Using humor and lightheartedness is a business communication skill that is not used enough. Using it to diffuse tension in meetings and to build rapport will help you develop a name as an exceptional communicator who “gets along with people.”
Finding the Funny: How to Create and Deliver Humor in any Speech or Presentation
Dave Hill
Course Introduction
Welcome to Finding the Funny: How to Create and Deliver Comedy in Any Presentation!
My name is Dave and I’m glad you’re here. As a professional speaker, trainer, and coach, I know first-hand how exciting it is to make people laugh. I also know how frustrating it can be! There were times when I tried to be funny, and I heard nothing but crickets. Other times I had the audience roaring with laughter for no apparent reason. What gives?
Here’s the secret—humor is a learned skill! It takes time and effort, but it’s one of the most useful tools you can have as a speaker! Here are just a few of the benefits of using humor in a speech or presentation:
- Audience Engagement: Keep them on the edge of their seats!
- Content Retention: Help them remember you and your message for years to come!
- Self-fulfillment: Experience the euphoria of making others laugh!
This e Learning has over 16 lessons and over 8 hours of videos that will teach you how to create, add, and deliver humor to any presentation. Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of this course and your investment:
- Each course has material for you to read, view, and “do.” Be sure to complete each section before moving on to the next module.
- Do not skip the “do” sections, which are the activities. Putting your new knowledge into action is where the learning happens! Complete the activities and quizzes to give your brain the best chance of retaining and using all you’ll learn.
- Questions? I’m here to help! Email me your questions on the content at: Dave@DaveHillSpeaks.com
Let’s get started!
Copyright © MMXIX by David R. Hill
Lessons
Lesson 2 – Finding Your Own Funny Stories
Free Preview“But I don’t have any funny stories!” If this sounds like something you’d say, you’ll love this lesson. Learn a quick and easy way to “find the funny” in your life using Dave’s simple process so you’ll always have a story to tell!
Lesson 3 – Get your Audience to Explode into Laughter with Trigger Words
Correct use of “Trigger Words” or “Punch Words” is a critical component of comedic timing. If you get it wrong, you may get silence. If you get it right, you’ll get laughter!
Lesson 4 – The Power of the Pause: Maximizing the Impact of Humor
Pauses in humor delivery are a critical part of comedic timing. Simple changes to cadence, sentence structure, and purposeful pauses can be the difference between getting no audience response, a chuckle, or a belly-laugh. In this lesson, learn a process you can use to maximize the impact of humor in your presentation!
Lesson 5 – Make It Real – Use Dialogue, Accents, and Present Tense to Bring your Story to Life
Free PreviewUsing dialogue in stories helps your audience feel that they are witnessing the scene in as it unfolds. Creating this effect brings a level of detail that can get an audience erupting into laughter when the funny is revealed.
Lesson 6 – Acting It Out – Using Gestures, Facial Expressions, and Purposeful Movement
Using gestures, facial expressions, and purposeful movement in stories helps your audience feel that they are witnessing the scene as it unfolds. Creating this effect can get an audience erupting into laughter when “the funny” is revealed.
Lesson 7 – Using the “Humor Rule-of-Three” to Create Funny Material
Free PreviewThe humor rule of 3 is a relatively easy to develop funny material. If done correctly you will get your audience belly-laughing.
Lesson 8 – Embellish to Maximize the Audience Experience
Story Embellishment – increase your audience experience, maximize laughter, turn chuckles into belly-laughs. Be brilliantly different.
Lesson 9 – Poke Fun at Yourself to Encourage Laughter
Poking fun at yourself can produce the type of humor that makes audiences comfortable laughing. Self-deprecating humor is typically “safe” for audiences, giving you a higher percentage of participants responding immediately with laughter.
Lesson 10 – Stand-Up Comedy Technique – Link Emotions to Relatable Topics & Act Them Out
The techniques of linking emotions to topics and acting-out are very effective for uncovering humor in unfunny topics. It is an excellent lesson for keynote speakers, presenters, trainers, and seminar leaders who want to lighten up serious content.
Lesson 11 – Develop Humor Using the Contrary Point of View
Free PreviewThe humor development technique covered in this lesson is very effective for uncovering comedy in unfunny topics. It is an excellent tool for keynote speakers, presenters, trainers, and seminar leaders who want to lighten up serious content.
Lesson 12 – Incorporate Humor into Serious Content or Tragic Stories
Using simple techniques to find humor in serious or heartbreaking stories gets rave reviews from audiences! They love experiencing a winding trail of tragedy embedded with lightheartedness and funny moments.
Lesson 13 – Use Props to Add Quirky and Funny Perspectives
Props are a great way to incorporate quirky and funny objects into your speech or presentation. The risk factor goes up when you use props, but the success strategies in this lesson will help you understand how to manage them!
LESSON 15 – Audience Interaction: Creating Fun and Heroes
Free PreviewAudience interaction isn’t just nice to have, it’s expected! This lesson explains how to form a bond with audience members and keep them engaged and energized with fun, relevant interaction techniques.
LESSON 16 – HUMOR DEVELOPMENT AND DELIVERY SUCCESS STRATEGY HIGHLIGHTS
Humor & Your Credibility Self-deprecation helps you connect with the audience in an authentic way and makes you more vulnerable. Why does it work? People who can laugh at themselves and reveal their weaknesses are looked at as a secure, confident, and likable. Avoid anything that erodes your credibility. Remember, as a presenter you need […]
Bonus Materials – Workshop & Seminar Video’s
Picture someone coming up to you years after your presentation and saying, “I remember you, your stories and humor were absolutely brilliant.” These videos of workshops and seminars can help you become a funny storyteller.
Lesson 14 – Build Tension to Unleash Humor
Free PreviewBuild Tension…Release Humor! In this lesson we learn how to build tension to a trigger point.. We pull the trigger and the audience erupts into laughter. We learn the optimum time frame for building tension before we reveal the funny.
