Funny ha-ha or funny ho-hum?

How to use humor effectively in speeches: 6 key aspects

If you had a recipe for a 100% guaranteed never to fail funny speech what would be in it?

I mean a speech that has everyone laughing and wiping away tears with the backs of their hands. When it ends you look out into the audience and see, looking back at you, faces alive and beaming with delight.

That's the sort of speech lots of people long to deliver and they want a recipe to achieve it.

Something along the lines of, for an average 4-minute speech you'll need:

• 3 jokes

• 2 double entendres

• 1 or more examples of alliteration...

But will a step-by-step prescribed approach to writing and delivering a funny speech work?

No. There are elements to writing and delivering humor in speeches we can learn and practice but sadly, there's not a ‘never-fail-sure-to-get-them-laughing’ recipe you can use whatever the occasion.

The reason the ‘one size fits all’ solution to funny fails is simple and obvious. We are not all one size.

What one audience will find hilarious will make another sit in stony silence. Similarly, what is suitable for one occasion can be woefully wrong in another.

And then there’s the purpose of the speech itself and the person delivering it.

Are you a stand-up comic? Or are you a speaker who wants to use humor to get your message across more effectively?

The difference?

A comedian's primary purpose is to make us laugh. A speech maker's primary purpose is to successfully deliver their speech. The techniques used to do that may include humor.

For the comic humor is the main course. For the speaker humor is a side dish.

If you’d like a hand to a get a good giggle or two or three into your presentations, have a look here:

• How to use humor effectively

Find out what the keys to integrating 'funny' into your speech are. Know where the pitfalls are and how to avoid them.

That’s all for now,
Kind regards,
Susan

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PPS. As I said last week, and I’ll say next, if you have ideas for topics you’d like to see covered in this newsletter, or if you’d like to share an article on some aspect of public speaking, or a speech of your own, please get in touch. Either reply to this email or contact me through the form on my about me page on my website. I’d love to hear from you!