Add You - Do's And Don'ts Of Using Humour In Speeches And Presentations

The single most important criterion for succeeding in giving speeches or presentations is that the speaker connects to the audience. Speakers or presenters who fail to connect to the audience rarely get their message across. In speeches or presentations where the audience feels a connection with the speaker, energy starts flowing along this invisible ‘connection’. If this connection achieves a bond like quality the speech or presentation becomes an epic and the fame of the speaker lives on. There are many things that create this connection such as charisma, presence, skills for using emotional appeal, mastery in using imagery that evokes powerful reactions and last but not least, humour.

The famous roman orator and statesman, Cicero (106-43 B.C.) argued that the best orator would also be the best human being, who would understand the correct way to live and instruct others in it through speeches, through the example of his life, and through making good laws. Now, this is quiet high a demand. Very few people can in all honesty say that they should be considered the best of human beings. Think about it. The next time you walk up to give a speech try telling the audience that, “The roman orator Cicero said that the best orator would also be the best human being, so I am here to speak to you as I am among the best of human beings!” Only totally serious people with deadpan expressions would take that as an affront and not burst into laughter. Well, to be on the safe side, you better laugh at yourself. Then your audience will warm up to you.

Humour relaxes people and they start letting down their guard and this creates an atmosphere where positive human interaction is more likely than if the situation were to be strictly formal. Humour is scattered within your presentation and surfaces wherever and whenever it surfaces spontaneously. This kind of speech or presentation achieves a free-flow quality, which raises energy levels.

Be very careful with jokes

You don’t need to be a comedian to use humour effectively. You don't even have to be good at telling jokes. The key in using jokes skilfully is that they should have at least some relevance to your theme or story and should bring some insight, perspective or added value to any point that you are making. Telling a joke to just make people laugh and have fun is not enough.

The best humour springs naturally. Anecdotes from personal experience make a presentation or speech come alive. They are easy to share because you've lived the experience; they spring from ordinary, real-life experiences that audiences can easily relate to.

Using humour is, of course, more difficult if you are very serious and don’t have a sense of humour.

“Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly; devils fall because of their gravity.” G.K. Chesterton

One thing to be careful about is the cultural relativity of humour. In many cultures the locals crack jokes about many things and everybody rolls in laughter, but the moment a person from another culture or overseas head office makes the same joke, it can cease to be a joke and become a cultural affront. Presenters making jokes with the audience going along and laughing is very common in British and American cultures but considered strange behaviour by the Japanese. Consider the tradition of humour in your audience culture before using humour. In Thailand, where the people are very easy-going and jolly, you would make people very cross if you cracked jokes about the King or the Queen, whom they respect very much. Two American clients of yours in France might make everyone roll in laughter by their Bushisms, but the moment you start Bush-bashing, they might interpret it as your having anti-American sentiments. The emphasis here is on ‘might’. You have to keep your finger on the pulse.

In many cultures making jokes is a coping mechanism. When you are utterly powerless, as an individual, to change or improve things, you crack jokes about the very things that plague your life. An outsider lives in a different world with very different realities and cannot fully understand the reality of the locals. The supply of electricity is very unreliable in many parts of India and as an individual there is precious little you can do about it. So an Indian either moans about it in winding lengthy diatribes or makes jokes about it. But then when a Swedish boss, who doesn’t usually face daily power supply interruption jokes about it, jokes about the ‘reliability of power supply in her speech, Indians might read into these funny comments utterly irrelevant issues like criticism of their culture and way of life and values and even throw in issues like colonialism.

Some Do’s and Don'ts of Using jokes in Speeches or presentations

1. Don't laugh at your own story or joke. It’s very embarrassing if the narrator alone is laughing and no one else knows why and when they should laugh.
2. Don't offend anyone. For example: a person without an artificial eye may not think a blind man joke is funny.
3. Don’t make jokes about people’s skin colours, ethnicity, sexual orientation, height, weight, religion etc.
4. Don't repeat a story or joke during one presentation. Once is enough.
5. Do keep stories and jokes short. If it’s a very long one, people fall off. Business Transcription
   Transcription services are required in almost every area of the business spectrum. The need to put into text, the spoken word, automatically creates demand for business transcription companies that specialize in this type of work. Mostly, it is the businesses themselves that do their transcription work to avoid the extra cost of transcription services. However, too much of transcription work can put undue load on the existing staff. This can subject them to unnecessary work related stress and the quality of their important duties will also suffer. Also, special equipments need to be purchased for this transcription work, which will undoubtedly entail extra costs. Realizing this, more and more companies are now going for transferring their transcription work to a different company. This can be cheapd laws. Now, this is quiet high a demand. Very few people can in all honesty say that they should be considered the best of human beings. Think about it. The next time you walk up to give a speech try telling the audience that, “The roman orator Cicero said that the best orator would also be the best human being, so I am here to speak to you as I am among the best of human beings!” Only totally serious people with deadpan expressions would take that as an affront and not burst into laughter. Well, to be on the safe side, you better laugh at yourself. Then your audience will warm up to you.

   Humour relaxes people and they start letting down their guard and this creates an atmosphere where positive human interaction is more likely than if the situation were to be strictly formal. Humour is scattered within your presentation and surfaces wherever and whenever it surfaces spontaneously. This kind of speech or presentation achieves a free-flow quality, which raises energy levels.

   Be very careful with jokes

   You don’t need to be a comedian to use humour effectively. You don't even have to be good at telling jokes. The key in using jokes skilfully is that they should have at least some relevance to your theme or story and should bring some insight, perspective or added value to any point that you are making. Telling a joke to just make people laugh and have fun is not enough.

   The best humour springs naturally. Anecdotes from personal experience make a presentation or speech come alive. They are easy to share because you've lived the experience; they spring from ordinary, real-life experiences that audiences can easily relate to.

   Using humour is, of course, more difficult if you are very serious and don’t have a sense of humour.

   “Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly; devils fall because of their gravity.” G.K. Chesterton

   Cultural relativity of jokes

   One thing to be careful about is the cultural relativity of humour. In many cultures the locals crack jokes about many things and everybody rolls in laughter, but the moment a person from another culture or overseas head office makes the same joke, it can cease to be a joke and become a cultural affront. Presenters making jokes with the audience going along and laughing is very common in British and American cultures but considered strange behaviour by the Japanese. Consider the tradition of humour in your audience culture before using humour. In Thailand, where the people are very easy-going and jolly, you would make people very cross if you cracked jokes about the King or the Queen, whom they respect very much. Two American clients of yours in France might make everyone roll in laughter by their Bushisms, but the moment you start Bush-bashing, they might interpret it as your having anti-American sentiments. The emphasis here is on ‘might’. You have to keep your finger on the pulse.

   In many cultures making jokes is a coping mechanism. When you are utterly powerless, as an individual, to change or improve things, you crack jokes about the very things that plague your life. An outsider lives in a different world with very different realities and cannot fully understand the reality of the locals. The supply of electricity is very unreliable in many parts of India and as an individual there is precious little you can do about it. So an Indian either moans about it in winding lengthy diatribes or makes jokes about it. But then when a Swedish boss, who doesn’t usually face daily power supply interruption jokes about it, jokes about the ‘reliability of power supply in her speech, Indians might read into these funny comments utterly irrelevant issues like criticism of their culture and way of life and values and even throw in issues like colonialism.

   Some Do’s and Don'ts of Using jokes in Speeches or presentations

   1. Don't laugh at your own story or joke. It’s very embarrassing if the narrator alone is laughing and no one else knows why and when they should laugh.
   2. Don't offend anyone. For example: a person without an artificial eye may not think a blind man joke is funny.
   3. Don’t make jokes about people’s skin colours, ethnicity, sexual orientation, height, weight, religion etc.
   4. Don't repeat a story or joke during one presentation. Once is enough.
   5. Do keep stories and jokes short. If it’s a very long one, people fall off. Icon Las Olas and Fort Lauderdale Real Estate - What Savvy Investors are Doing Now
      Introduction:Fort Lauderdale real estate is one of the hottest markets in the US today. It appreciated over 25% last year, says Andrew James, Realtor, Preconstruction investor and founder of MiamiNewConstructionGuide.comAfter 7 years of litigation, final approval for Icon Las Olas, the luxury high rise condo towering at 42 stories and embodied with 272 gorgeous units. Icon Las Olas will be the tallest condo development in Fort Lauderdale. This is a major event in the history of Fort Lauderdale.Fort Lauderdale downtown area, especially around Las Olas Boulevard, has seen dramatic growth in the past decade, and now hosts many new hotels and high-rise condominium developments. Fort Lauderdale is very protective of its waterfront and the word is that it will bo be good at telling jokes. The key in using jokes skilfully is that they should have at least some relevance to your theme or story and should bring some insight, perspective or added value to any point that you are making. Telling a joke to just make people laugh and have fun is not enough.

      The best humour springs naturally. Anecdotes from personal experience make a presentation or speech come alive. They are easy to share because you've lived the experience; they spring from ordinary, real-life experiences that audiences can easily relate to.

      Using humour is, of course, more difficult if you are very serious and don’t have a sense of humour.

      “Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly; devils fall because of their gravity.” G.K. Chesterton

      Cultural relativity of jokes

      One thing to be careful about is the cultural relativity of humour. In many cultures the locals crack jokes about many things and everybody rolls in laughter, but the moment a person from another culture or overseas head office makes the same joke, it can cease to be a joke and become a cultural affront. Presenters making jokes with the audience going along and laughing is very common in British and American cultures but considered strange behaviour by the Japanese. Consider the tradition of humour in your audience culture before using humour. In Thailand, where the people are very easy-going and jolly, you would make people very cross if you cracked jokes about the King or the Queen, whom they respect very much. Two American clients of yours in France might make everyone roll in laughter by their Bushisms, but the moment you start Bush-bashing, they might interpret it as your having anti-American sentiments. The emphasis here is on ‘might’. You have to keep your finger on the pulse.

      In many cultures making jokes is a coping mechanism. When you are utterly powerless, as an individual, to change or improve things, you crack jokes about the very things that plague your life. An outsider lives in a different world with very different realities and cannot fully understand the reality of the locals. The supply of electricity is very unreliable in many parts of India and as an individual there is precious little you can do about it. So an Indian either moans about it in winding lengthy diatribes or makes jokes about it. But then when a Swedish boss, who doesn’t usually face daily power supply interruption jokes about it, jokes about the ‘reliability of power supply in her speech, Indians might read into these funny comments utterly irrelevant issues like criticism of their culture and way of life and values and even throw in issues like colonialism.

      Some Do’s and Don'ts of Using jokes in Speeches or presentations

      1. Don't laugh at your own story or joke. It’s very embarrassing if the narrator alone is laughing and no one else knows why and when they should laugh.
      2. Don't offend anyone. For example: a person without an artificial eye may not think a blind man joke is funny.
      3. Don’t make jokes about people’s skin colours, ethnicity, sexual orientation, height, weight, religion etc.
      4. Don't repeat a story or joke during one presentation. Once is enough.
      5. Do keep stories and jokes short. If it’s a very long one, people fall off. MLM Downline Secrets Part 2
         MLM articles to boost your downline. Business opportunities and lovers, we want them the most when they are leaving us. "The fear of losing something we have is greater than the fear of losing something we could have." Part two, covers one of your biggest MLM tools, the fear of loss and how to apply it.Of all the business opportunities I've been presented with, I've wanted them the most just after the presenter had left. On occasions the opportunity wasn't for me or was it?I may have felt they they just wanted to sign me up and get me off and running for them. Kind of like being shown a shovel and pointed in a very general direction of the gold diggings.Perhaps the hardest part of working any MLM is deciding to pick up the shovel and making a start.How can you help peopjoke and become a cultural affront. Presenters making jokes with the audience going along and laughing is very common in British and American cultures but considered strange behaviour by the Japanese. Consider the tradition of humour in your audience culture before using humour. In Thailand, where the people are very easy-going and jolly, you would make people very cross if you cracked jokes about the King or the Queen, whom they respect very much. Two American clients of yours in France might make everyone roll in laughter by their Bushisms, but the moment you start Bush-bashing, they might interpret it as your having anti-American sentiments. The emphasis here is on ‘might’. You have to keep your finger on the pulse.

         In many cultures making jokes is a coping mechanism. When you are utterly powerless, as an individual, to change or improve things, you crack jokes about the very things that plague your life. An outsider lives in a different world with very different realities and cannot fully understand the reality of the locals. The supply of electricity is very unreliable in many parts of India and as an individual there is precious little you can do about it. So an Indian either moans about it in winding lengthy diatribes or makes jokes about it. But then when a Swedish boss, who doesn’t usually face daily power supply interruption jokes about it, jokes about the ‘reliability of power supply in her speech, Indians might read into these funny comments utterly irrelevant issues like criticism of their culture and way of life and values and even throw in issues like colonialism.

         Some Do’s and Don'ts of Using jokes in Speeches or presentations

         1. Don't laugh at your own story or joke. It’s very embarrassing if the narrator alone is laughing and no one else knows why and when they should laugh.
         2. Don't offend anyone. For example: a person without an artificial eye may not think a blind man joke is funny.
         3. Don’t make jokes about people’s skin colours, ethnicity, sexual orientation, height, weight, religion etc.
         4. Don't repeat a story or joke during one presentation. Once is enough.
         5. Do keep stories and jokes short. If it’s a very long one, people fall off. Master This 7-Part Breakout Formula to Start Your Own Business
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            Some Do’s and Don'ts of Using jokes in Speeches or presentations

            1. Don't laugh at your own story or joke. It’s very embarrassing if the narrator alone is laughing and no one else knows why and when they should laugh.
            2. Don't offend anyone. For example: a person without an artificial eye may not think a blind man joke is funny.
            3. Don’t make jokes about people’s skin colours, ethnicity, sexual orientation, height, weight, religion etc.
            4. Don't repeat a story or joke during one presentation. Once is enough.
            5. Do keep stories and jokes short. If it’s a very long one, people fall off.
            6. Do tell a story or joke about yourself. This makes you more human and sympathetic to audience members.
            7. Do use the name of living persons in a story or joke to which the audience can relate, but don’t offend anyone and respect others.

            One good tip for testing your humour is to try it on a friend, mentor or trusted person from the same culture as the audience.

            Remember that the audience is on your side. They came there to see you and listen to you, as they want to know what you have to say. Most certainly they wouldn’t choose to have a boring time but to enjoy and get something from your presentation. For the presenter, the best situation is when lecturing at a prison, where you already have a captive audience.

            Enjoy!

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