You've been asked to speak in front of the local Wildebeest Lodge: "Just 20 minutes on the importance of saving for one's retirement--and keep it light and lively." Your speech, while helpful and informative, isn't exactly entertaining. You have nightmares of being pelted with dinner rolls by a herd of angry Wildebeest in response to your boring speech. Where can you turn for help?
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Podium is a collection of more than 2,000 stories, epigrams, definitions, proverbs, and literary quotations compiled by Herbert V. Prochnow, author of the bestselling The Public Speaker's Treasure Chest. The entries are loosely grouped by type (such as "Stories and Comments from Unusual Lives," "The Wisdom of Proverbs," and "Did You Know These Facts?") rather than topic, but a handy index points you to relevant topics--including 2 entries on "retirement," 8 entries on "economy," and 35 entries on "money." The first half of the book, "Humorous Stories," may raise only a few chuckles, but the quirky facts (for example, "Cuba would reach from New York to Chicago") and clever definitions ("Class reunion: Where everyone gets together to see who is falling apart") in the second half are more useful and also make for entertaining browsing. This collection was previously published in 1993 under the title Speaker's & Toastmaster's Handbook--so if you're looking for topical humor, you'll have to look elsewhere. If you're looking for tasteful jokes and witty quotations, however, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Podium is a handy source. --C.B. Delaney
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