Jokes For Public Speaking

As many of us have heard, simply getting the audience laughing and rolling in the aisles will have them severely at our mercy as a public speaker trying to get a point across. Yes, indeed, this works for MANY, many speakers, but what about those who just aren’t known for being all that funny, or haven’t even practiced the “joke thing” to get a serious point across or are just new to public speaking overall? Here are some tips for using a little humor in your presentation…effectively.
Everyone has at least a tiny sense of humor. If not, then how did they get up on the podium to make a lively presentation in the first place? By being grumpy their whole life? Somebody must have liked them enough to put them up there. However, there is a time and a place for jokes in presentations, and we assume that since you are reading this section on jokes for public speaking, you are seeking information on jokes for public speaking. Right?
Almost everyone has had something really funny happen in their life at some point and this is a great starting point!
One tip of finding a good joke for a public speaking presentation is a joke about yourself.
It is OK to joke about yourself. If anything, it will bring you a little bit closer to your audience. Try to find a funny event that happened to you in your life that has relevance to your presentation topic.
Remember, just because it is considered “humor” or a “joke” does not mean people have to be falling out of their chairs laughing.
Believe me, it usually tends to happen when you least expect it! if you tell a joke expecting a response, you may not get what you expected and you know what happens next…you start getting nervous and distracted. Find something humorous that you can relate to the speech.
If you can’t find anything about yourself, then try a funny moment in a movie that most people have seen. Remember to remind the audience of the source of the funny movie moment or joke in order to get them recalling the event in their minds…and then let it flow.
If no one laughs, suck it up and remind them of how fortunate we are to have Hollywood to tell those jokes a bit more professionally then you just did. That’ll cap it off. See how you ended up making fun of yourself? Fun huh! If not, it becomes much easier.
A little humor in public speaking can go a long way for many public speakers so it is very important to loosen up and learn a few new “comedy” skills for your next speech. You never know, you may just be the next “Bob Hope” of public speaking!