Your Speech Coach

Your group is tired and bored and needs something to get them energized. Perhaps you have been working a while on a serious project in your meeting and now you need a humor break or exercise the get the creative juices flowing. Or maybe you want your team to bond with a really fun and funny team exercise.
Here is an exercise you could do in your programs or training. This was created by a first grade school teacher in Virginia. She presented each child in her classroom the first half of a well-known proverb and asked them to come up with the remainder of the proverb. They came up with hysterically funny answers. There answers are listed below this exercise.

• Handout the proverbs below.
• Ask everyone to come up with a remainder of the proverb that is in no way like the real ending. Tell them to be wild and outrageously you can even read them a few of the ending the kids gave to inspire them. You will notice that the kids took the first part of the sentence literally and then finished the sentence. You may want to create a few answers yourself to share, perhaps even ones that are associated with your team, business or meeting.
• Break them into teams and have them choose a leader and a scribe.
• If you have an introverted group give them the sheet to work on first before they break into teams.

• Give everyone sheets a copy of the proverbs.
• Tell them to go outside the room for five to fifteen minutes and find a place to meet.
• Each the team leader shouts out first part of the proverb.
• The scribe records the answers.
• They tweak and edit the answers.
• Choose three of funniest answers
• Have them come back in a share their top three with the group.
• Laugh hysterically.

1. Don’t change horses… .
2. Strike while the…
3. Its always darkest before…
4. Never underestimate the power of…
5. You can lead a horse to water but…
6. Don’t bite the hand that…
7. No news is…
8. A miss is as good as a…
9. You can’t teach an old dog new…
10. If you lie down with dogs, you’ll….
11. Love all, trust
12. The pen is mightier than the.
13. An idle mind is…
14. Where there’s smoke there’s…
15. Happy is the bride who…
16. A penny saved is…
17. Two’s company, three’s…
18. Don’t put off till tomorrow what…
19. Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and…
20. There are none so blind as…
21. Children should be seen and not
22. If at first you don’t succeed…
23. You get out of something only what you…
24. When the blind lead the blind…

1. Don’t change horses… until they stop running.
2. Strike while the…bug is close.
3. It’s always darkest before…Daylight Saving Time.
4. Never underestimate the power of…termites.
5. You can lead a horse to water but…how?
6. Don’t bite the hand that…looks dirty.
7. No news is…impossible.
8. A miss is as good as a…Mr.
9. You can’t teach an old dog new…math.
10. If you lie down with dogs, you’ll…stink in the morning.
11. Love all, trust…me.
12. The pen is mightier than the…pigs.
13. An idle mind is…the best way to relax.
14. Where there’s smoke there’s…pollution.
15. Happy is the bride who…gets all the presents.
16. A penny saved is…not much.
17. Two’s company, three’s…the Musketeers.
18. Don’t put off till tomorrow what…you put on to go to bed.
19. Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and…you have to blow your nose.
20. There are none so blind as…Stevie Wonder.
21. Children should be seen and not…spanked or grounded.
22. If at first you don’t succeed…get new batteries.
23. You get out of something only what you…see in the picture on the box.
24. When the blind lead the blind…get out of the way.

My mom never meets a stranger. I remember growing up, going into Walgreens soda fountain for a BLT after a day of shopping. My mom would sit down with a big smile and the waitress would walk up;  my mom would turn to her and lean in close as if she had known that waitress all her life and start talking. But most of all she would start listening. She would look that waitress in the eye, nod her head and keep saying say “uh-huh,” and by the end of the meal she would leave the place knowing the waitress’s name and the names of her children. She did this everywhere she went and she still does it. She flirts with the world. And you know… everybody loves it!

Two weeks ago I was giving a three day public speaking class and someone in
the class had a great close for their speech. There speech was on packing
for a product and as they closed they brought out a product, a bottle of
champagne, and said, “Let’s celebrate successful packaging” Everyone laughed
and gave thunderous applause. The lesson, bring Champagne.