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If you are able to use humor in a speech or presentation you will automatically be able to make your audience listen to you and assert your authority. Making people laugh is a definite attention-getter.
The thing to be aware of is using humor appropriately in your speech or presentation. There are two ways to use humor: the first is to react to material that you already have written using your own sense of humor. The second way is to add appropriate jokes, quotes and stories that relate to your speech topic.
Whichever method you use you need to run through the following checklist before you speak:
1) Is it funny?
If you find a line genuinely funny then it will make things a lot easier when you come to deliver the humor to your listeners. The thing to be aware of though is that not every line will make you fall down with laughter. If you have trouble in this area it might be worth researching a quip or humorous line from another speaker or comedian and quoting them in your speech. You cannot pass the line off as your own. If you have to give them credit! You could phrase it as follows: “…and as the comedian Jerry Seinfeld said…”
2) Can you say the line comfortably?
If you find a joke that fits in with the material rehearse the line out loud and edit it so that you’re comfortable saying the joke. Make elisions if necessary turning “you are” into “you’re” and so on. Make sure you don’t leave out the punchline though, that bit is crucial.
3) Will you offend anybody?
This following may sound stuffy, but the best thing to do is avoid the following areas because not everybody can appreciate humorous lines in these areas. Avoid jokes on: religion, sex, physical appearance, politics and disabilities. Granted someone who is Jewish can deliver Jewish jokes, but even then not everyone in the audience might be Jewish so you could come across as racist. The best thing to do is poke fun at yourself. If in doubt, leave it out!
4) Will you be understood?
If you’re speaking to a room full of unfamiliar faces then you have to make sure that jokes that are specific to your job or company might not go over. In that situation make sure that there are no in-jokes, or lines based in specifics of your job title.
If the humorous lines that you find are able to pass these four checks then you are well on your way to having an engaging and memorable speech!

Jason Peck is a Humorist, Speaker and Consultant based in London, England. For public speaking tips and to learn how to add humor to your speeches and presentations to win over your listeners visit: Pro Humorist.

Amazing Public Speaking Skill – The Hancock Manoeuvre

I recently re-read a great book on public speaking and I was reminded of a technique which was one of the first I ever used! I’ll give you a brief background on the book, and the technique itself, before I tell you about my experience with it.
The book was called “Just Say A Few Words” and it was by the late British Comedian and After Dinner Speaker Bob Monkhouse. Bob was a great comedian whose style were one-liner jokes similar in style to his hero Bob Hope. According to his book, Monkhouse was at an after dinner event in the 1960s alongside fellow British comedian Tony Hancock.
As the story goes Hancock never really enjoyed public speaking. He was in fact more of a comic actor than a comedian. He had brilliant script writers on his radio and TV shows and was more comfortable speaking the words of others.
According to Monkhouse they were both to speak at a charity function at London’s prestigious Savoy Hotel. Speaking before Hancock was a white-haired old priest, who nobody gave a second thought to. Apparently, however, he gave an extremely witty and hilarious speech making the audience roar with laughter.
Then came the deadpan Hancock. After the applause for Hancock had died down he waved his speech notes in his hand and said:
“Just before we came to dinner, Father Terry and I met in the gents and you all know what a lad he is for a joke, my goodness me yes. He said to me, “wouldn’t it be funny if we exchanged speeches and I did yours and you did mine?” So we did, and you’ve just heard mine. This is his and I’m not going to do this load of rubbish – good evening!”
Therefore, Hancock managed to avoid a potentially embarrassing situation whereby he felt his speech might not have been able to top that and be funnier than an unknown priest.
I used this technique myself the second time I ever performed stand-up comedy. I was a 19 year old open-mike new comedian at the time and, for reasons beyond me, I was put on after an extremely experienced feature comic who regularly played all the big London clubs and got paid for the privilege. I sat there in the audience in horror as he made the audience scream with laughter. I was terrified because I knew I had to follow him.
I bounded onto the stage trying to be confident in my own abilities that I could follow such a pro. My world was suddenly blown apart as punchline after punchline failed; I was being heckled ruthlessly and I headed rapidly towards “comedy death”.
It was then I heard the words no dying young comedian wants to hear from a heckler: “got any material?” My heart sank. I’d been slaving over that script and those jokes for months. I’d rehearsed again and again and knew my carefully crafted material backwards. And here I was being asked by a drunken heckler if I actually had any material.
But, from the depths of my being, I managed to pull out a version of The Hancock Manoeuvre before I had even realised what I was saying. My immediate response was: “actually yeah. I spoke to comic who was just on before the show and we agreed to swap material. He did my act and was hilarious and I’m doing his and it’s a load of rubbish. Thank you very much, good night!”
I left the stage to a round of applause. More so than just a polite clap. I also received a huge compliment from the comic who had gone on before me.
So next time you are in a tight spot and the speaker before you does an absolutely amazing job, have a think to yourself “can I equal if not better his speech? or shall I invoke The Hancock Manoeuvre?” But remember this technique should only be used as a last resort.