Everyone's sense of humor is different, but anyone can make anyone else laugh. When we make someone else laugh, we connect to them, and ourselves. A communicator who can incorporate humor before or within his/her communicating is the most effective kind of teacher, speaker and friend.
Instructions
make an audience laugh
1. Assess your audience. What do they value/love most? What do they hate most? What do you have in common with them? What do you NOT have in common with them.
2. Organize what you want to talk about with them as if it has nothing to do with humor. What are your topics, and what is your viewpoint on those topics? Organize your topics, the most important one first, the second most important last, the ones least important in the middle.
3. Write in your head, and in POINT FORM (not word for word) on a piece of paper your first three jokes. Keep in mind that ANYone can make others laugh if you take a topic everyone relates to or knows about (including yourself), and apply the following formula. Say it is 'Cops', or (if talking about last night's news) 'Cops who get into traffic accidents'. Improv on a piece of paper or in your head the following drill with this topic--
What's UP with COPS
What makes me really mad about COPS
What's scary about COPS.
What's weird about COPS.
Why I really 'love' (sarcastically) COPS.
And ... finally (do this last)...Why it's hard to be a COP.
Remember that news stories that everyone knows about or that you can talk about always bring people into a common frame of reference, AND that you can do this drill yourself in your off time about ANYone or ANYthing. Including 'Wannabe comics' or 'people who think they are funny.
Be REAL when doing this, don't try to be funny---just real, and directly to the point---no matter who you think it offends.
4. Organize your list of 'topics', and start refining the jokes. Put the key words or phrases on index cards. Remember that comedy in North America is in rule of threes. Two set up lines, then punchline. Put the F word into designing your jokes, then take it out before going on stage or behind the microphone or the lectern. THEN...Be prepared to improvise on the topics you talk about with the 'What's up with...', etc, drill on ANYthing while you are talking. TRUST YOURSELF!!!
