How Effective Could An After Dinner Presenter Be?

Anyone organizing a large formal dinner will consider asking after dinner speakers to entertain when guests have enjoyed a few courses at least. With the edge taken off hunger guests may be ready for a break from talking politely to the persons on either side of them. They may sit back when the speaker is introduced, glad for a break and expecting some jokes and wit.

After dinner speakers have a particular social function to perform. After pleasant conversations and ample food and drink guests are unlikely to be in the mood for persuasion, cajoling or urging. They would prefer to relax and be amused or entertained. This accords with the mood of a convivial gathering.

In order to ensure a happy ending to the evening it is important for a host or event organizer to secure a capable speaker. A balance must be found between competence and reputation. A sport celebrity may be of interest in view of achievements in hitting or catching balls, but be a dullard when it comes to conversation or speech.

However, guests might feel let down if a local mediocrity who the diners know well is invited to be the guest of honor. This means that event organizers need to select from quite a short list of celebrities who are also accomplished speakers.

Celebrity status comes to most people at least once in a lifetime, even if very briefly in most cases. Even a small promotion within an organization can lead to an invitation to speak at a farewell dinner but a newly promoted person may not have any experience or expertise. He could be at risk of making a fool of himself at the outset of a new career phase.

Some people are born raconteurs. Without any training they can instinctively tell a joke with perfect timing and nuance so that an audience will fall about in laughter. Another person without those inherited aptitudes may tell exactly the same joke, downloaded word for word from the Internet and be met only by blank stares and polite murmurs. Nevertheless anyone who becomes famous, if only briefly, may be invited to speak at least once.

Preparation might start with reflection on a few serious or relevant points that might pertain to the audience in question. These can serve as a sort of insurance policy. Should no-one laugh or even smile at any jokes or witticisms the speaker can at least follow a logical theme and end by having said something relevant and purposeful. This will be some compensation if those two rows of faces remain blank and unsmiling.

The difficult part is the delivery. This is when talent will tell, but for those without aptitude there are some tried and trusted techniques that work consistently. Hyperbole, incongruity, understatement, irony, climax and anti-climax may all be carefully planned, applied like cosmetics to serious points, and delivered with a dead pan expression. The chances are that the speech will be interrupted with howls of laughter and followed by many more invitations to be an after dinner speaker.

Choosing your speakers for an evening event can be a tricky decision. Speakers Associates have a variety of professional presenters that will make sure your after dinner speaker deliver

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