Ha ha ha! Please by all means toot your own horn, I love it! I've never thought of you as being dry on Hubski, for what it's worth. I think you make some great points especially regarding humor in public speaking. It's a very effective way to get the audience engaged and on your side. However, humor much like beauty is in the eye of the beholder and can fall flat on it's face at times. I'm glad you had success with it, but I've certainly seen people fail when it comes to humor. And yes, mk does make a good suggestion regarding watching yourself speak. It's important to get rid of the "ums" it does give you more credibility. Have you ever given a speech where you fell flat on your face? Have you ever uncontrollably laughed like Joanna in the podcast? I have never done that, however I did once start laughing as an audience member and couldn't stop it and had to be asked to leave the classroom when I was in sixth grade. Luckily the person giving the speech was a friend of mine and thought it was hilarious. I was certainly more embarrassed than anyone else.