If you are a salesperson doing a PowerPoint presentation or you simply have to talk in front of a large group of people, then you know how hard it is to get your ideas across. Here is one trick I've learned the hard way that will help you and will make your job a whole lot easier!

Use humor! Use humor!! Use humor!!! (...as you see, I like repeating)

Humor will put your clients/listeners/readers at ease and will help break the ice as well as set a tone with the audience that helps to loosen everyone up a little. Everybody (from Donald Trump and Bill Gates to John Doe) loves to laugh and disconnect for a little from this, otherwise, overly serious world.

If you have a natural talent for humor, then go for it -- make your own routine, but keep it relatively simple and try not to overdo it. If you feel uncertain what to do, use the services of professional humorists who can help you! Humor will make a presentation much easier to listen to and much more fun for you to create and present it.

All different types of humor work best in different situations. Some speakers always start with a joke, or tell a funny story in the beginning of their speech to break the ice.

But not everyone has a talent for telling a joke or a funny story right. There are too many examples of bad stand up comics...Relax! There is an easier way!

Use cartoons! They are perfect to communicate your thoughts and your message, and have proven to be one of the best marketing tools. A recent New Yorker survey shows that newspaper readers typically check the cartoons out first before reading the actual articles.

Cartoons are great, because they will deliver your message at a first glance. A good cartoon can attract your clients' attention and make it easier for you to do the rest!

Where do you get cartoons? Probably one of the best online sources is eToon.com (http://www.etoon.com), a cartoon licensing company created by Vlad Kolarov, a professional cartoonist with over 27 years experience. At eToon.com you can select from tens of thousands of cartoons and get licenses for multiple purposes.

Doing it is extremely easy. You can search for a cartoon by topic, keyword or author. After choosing the best cartoon for you, you can find out how much it will cost to license it, pay for it with a credit card and then you can download it.

The licensing fees are quite reasonable for most businesses and individuals. For example, you can download and use a cartoon in a PowerPoint presentation for only $35!

There are, of course, occasions when you can not find a suitable cartoon...No problem! Just email a cartoonist for a custom made one. Vlad Kolarov can make a custom cartoon for you in usually 24 hours. The cost, of course, is a bit higher, but it is definitely worth it! (You can email Vlad here: http://www.evlad.com/contact-info )

Cartoons work great not only for presentations, but in other ways too, such as:

-- Advertising: Many Fortune 1000 companies (from Coca Cola to Volkswagen) use cartoons in their ads. There is a reason why!
-- Email Campaigns: Cartoons are fun and they will grab your clients' attention
-- Company Newsletters: If you want your employees to really read your newsletters, give them something fun!
-- Training Manuals: a fun way to break up the often boring training sessions. Cartoons provide grait visual aid and reinforce important information by making it easy to remember.
-- Fax Cover Sheets: fax cover sheets beg for a good cartoon!
-- Websites & Intranets: give your clients/employees a great reason to check in on all your company information too.

All in all, cartoons are an original, extremely effective way of marketing and delivering across important messages to your clients and prospects. They make you stand out from the crowd and your business a success.