Humorous Speeches -
Entertain with style
When we are talking about humorous speeches, we are not talking about being comedians, but rather an informative speech that is
delivered in an entertaining and light-hearted way.
Preparing your humor for the speech is essential. Write down your speech; research humorous quips, quotes and anecdotes to add flavor; and
practice, practice, practice.
Different elements of humor that you can consider for your speech:
- Relevant to your audience.
- Surprise: it is unexpected.
- Exaggeration - over stating something for effect.
- Expressive voice.
- Body humor and gestures.
- Puns.
- Humorous anecdotes.
Do's and Dont's when using humor in a speech
Do
- Research. Know who your audience is.
- Practice before hand.
- Display confidence.
- Get a laugh out of your audience early - it will set the tone for your speech.
- Allow time for laughter.
Don't
- Poke fun at the expense of audience members.
- Use taboo subjects: sex, race, gender, class.
- Don't stop if an attempted humorous line didn't work, keep going (after the pause of course).
Examples speeches
Below are three humorous speech examples from YouTube. The first one is a winner from a Toastmasters speech contest. The second is a
humorous best man speech, and the third is a commencement speech by Will Farrell. I'll note some humorous elements that they've done well.
- Specific to Audience - Toastmasters (people who get together with the express purpose of learning to speak in
public).
- Exaggeration/Absurdity: "What did his audiences have to deal with? World War I, Great Depression, World War II...his
audiences have never had the pain of a slow Internet connection."
- Pause. After revealing his new public speakers role model.
- Specific to the audience: close friend and family.
- Expressive and exaggerated gestures: When doing his 'interpretive dance'.
- Setting a familiar scene, pausing and then surprising you: "In play school, he was different from all the other five
year olds. (pause) He was eleven."
- Specific to the audience: Graduates at Harvard, academics and Ivy Leaguers.
- He is being a comedian: Though it is never a good idea to try being a comedian for a humorous speech, he IS a
comedian, so he has 'earned' the right to be.
- Comedy as truth (and mixing surprising metaphors): "I received a degree from the school of hard knocks. Our colors
are black and blue."
- Unexpected (and pausing for the laughter): "Talking about Hemingway or Clancy".
More resources for using humor in your speech
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