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| Leave 'Em Laughin' |
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We've all sat in the audience at a luncheon or special dinner and had to endure the speech of the invited guest. Sometimes, it's enjoyable and we go home feeling we've been entertained and even like we've learned something. Other times, the speech is tedious and boring, causing our eyelids to slam shut shortly after the start of the speech.
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| Public Speaking 101 |
| Be amusing, never tell unkind stories; above all, never tell long ones.
— Benjamin Disraeli
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But have you ever considered what it's like to be on the other side of the podium? To give a speech, share information, or present a coherent argument to a group of strangers is far harder than sitting in the audience. Many times, speakers use humor as an icebreaker. Humor helps to peak interest and to gain an audience's attention. It is one of the best ways to build rapport with an audience. Mark Twain, Winston Churchill, and Ronald Reagan used humor to convey some of their most memorable messages.
There is a good chance that at some point in your career you will be called upon to speak to a group. It will be your turn to write a speech, find the appropriate joke or story and leave the audience feeling entertained and informed. For the group you are addressing, you are the "expert" on the subject you are talking about. For that reason, you will find that writing your speech won't be half as difficult as finding that one remark, story or joke that will engage your audience.
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| The Right Start |
Recognizing the importance of humor and its uses in getting your speech started, you mentally search through your repertoire of jokes and stories, scratching off the jokes you heard on the hit television show "Ally McBeal," the joke your 9-year-old came home from school with, and the one about blondes and lawyers that recently made the rounds on the Internet. Most of these jokes, while popular, embrace a questionable humor that has no place in a presentation that is designed to educate, relate information or persuade your audience. The jokes may be funny, but you're sure to offend someone in the audience. Where do you go for the right story or joke? How do you relate this humor to your audience?
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| Where To Go To Leave 'Em Laughin' |
Laughter resources
Writing the perfect speech and finding the right joke are not easy tasks, but there are lots of places you can go for help. If you search the Web using "humor" as your key word, you'll find thousands of sites that offer you jokes and stories, some of them usable, some not. Refine your search to "humor in speeches" and you'll get tens of sites.
- Executive-speaker.com not only offers helpful speech writing tips, but you'll also be able to browse through quips and stories that are aimed at getting the proverbial chuckle.
- Toastmasters.org offers similar help.
- Read some of orater and writer Mark Twain's more memorable quotes. The quotes are arranged alphabetically by subject.
- If you want to read up, several books have been written on the subject, including The Rhetorical Act (second edition) by Campbell and Writing the Speech by Wiethoff.
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If you can't use the latest joke you heard in the boardroom, where do you get your material? The answer is: Everywhere. The ability to see the humor in life is one of the most important assets you have as a speaker. Take a moment to listen to the conversations around you. Whether you're in a restaurant, grocery store or on the street, take note of what makes people laugh and look for applications in your field. Watch for humorous situations and remember that the most effective humor is humor you have experienced yourself. Think about situations you have been in and personal stories that have an element of self-effacing humor. Once you're thinking about what's funny, you'll find it everywhere.
Be aware, however, that if you rely on jokes, you run the risk that midway through the story, someone in your audience will whisper, "I heard this one." If you must rely on a joke rather than a story, search for older material. Once found, look to update it, rejuvenate it or make it applicable to your business or presentation. By doing so, you create a new joke, one that may be familiar, but new, nonetheless.
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| "How 'Bout That Audience?" |
Once you think you've found the right joke, and placed it where the punch line is sure to have the best impact, be sure to consider your audience.
Understand who they are, where they come from, how old they are, their interests, political leanings, favorite sports teams, radio and television stations, and so on. Ask whether your audience will be all men or all women or if it will be mixed. Knowing the make up of your audience will help prevent a very common disease among speakers — "foot-in-mouth" disease. This is a particularly difficult ailment to cure: Once the foot is in, it's very difficult, if not impossible, to extricate it.
Considering your audience is especially important if you are traveling abroad. Be even more sensitive and aware of cultural differences. The more you know about your audience the better your chance of succeeding in all aspects of your presentation.
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| Is Humor for Everyone? |
Remember this: While you can learn to use humor and do a good job of it, the use of humor is decidedly not for everyone. If you are forever fluffing the punch line, if you can't seem to get the joke right or are just uncomfortable using humor, carefully consider whether or not you should. Just as a good joke can put the audience in the palm of your hand, a great deal of damage can be done if you try to use humor and fail.
Laughter, indeed, is often the best medicine, and the use of a joke or uplifting story in your next speech can help your audience better relate to you and your message. But be sure to do your homework: Know your audience, carefully prepare your talk, pick an appropriate humorous joke or story and stand back and enjoy the applause!
Now that you have that down, did I tell you the one about the three guys with the flat tire who went to the farmer for help....?
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