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Adding humour to your speech or presentation can be beneficial because it helps you to connect with your listeners (most people like to laugh and be entertained) and it can help them more easily remember your message.

The purpose of this article is not to turn you into a comedian. It’s just to present you with some ways to add a little humour to your speech.

With that in mind here are two fast and simple, down and dirty formats for including humour in your next speech or presentation.

The first is called: “Joke Format”

This details a way in which you can format street jokes (jokes that friends might tell you in a bar) together to form a comedy monologue like old school comedians, like Bob Hope or Jack Benny. Here’s the format:

1) Put the 2nd funniest joke first

2) End with the funniest joke

3) Counter a good joke with a bad one.

4) Organize jokes according to theme.

Now, I’m not saying that they used this format, I used Hope and Benny as an example of the style of comic that might have used this approach. Although, I have to say, the “counter a good joke with a bad one” seems more in-keeping with the comedy format of old school comics, rather than modern stand-ups. I think today’s comedy professionals try to have continuous funny lines. This particular point seems to indicate a groaner type of joke, like a pun.

But just to remind you the purpose of this article is not to turn you into a comedian. You don’t have to worry about that.

That said, I don’t think there’s anything necessarily wrong with using such a funny line in a speech, providing of course that it ties in with your overall topic and it doesn’t offend anyone overtly. Some people might be offended by a groaner joke, but that’s too bad. It makes you come across as human because we don’t always come out with incredible zingers like they do in sitcoms.

The other format is called the “Message Format”. There are two types for this format:

A)

Intro

2nd Funniest joke

Main body of Jokes

Theme

Funniest Joke

With the second one being as follows:

B)

Intro

Funniest joke

Other Jokes

Theme

This last one ends on a serious note instead of a laugh. Personally, if I’m doing a humorous speech I’d rather end on a laugh. But that’s just my personal taste.

What you might consider doing is reducing your actual speech or presentation by about a third or even a half. Keep the core details that are necessary to convey your message to your audience. So what do you replace the edited content with?

Humour. Funny stories, funny jokes, maybe you could quote other comedians or witty people as long as you give credit where it’s due. There’s no sense delivering a line by Woody Allen in your presentation and passing it off as your own. There will always be someone who can attribute it to the original author, plus it’s highly unethical.

Not only that but by saying something like: “as Woody Allen once said…” you can immediately get your audience into a better state to laugh as they’ll remember their favourite Woody Allen moment. Then if the line doesn’t have everyone rolling in the aisles then you can get out of it by saying, “obviously it’s much better when Woody did it”. Your listeners will love you all the more then because you will have revealed yourself to be slightly vulnerable.

You would have to judge for yourself what you think is appropriate. I would have to guess that it may be better for you to end on a comment about your overall theme. What are you trying to convey to your audience? What’s the take home message that you want them to walk away from your speech remembering?

If you can follow some of these pointers in your next speech you’ll be well on your way to being remembered for your humorous speeches and you’ll get people congratulating you afterwards because you made them laugh and in their eyes you just became the star.

The following happened when I was in Orlando a few days ago. It bugged me so much I had to write about it.

So there I was, along with Dave, standing in the front of an almost empty meeting room. Dave had heard me speak to a group of managerial accountants in Boston. It went over so well, he invited me to present to a group of 425 college accounting students. He knew my abilities and trusted my judgment.

So there we were, along with the AV guys, setting up the room for my motivational speech, “Want to be Good, Great, or a Champion?” I asked Dave how many students he expected? He told me “at best” 425, but we both surmised that the room had been set up for many more.

Now, it’s a fact that people do not like to sit in the front rows. It is human nature for people to want to be comfortable. We tend to spread out, so that we are not too close to others if we don’t have to be. That’s why most people prefer to cluster in the back, leaving rows and rows of empty seats up front.

This is not fun for the presenter. Speaking is intimate; a speaker looks to connect with the audience. And rows of empty chairs become an invisible barrier, one that literally and emotionally creates distance between a speaker and the audience.

Did you know that when Jay Leno took over the Tonight Show he added rows of chairs and extended Johnny Carson’s stage to allow him to get closer to the audience? Like Jay, it is our responsibility to do whatever we can to connect better with the audience.

Dave had given many presentations himself. So he understood the problem immediately. He and I agreed that we should either remove some chairs or tape off the back rows, forcing people to fill in the front first.

The event planner for the organization came into the room just then. We asked her if she could take care of doing just that. She replied, “We’ll just have the room monitors at the doors ask everybody to sit up front.” She then ran off to handle another issue.

Dave and I look at each other in shock. “WHAT? They’ll never listen. It doesn’t work that way!” Granted, she was trying to be helpful and thought she had solved the problem. And yes, she had about a million things to attend to. But the fact was, she just didn’t get it. She never had to give a presentation before. She didn’t understand the effect a row of empty chairs had on the speaker.

At almost every conference I’ve spoken, I’ve noticed that they put out way to many chairs: “Just in case.” Just in case what? In case people walk in off the street to go to an accounting conference? Not very likely.

If you have a track record of 100 attendees, even with better promotion, you still have a good idea as to how many people are registered, and how many people might register at the door. So be reasonable. It looks better when tables and chairs have to be added-much better than having lots of empty seats.

In her defense, this was only the second conference so there was not as much of a track record. Yet, I still believe it is better to put out fewer chairs than you need. It lends an air of “excitement” when you need to set out more. Too many empty chairs gives the perception of “low turn out” or “this meeting can’t be that good.”

In the end, it turned out not too bad in Orlando. As people came in last minute, they did not go to the front. There were five rows on the left side of the room that only had 1 person. It could have been much worse.

Event planners: Yes, it is easier to have all the chairs set out ahead of time. But are you going for easier, or a better event? Speakers will do better when the setting is optimal. Attendees will have a more fruitful experience.

Speakers: It is our job to create the best atmosphere, to generate the best connection with the audience. Sometimes we may have to gently educate the event planners. If they are not opened to it, keep in mind that speakers are just one part of their event. Whether we are a big part or not, we must not let our egos ruin our reputations. They are the ones paying you. Do everything you can to optimize the setting for your speech.

Be like Jay: Take responsibility and make the room the best setting for you. If NBC had said “No,” do you think Jay would have thrown a hissy fit? Do the best you can with what you have.