COMMUNICATION CENTERUSING HUMOR IN SPEAKING 85

Introduction

I. Using Humor In Speaking

“There are two insults no human being can bear; that he has never known trouble, and that he has no sense of humor.”

A. Cautions with using humor in speaking

1. Trying to be funny when you are not

2. You can’t be funny in a talk

3. Use of inappropriate humor

4. Untimely humor

B. Why use humor in speaking?

1. It dissolves ____________

2. It breaks _________________

COMMUNICATION SKILLS:

Using Humor in Speaking

Q U I D P R O Q U O T E

“. . . you should use humor whenever possible, but it shouldarise naturally from the contextof who you are, where you are,and what you have to say. Thatis what ‘wit’ is all about.”

Charles Osgood, Osgood on Speaking: Howto Think on Your Feet without Falling on Your

Face (New York:William Morrow &Company, Inc., 1988), 51.

SPEAKERTRAINING

COMMUNICATION CENTER USING HUMOR IN SPEAKING86

3. It overcomes ____________

4. It increases _________________

5. It holds _______________

6. It provides ______________

7. It helps ___________ ______ ______________ home

C. Kinds of humor

1. ______________ Stories

“My way of joking is telling the truth. That is the funniest joke in the world.”

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

2. _____ _____________ / _______________

3. Humorous ______________

“When a boy reaches the age of 12, put him in a barrel,nail down the lid, and feed him through the hole. Whenhe reaches the age of 16, plug up the hole.”

Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens, 1835-1910)

G R A Y M A T T E R

“What kind of humor works best in a speech? The kind that is friendly and personal and natural. Humor in a speechdoesn’t need to produce guffaws.A few smiles and some chucklesare just fine for your purpose.”

Joan Detz, How to Write and Give a Speech,production editor David Stanford Burr,

second edition (New York:St. Martin’s Press, 1992), 78.

P E R S O N A L T I P

Practice telling humorous elements of your talk to individuals before using them in your presentation.

C R E A T I V E P R A C T I C E

Places to look for humorous material:

u newspapers

u current periodicals

u your life experiences

COMMUNICATION CENTERUSING HUMOR IN SPEAKING 87

4. Clever __________________________

If all the people who sleep in church were laid end toend, they’d be a lot more comfortable.

5% of people think; 15% think they think; the other 80%would rather die than think.

Baseball is 90% mental. The other half is physical.(Yogi Berra)

5. ________ & _______________

D. How to tell a joke

1. Stick to the ________________ facts

2. Pay attention to your delivery!

___________________ : Variety and emphasis

___________________ : Emphasis

___________________ : Pause before the punch line

Pause for the response

Don’t step on the laughter

It’s difficult to handle silence.

3. __________________ on your feet

Q U I D P R O Q U O T E

LET’S DO COFFEE

“That’s what’s great aboutCoffee.

It’s the only meal for which thename of the food is also the offi-cial name of the event. `Coffee.’`We’ll get together for Coffee.’We know what we’re doing, andwe know what we’ll be having:coffee.

Makes it simple when you getthere.

‘Do you want to look at themenu?’

‘No, I already know: coffee.That’s why we got together. We got together for —- Coffee.That’s what we discussed,that’s what I’ll be having.’

It’s the only food that has thatadvantage. You never say, `Let’s get together for lamb.’

‘I’m in town, let’s get togetherfor Fresca.’

‘Whattya say? Grapes for everyone.’

You never hear it. It’s just notthe same draw as Coffee.”

Paul Reiser, Couplehood (New York: BantamBooks, 1994), 240.

C R E A T I V E P R A C T I C E

Observe how good humorists utilize their voice, body and timing in delivery.

COMMUNICATION CENTER USING HUMOR IN SPEAKING88

E. How to destroy a joke

1. Announce that a ______________ ________ _______________

2. Use a _______________________ or _____________________joke

3. ________________________ the punch line

4. __________________ the punch line

5. __________________ the punch line

6. Tell an _________ joke or a __________ joke

7. Tell an __________________________ joke

F. What do you do when a joke bombs?

1. Keep __________________

“A thick skin is a gift of God.”

Konrad Adenauer, father of post-war Germany

2. _______________________ it

3. _________________ it — this takes poise

Q U I D P R O Q U O T E

“Without my eyeglasses, I have agreat deal of trouble distinguish-ing between house fires and beersigns. . . . People like photogra-phers and dentists and barbersare always asking me to take myglasses off, and I hate it becauseit makes me stupid and paranoid.I worry that the dentist and hisaides are creeping up on me withacetylene torches, or havesneaked out of the room and left me chatting away at the dental spittoon. So I use a sonartechnique originally developed by bats, wherein I fire off a constant stream of idiot conver-sational remarks designed todraw replies so I can keep trackof which blobs in the room represent people. This makes itvery hard to work on my teeth.”

Dave Barry, Dave Barry’s Greatest Hits(New York: Ballantine Books, 1988), 24.

P E R S O N A L T I P

Be prepared for the unlikelyevent that your joke bombs.Keep your expectations reasonable.

L E C T U R E F O C U S

u Humor is a tool to help build rapport, hold attention,provide relief and make apoint clear. Humor is justone tool in the toolbox.

u How you tell a joke, or use humor, is crucial to the success or failure of it.

u A smile is as effective as alaugh.