How to use humour effectively in your speeches – harness comedy

Sometimes it can be a huge challenge to be funny.

But being funny and using humour are incredibly powerful tools in public speaking.  They can make an audience relate to your message.  They can provide contrast to a serious subject and lighten the mood, making the audience more receptive.  They can improve your image as a speaker and as a person.

Sometimes humour can be spontaneous and that is oftentimes the most effective it will be.  But sometimes it takes practice and serious attention to writing the speech to create that spontaneity – faking it till making it is one of the rules of public speaking after all!!

We can research jokes.  We can copy the successful styles of speakers who use humour.

And another way is to learn from the comedians.  While comedy is different in many ways from public speaking, or maybe can be seen as a specialised form of public speaking, there is much that can be learned from the comedians and implemented in your speeches.

Larry Wilde did just that.  He interviewed great comedians for a book and learned much in the process.  He interviewed famous comedians like  Woody Allen, Jack Benny, Milton Berle, George Burns, Johnny Carson, Phyllis Diller, Bob Hope, and Jerry Lewis.

And now you can hear an interview with Larry Wilde about his experiences and the education in comedy that he gained.  The interview is conducted by none other than Patricia Fripp, herself an award-winning speaker.

Learn the inside secrets of America’s greatest comedians. Hear the collective wisdom of the people who defined American comedy.

What the Great Comedians Teach Us About Comedy – Recorded live at the National Speakers Association of Northern California.   Download here from Patricia Fripp’s website.