How to Make a Funny Speech

 
Tips for Writing and Making a Funny Speech

It's conventional wisdom among many novice public speakers that the best way to start off a speech is with a joke.

But telling jokes during a speech is one of the least effective ways to be funny. There are better ways to get your audience laughing.

A humorous quote, story, or well-timed one liner certainly makes a speech more entertaining--and therefore more effective. And if the audience is laughing every once in a while, they're a lot more likely to keep paying attention instead of daydreaming.

But many public speakers with limited experience tend to tell jokes just to get a laugh, and their jokes are often not relevant to their speech topic. This approach really doesn't perform a service for their listeners.

There are better ways to add humor to your presentation.

1) Create a fun atmosphere

I was a TV newscaster for most of my adult life, so I often run some video blooper clips of myself and other news anchors. It let's the audience know that I don't take myself too seriously. Which also relates to me to Tip #2.

2) Use self-deprecating humor

The late president Gerald Ford was often skewered by comedians about his alleged clumsiness. He soon joined in the fun by developing an arsenal one his own one-liners.

Ford once brought the house down at a White House Press Correspondents Dinner. Upon being introduced, Ford made his way to the stage, but as he approached the lectern, he bumped into a table. Then a moment later, he pretended to trip, scattering the pages of his speech in a wide swath across the floor. When he finally stood before the microphone, he look out over the audience, and with perfect timing, announced "I'm Gerald Ford--and you're not," mimicking a popular Saturday Night Live skit often done by Chevy Chase.

If a former president can make use of self-deprecating humor, it's certainly okay for the rest of us.

3) Tell humorous stories

Funny things have happened to all of us--even though they may not have seemed so funny at the time. Lessons that were painful when they happened often seem funny, even hilarious, years later. You can draw on such stories to make important and relevant points during your presentation.

Thnigs that have happened to other people often make funny stories too--as long as it's not something that embarrasses them.

There's nothing wrong with saying you heard the story somewhere else, and you can certainly credit the source by name if you know where the story originated (this is not always possible, of course).

4) Borrow humor from people who are really good at it

The Internet is a marvelous source for generating funny material, and it's not hard to find. I often used quotes by Will Rogers and Yogi Berra in many of my presentations. Former President Abraham Lincoln was a great storyteller, and may of his "tall tales" are hilarious.

5) Buy humor from people who sell it

There are professionals humorists who will write funny material for a fee. Many good ones are relatively inexpensive, and can be found by doing a search on the Internet.

6) Collect funny stories and one-liners from your audience

"Jollytologist" Allen Klein likes to tell of how he got one of his funniest one-liners from an audience member during one of his speeches some years ago. He says he'd sometimes often ask his audiences, "How do you spell relief?" His answer was "L-A-U-G-H". But one time a woman shouted, "D-I-V-O-R-C-E." The audience roared. Klein often uses the story now as part of his regular presentation.

7) Make it relate

This goes back to what I said earlier. Just plugging in a joke so you can get a laugh is something of a disservce to the people who canme to hear you speak. Humor is good, but it should be relevant to your topic and it should emphasize a point. Leave stand up comedy to Leno and Letterman.

Need some help writing a funny speech?

You could spend hours looking for funny stories, anecdotes and quotes to use in your speech. Or you could visit Tom Antion's website, which includes dozens catagorized, easy-to-find material. Tom is a renowned public speaking coach with one of the largest websites on the Internet. Click here to learn more.