MaryCheyne :: Mary Cheyne | Professional Speaker & Coach

This holiday weekend, I finally saw the very funny movie Planes, Trains & Automobiles. It’s a classic movie from 1987, but this was the first time I had seen it.

In this movie Neal Page (played by Steve Martin) finds himself getting stuck with an annoying travel companion, Del Griffith (played by John Candy).

Page (Martin) quickly becomes irritated with how much Griffith (Candy) talks and talks and talks. There is a scene in the movie when Page becomes so fed up that his temper explodes.

Even though this movie is clearly a comedy, and Page’s barrage of words in this scene is spoken in frustration towards Griffith, I think there is ‘wisdom’ that presenters and speakers can take away.

Many speakers fall into the trap that Page berates Griffith for. See for yourself.

Click here to see his 25-second tirade on telling stories.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsnhpizu9oc

The moral here is:

When telling a story in your speeches or presentations, for the sake of your audience, PLEASE have a POINT. One that is related to your presentation!