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ChangEnable working with Institute of Business Consulting and Chartered Management Institute
The Institute of Business Consulting and Chartered Management Institute have recently launched a 'Redundancy Support Service'. The service provides members who are facing redundancy in this period of economic downturn the opportunity to obtain support from a specialist counsellor/advisor. ChangEnable are delighted to announce that they have been engaged to provide this service.
The Institute of Business Consulting is the professional body for all consultants and business advisers whilst the Chartered Management Institute is the only chartered professional body that is dedicated to management and leadership. To learn more about their work and services please visit www.ibconsulting.org.uk and www.managers.org.uk.
Use of Humour in Presentations
Everyone loves to laugh, especially when laughter can bring your audience closer to you as a speaker. If you are going to use humour in your speech, it is important to know how to use it and when. Only use humour when it fits your speech. Humour has to fit into the content, tone, and structure of the speech. If humour does not fit your speech, do not use it.
Some speakers feel that they have to tack on jokes at the beginning of a speech to "break the ice". What is more effective is a humorous story that introduces the theme of the presentation. Telling unrelated jokes can leave the audience confused, especially when your speech is about an important subject.
Here are some suggestions on using humour to give greater impact to your next speech:
The best place to find humour for a speech is from your own personal experience. Think of an embarrassing moment that you might have thought not funny at the time. Now that you can laugh at the experience, you understand the old saying "Humour is simply tragedy separated by time and space." The best humour comes from your own experience. Describe a humorous situation you had and what you learned from it. Audiences will be drawn to your story because it is personal and real. They can probably also relate to similar experiences they had. Using your own experiences will make your speeches fresher than if you simply gathered jokes out of joke books. The problem with a lot of jokes is that audiences are likely to have heard them before, and the listener will know that you are just telling jokes. Telling your own humorous experiences has greater impact. So the best humour is self-directed and is less likely to offend others.
Ensure that the humour is funny to you. If it does not make you laugh then do not expect your audience to do so. Only consider using humour that makes you laugh or smile. Ensure that the humour relates to the point you are making. Do not use humour just to get laughs. The humour must be connected with the speech subject. After telling a humorous story, plan a pause so that the audience has time to laugh. If the audience does not laugh, do not try to explain the humour; just carry on. Do not start by saying, “Let me tell you a funny story.” Let the audience decide if it is funny. Look pleasant and smile as you launch into your funny line, but if no one smiles or laughs then just move on as though you meant for it to be serious.
Have fun and enjoy yourself. The audience will not laugh if you are not having fun. Your demeanour sets the expectation. Humour will not work if it is forced. Be yourself and allow that naturalness to create your humour for you.
Consider not only the age of your audience, but their cultural background when choosing humour for your speech. Not all audiences respond to the same type of humour. For example, references to local schools would perhaps not be understood by people outside of your area. Avoid offensive material. Political, religious or ethnic jokes are all not worth the telling. Even if some members of your audience respond with laughter, other members will be offended.
The best way to use humour is to illustrate a point. Humour is often more effective in illustrating ideas than cold facts and figures, which can go over an audience's head. Enjoyment and humour can be injected in very many different ways – e.g. funny quotes or examples; an amusing prop; a funny picture or an amusing anecdote.
When you learn how to use humour effectively you and audience benefit as:
ØHumour breaks through barriers - laughter can transcend age, race, gender, belief or class barriers;
ØHumour relaxes your audience and puts them in a receptive mood. After you have made them laugh they are more likely to want to listen to you!
ØLaughter adds 'zest' to a presentation. It can enliven potentially dry or dull material.
ØHumour releases tension;
ØHumour binds people together i.e. humour based on common experience unites the audience, e.g. work-place humour.
If you can add humour to your presentations, you will increase your ability to influence others. No one wants to sit through a dull presentation. But if you can generate some laughter throughout your speech, even if the subject is a serious one, you will hold your audience’s attention, and people will be more likely to listen to what you have to say. Present your humorous story with confidence, enthusiasm, and a smile.
Build a collection of funny gags and stories. Start a funny file and whenever you read, hear or see something you consider funny, print it out or write it down and file it. Soon, you will have built a collection of jokes that you can refer to whenever you need to lighten your speech. Indeed you should also have a file for speech subjects/ideas.
As for all presentations, rehearsal is a vital element of humour - preparation, preparation & preparation! Humorous sections must appear spontaneous. If you have to refer to your notes for the punch line, your delivery will suffer and your audience may miss the point altogether. A joke is only the raw material; it must be crafted to fit effectively into your presentation.
Humour is simply another way of making a point with your audience, and it can help you be a more effective speaker. Include humour in your presentation skill set as a tool to improve your speech.
Remember, “A smile is a curve that straightens out a lot of things.”
