Use Humor in Business Presentations and Speeches Says Executive Public Speaking Coach

How many blondes does it take to change a light bulb?

Tell that joke during your next business presentation and you'll either win your audience or lose them. Maybe forever. Most jokes are suitable for some occasions and unsuitable for others. Few things are as painful as listening to a speaker tell a bad or tasteless joke. The speaker suffers, and so does the audience.

And yet nothing is better than humour for grabbing the attention of an audience and winning them to your point of view. A good laugh relaxes an audience. That's why so many experienced speakers open their talks with a funny story or humourous line. And salt their remarks with witticisms or funny anecdotes.

The secret to succeeding with humour in the boardroom is to be funny and appropriate at the same time.

Some topics are always off limits, of course. Jokes about race and ethnicity are always wrong. So are sexist jokes, and jokes about people with disabilities. Other themes to avoid are sarcasm and irony, two boomerangs that tend to sail over the audience and return to the stage to hit the speaker in the temple.

The safest kind of humour to use in a business presentation is a joke about you. If you're like me, you have plenty of material to draw upon. Self-deprecating humour is effective for two good reasons. It doesn't make fun of anyone important. And it helps you make a point without pointing the finger at anyone.

The best kind of humour comes from your own well. Stories from your childhood, your marriage, your family life and your career are sure to get a laugh if they are original and well told. Here are some tips on delivery to make your jokes winners.

Keep your jokes short

A one-liner gets just as loud a laugh as a long story but requires less of the speaker (and the audience) to work well. When telling a story, keep it relevant to your topic by including relevant details only (time and place, names, sequence of events and so on).

Don't apologize

Don't apologize for not being a comedian before you deliver a joke, and don't apologize for a joke that falls flat.

Don't talk over laughter

The better your humour, the harder and longer your audience will laugh. So pause after you've delivered the punchline, and pause while the audience laughs. Look about your audience with a smile (or a smirk). Let them enjoy the joke. Don't sabotage the effect you created. Start speaking again only when the room is quiet enough to continue.

If you aren't hilarious, at least be witty

If you lack confidence in recounting humourous stories or telling funny jokes, try to express yourself in a funny way a few times during your presentation. Even mundane topics become entertaining when you discuss them with some wit. Did you know, for example, that the IRS has the perfect gift for the man who has everything? An audit.

Humour relaxes your audience and helps them connect with you. Audiences want to laugh. They want to have fun and be entertained. So take courage and use original humour that's appropriate for your audience and your topic.

By the way, have you guessed yet how many blondes it takes to change a light bulb?

One.

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About the author

Alan Sharpe is an executive speech coach and business writing trainer. On-site, online and over the phone, Alan teaches executives and managers how to express themselves clearly, concisely and convincingly using the written and spoken word. Receive a free tip like this each week by subscribing to his public speaking [http://www.alansharpeconsulting.com] and business writing [http://www.alansharpeconsulting.com] column, The Confident Communicator.

© 2007 Alan Sharpe. You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the "About the author" message).

Short Hilarious Jokes and One-Liners to Spice Up Your Speeches

Adding short hilarious jokes or funny one-liners to your speeches will capture your listener's attention and make your presentation more interesting.

Humor is a popular speech-giving technique because it breaks the tension, helps people relax, and allows the speaker to connect with the audience. A relevant joke can enhance a presentation and emphasize a point to make it more memorable. A quick amusing anecdote can help attendees relate to the guest of honor, or a punchy one-liner can lighten the mood and make the audience more receptive.

Of course, what one person finds funny another may find offensive, so when choosing jokes, speech writers should show sensitivity to the occasion and consider the the audience. Humor can be an effective tool, but it must be used correctly.

Wouldn't a business or corporate conference meeting be more interesting if an executive opened his speech with, "Your future depends on your dreams...so go to sleep"?

Do you have to give a speech at an Over the Hill, 60th, 70th, or even 80th birthday party? Just think of the laughs that you will cause when you stand before your guests and open with, "Right now I am having amnesia and deja vu at the same time. I think I've forgotten this before." (Steven Wright) Or, generate uproarious laughter with, "You know you are old when you try to straighten the wrinkles in your socks and realize that you aren't wearing any."

The Father-of-the-bride always wants to use his experience to give his newlywed daughter valuable marriage advice. How about quoting the great Phyllis Diller, "Never go to bed mad. Stay up and fight." Or, the Best Man can send his friend into marital bliss with, "Just think, if it weren't for marriages men would go through life thinking they had no faults at all."

Celebrating a milestone anniversary? Spice up your speech with a little humorous relationship insight. "Some people ask the secret of our long marriage. We take time to go to a restaurant two times a week. A little candlelight, dinner, soft music and dancing. She goes Tuesdays, I go Fridays." - Henry Youngman

Young men can add a little humor to their Bar Mitzvah speech with, "Today I am a man. Tomorrow I go back to grade eight."

Have you been asked to speak at a retirement party? Have a little fun with the new retiree by beginning your speech with, "Why do retirees count pennies? They are the only ones who have time." Or, if you are the guest of honor, encourage a few chuckles with the statement, "When a man retires and time is no longer of urgent importance, his colleagues usually present him with a watch."

If you have to address an audience of fellow college graduates, spice your speech up with this intriguing thought, "Some of the smartest, most successful people in the world never finished school. Remember that as you pay off your student loans for the next twenty years."

Whatever the occasion, giving a speech can be stressful, and keeping your audience entertained and interested can be challenging. Adding a few appropriate short hilarious jokes or one-liners can break the ice and set the stage for a successful presentation.

About Author:
Soren Lauritzen is a coach, consciousness guide, self help author and teacher whose love of truth, wit, and humor led him to create www.inspirational-quotes-short-funny-stuff.com which includes short hilarious jokes.