Read This Only If You Want To Learn
How To Add Humor To Your Speeches
Here, are bits and pieces from a “gut-busting-good-time-of-an-Airpark-Toastmasters-meeting” we recently had. I discussed a couple examples from that day recently – but here a few more salient points from that infamous meeting.
Mastering public speaking is a challenging task, but to do so while injecting humor into your skills equation seems impossible at best for most Toastmasters.
You’ll hear cries of:
“I’m not funny…”
“I don’t know how to make someone laugh…” Or,
“I don’t know why people laugh at what I say, they just sometimes do.”
I’ve heard these claims before and I live them myself. The bottom line is: speaking with humor is tough, tough business.
Yet miraculously, somehow, every member attending this particular meeting was able to elicit at least one laugh from the group.
How…?
The answer is with surprise and callback – techniques utilized with great deft and skill by some of the top comedians in the world. And if you study comedy long enough, you’ll see those same two patterns emerge whether you listen to Johnny Carson, Rodney Dangerfield, or Kevin Hart.
But to use these techniques like the top comedians do, you’ll have to learn a few things about them first. And if you’ve ever wanted to learn how inject humor into your public speaking repertoire, you’ve come to the right place.
So let’s get started:
Callback refers to ‘calling-back’ to a phrase or word that was said or implied earlier in the meeting. And used correctly and tactfully, this is a phenomenal tool to help get your club’s “humor-o-meter” going in the right direction.
Here’s what I mean. The Toastmaster, Brad Taft gave us a brief introduction about the theme: Spontaneity. And here’s what he said, (paraphrasing):
“Spontaneity. When I say that I don’t mean you have to go out and…get a Brazilian way job or anything like that.”
That was humorous by itself. And that set up the tone for the rest of the meeting with just about everyone calling back to that word.
Me, as grammarian that day, I chose the word “wax” meaning to become – got a huge laugh for that.
Saba – “I’m leaving the research medical field for something bigger and better…perhaps I’ll start selling wax jobs,” – another huge laugh
Rick – “My truck could use a wax,” – another laugh from the crowd.
That’s funny. That’s memorable. That’s callback!
Surprise means just that: surprise! Taking our thoughts in one direction and changing course at the last possible moment. This creates tension in our minds for a split second because we expect to hear one thing, but are surprised when we hear something else. And more often than not this creates humor.
An example was my speech entitled, “The F Word.” Of course, we all “knew” what I was referring to. My intro:
“Raise your hand if you used the F word this morning? You hear it all the time, it’s ingrained in our fiber…why on my way in I heard a mother telling her little boy, ‘You don’t want to be a insert F word here’…I thought, that’s so cute!”
To the surprise of the club the “F” word was in fact, NOT the “F” word, but: “Failure.” My speech talked about what it is, how it controls us and how we can get control over it in our own lives, particularly as it pertains to speaking in public.
That’s the technique of surprise: get the audience to think a certain way and pull a surprise on them by saying something they didn’t expect. Every top comedian does this with unbelievable precision. Rodney Dangerfield, Sara Silverman and Anthony Jeselnick are three that come to mind. Go check out there stuff!
That’s pretty simple, huh? Simple – yes. Easy – no. Utilizing these two techniques requires thought and work. But your efforts will be well rewarded.
There you have it: two bona-fide, reliable tools (that the pros use) you can use to inject humor into your speaking and speeches. If you’re the president of your club, you could present a speech on this very topic urging your members to find ways to add humor whenever possible. Here are few tips to help keep your club humor on the right path.
- Always uncover the humor never add humor. It’s already there – the callback technique is proof of that.
- Never insult a member. When trying to uncover humor all too often this becomes the easiest way to get a laugh – at the expense of another member. Don’t do that. There are so many other opportunities to uncover humor if you look hard enough.
- Study the greats. Read books, transcripts, and interviews with comedians. Go to YouTube and watch their videos. Then watch them again. You’d be amazed how quickly you’ll come up with the right word or phrase during a meeting that generates a huge laugh. I know this from my own experience.
That’s all for now, but before I leave you, one last thing…
“Is Toastmasters All A Bunch of Hype?”
I’ve personally witnessed transformation after transformation of people coming into our family terrified to speak in public – turn into public speaking rock stars! And, you’ll have to make your own intelligent judgements about whether or not we are a fit to help you reach your professional goals.
So what I can tell you is this: despite the countless public speaking successes our members have experienced (including 5 media appearances recently!) there are people who race to join Toastmasters, have revealed to them a ‘blue-print’ for public speaking success and yet 6 months down the road are still stuck or parked in the same spot!
You do get what you put into it.
I don’t think this will be your experience. After all, you found our blog and read this far so you must be interested in furthering your personal and professional goals through public speaking. Congratulations on completing the first step.
Now, the next step is to stop by as a guest, introduce yourself and watch and learn as we all move forward overcoming our fears, growing professionally through better public speaking and having a great time doing it!
Scottsdale based Airpark Toastmasters, meets at noon every Thursday at the JCC building at 12701 N Scottsdale Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85260. That’s on the SE corner of Scottsdale and Sweetwater Rd. Please click here for directions and feel free to drop in anytime as a guest.
Happy Speaking,
Anthony – President | Airpark Toastmasters
Author: Anthony Contreras
Airpark Toastmasters (480) 269-5815 