Communication Tip:
Adding Humor to Your Speeches
Everyone loves to laugh,
especially when laughter can bring your audience closer to you as a
speaker. If you are going to use humor in your speech, it's important to
know how to use it and when. Using jokes improperly or inappropriately can
backfire and alienate your audience.
Here are some tips to help you use humor effectively in your speeches.
Only use humor when it fits your speech
Humor has to fit into the content, tone, and structure of the
speech. If humor doesn't fit your speech, don't use it.
Some speakers feel that they have to tack on jokes at the beginning of
a speech to "break the ice". What is more effective is a
humorous story that introduces the theme of the talk. Giving unrelated
jokes leaves the audience confused or irritated, especially when your
speech is about an important or serious subject.
Choose humor that is appropriate to your audience
Consider not only the age of your audience, but their cultural background and
their mood when choosing humor for your speech. Not all audiences respond
to the same type of humor. References to local TV personalities or
restaurants wouldn't be understood by people outside of your area.
Needless to say, off-color humor is not appropriate around children and
audiences who would be offended by it, and jokes that ridicule ethnic and
religious groups aren't appropriate anywhere.
Use humor to make your point
The best way to use humor is to illustrate a point. In my speech,
"Cell Phone
Rudeness," I used a number of humorous anecdotes to show how the
inconsiderate use of cell phones affects others and makes the cell phone
abuser look foolish.
Humor is often more effective in illustrating ideas than cold facts and
figures, which can go over an audience's head; or preachy exhortations,
which can turn off even sympathetic listeners.
Draw upon personal experience
The best humor comes from your own experience. Talk about a humorous
situation you had and what you learned from it. Audiences will be drawn to
your story because it is personal and real. They can also relate to
similar experiences they had.
Using your own experiences will make you speeches fresher than if you
culled jokes out of joke books. The problem with pre-packaged jokes is
that audiences are likely to have heard them before, and the listener will
know that you're just telling jokes. Telling your own humorous experiences
make your speech fresh and original.
Deliver humor with confidence
Give your humorous story with confidence, enthusiasm, and a smile.
Don't preface the story with something like "Here's a funny
story" or "Let me tell you a joke." Audiences will pick up
the humor and laugh without needing to prompted.
After telling a humorous story, plan a pause so that the audience has
time to laugh. If the audience doesn't laugh, don't explain the humor or
comment in any way about the lack of laughter; just go on.
As you can see, humor needs to fit into the speech and not draw
attention to itself. People don't like being told that they're supposed to
laugh.
Find Your Own Humor
Some speakers worry, "What if I'm not funny?" You don't have
to be a standup comic to be funny. Humor comes from awareness and
observation. Look for situations that strike you funny and write down what
you see. Keep a journal or stack of index cards with your
observations.
When you see a situation that fits a speech, put it in. Practice your
speech so that you can deliver your humorous story with confidence and
zeal. You will find that you have a lot more humor than you
think.
Related Topics
Speeches Communication Tips Technical
Writing Tips
Creative Writing Tips
Links
Toastmasters
International
Founder's
District Toastmasters
Speechboosters Tony Audrieth More Links |
