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Using Humor in Public Speaking
When you use humor in your speeches you have a real
advantage over those speakers who don’t. People love to laugh
and to be amused so anyone who can accomplish this task is
well on the way to success, especially in public speaking.
Many people have forgotten how to laugh with gusto. It
is almost as if it is something they put away at the onset of
adulthood. Children have no problem laughing. In fact the
research indicates that children laugh over 400 time a day
while adults can only manage 15. It is in our best interest
to rediscover the pleasure found in humor and laughter.
We learn to laugh by laughing. I read recently about
a study that was done on laughter. One person in a group
started to laugh. The laugh began softly and gradually grew in
volume and intensity. The other people in the room had no
idea what was causing the laughter but they began to join in.
Soon everyone in the room was laughing heartily at nothing
more than the laughter of another. Try it sometime. Just start
laughing in the presence of others and see what happens.
People tend to join in the fun and good humor whether they
know the cause of it or not.
The same phenomenon applies to public speaking. Some
believe that people should never laugh at their own jokes. I
disagree with this totally. If I am speaking and I share a
humorous anecdote or one liner within the context of the
speech I always laugh after telling it.
Inevitably the audience joins in whether they found
it funny or not. Those in the audience who found it funny
laugh heartily. Those who didn’t find it funny end up laughing
with those who did. It works. Try it.
If I am using humor in my speech and I don’t laugh
after telling it, just how funny was it in the first place? If
I think the story is funny I want the audience to think so
too. They will be more inclined to find it humorous if I am
standing in front of them obviously getting a charge out of it
myself.
Get used to the fact that humor is subjective. What
one person finds funny another doesn’t. Some will literally
roll in the aisle laughing, others will sit there stone-faced,
some will be mildly amused and many will laugh quietly. It is
important to remember that not all who sit unsmiling in front
of you didn’t enjoy the humor in your story or remark. I once
had a person approach me after a speech and tell me how much
they enjoyed my humor. They could have fooled me for they
didn’t laugh at all throughout the talk. You really can’t tell
a book by its cover.
Once in awhile something you say in your talk will
result in howls of laughter and you will have no idea what
made them laugh. If this happens make a mental note of it and
use it again in your next speech. If it evokes laughter again
don’t question it. Just go with it and insert it into your
speech permanently. It was a gift.
Never use dirty humor. Even if there are people in
your audience who like this kind of humor there will be many
who don’t. Even those who are not offended by dirty humor in
their private lives are offended by it when it is used within
a speech. Never risk alienating a good segment of your
audience with dirty humor. Now earthy humor is a different
matter.
While I never use dirty humor in my talks, I frequently use earthy material.
Most people love a good earthy story providing it doesn’t cross the line.
Here is what I mean by earthy humor: Did you hear about the old man who streaked
through the annual flower show? He won first prize in dried
arrangement. To me this is cute and earthy. Not too many would
be offended by this short piece....I don’t think.
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