Speeches - The Rules On Using Humor In Speeches

By Author: Wade Knoxville
Total Articles: 18
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There are a lot of ways on how you can catch the attention of your audience when you are delivering speeches. One of the most effective ways, however, is adding humor and funny anecdotes to the speech you are giving in front of many people. Even in the extemporaneous speech that you give as part of a school requirement or even the eulogy that you are offering for a special person in your life, you ought to inject some kind of humor to somehow break the sad or somber mood of your audience. If you watch television or even listen to radios, you will probably realize that even the speech being delivered by the President or Prime Minister also contains some funny materials. However, it is important to note that not all types of jokes should be used in public speaking. In order not to commit the same mistakes committed by famous personalities, such as Mel Gibson, you need to know the unspoken rules on adding humor to any speech. Read on and learn.

In comedy bars you would probably hear the performer spew malicious, hurtful, and even toilet jokes. There is really no problem in giving such inappropriate comments and puns in ...
... such a place and occasion because you know that the comedian on the stage is just trying to make you laugh and nothing in that place should be taken personally. However, when it comes to giving public speeches, you should never use jokes that make fun of a culture or groups of people. This is particularly true if you are making a speech for your class or in public places. You should not criticize the race, color, religion, and even gender of anyone. Although you do not mean anything wrong with your jokes, some people might take what you are saying out of context and might get hurt with what you say. Besides, with the power of video sharing and blogging on the Internet, the bad speech that you gave inside your classroom or in a wedding might leak into cyberspace and ruin your reputation.

Not all people know how to deliver a punch line. If you think that you are one of those who are not really very good at delivering jokes or telling humorous stories, then adding humor to your speeches - especially impromptu ones - might backfire on you. The best thing to do if you are unsure is to just let your joke pass. However, if you have time to rehearse your speech, then you should try practicing your delivery of the pun or joke. You can even ask your friends or family to listen to your speech so that you would see their reaction on the humorous phrase or sentence you added to your serious speech.

Other important rules when using humor in your speeches (or even presentations) is to avoid using other people's physical features or appearance to make fun of the situation. Also, you should not laugh loudly at your own jibe or anecdote. It is pretty embarrassing to laugh out loud especially if the audience did not get the punch line.
Wade Knoxville
oppapers.com