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
Allen Klein On The 5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
