How to Be Funny During Speeches

This is the fifteenth post in Authentalk’s series about how to write subject matter-specific speeches. Call it Comediain.

Can you tell if this video has a pattern? It's subtle, so listen closely.

Amy Klobuchar's joke sucks. But the video’s hilarious because of the pattern.

What's funnier than repetition? Slight variations around the same pattern.

And what's funnier than variation? A huge break from the pattern.

That’s Book of Mormon by the South Park guys. Very few people are more famous for being consistently funny for longer.

Most of their comedy works like this:

1. The audience recognizes something.

2. Tension builds.

3. Something unexpected happens.

4. The joke reveals something true about human behavior.

You can see comedian Ben Palmer do this over and over in this video:

I'm not a stand-up comedian. My uncle is. But I’ve won close to 100 public speaking championships, and a lot of that success comes from being willing to be funny.

Funny speakers make the audience feel smart for recognizing a pattern and then messing with it.

One of my favorite examples is Colin Mochrie and Ryan Stiles on Whose Line Is It Anyway?

I can’t think of “Tapioca” or “Backstreet Boys” without remembering these clips.

As good as they are at selling jokes, they’re even better at recovering from mistakes by drawing attention to them and leaning into the screw-up without apologizing or sounding embarrassed (“Swallow before you speak!”).

A Short List of Comedy Tools for Speakers

1. Recognition Humor

Just say something the audience already knows in a fun way.

“If at first you don’t succeed, then skydiving isn’t for you.” - Stephen Wright

2. Incongruity

Put two things together that do not normally belong together.

“I hope if dogs ever take over the world, and they chose a king, they don't just go by size, because I bet there are some Chihuahuas with some good ideas.” - Jack Handey

3. Exaggeration and Understatement

Exaggeration makes a real feeling bigger. Understatement makes a disaster smaller.

"Aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"

4. Grand Language, Blunt Turn

Start elevated, land normal.

“Look like you have a sexy secret.”

“…My underwear’s got a hole in it?” - Aparna Nancherla

5. Status Contrast

Audiences like confidence, but they trust self-awareness more.

“I am very small and I have no money.” - John Mulaney

6. Voice Mismatch

Do an unexpected voice for something that normally doesn’t speak, like a chain-smoking basso mafioso for a tabby cat.

"The printer looked at my boarding pass and said, 'Not today, little man.'"

7. Punching Up

The safest targets are yourself, the situation, the system, and people with more power.

The riskiest targets are groups with less power, traits people cannot control, and anything that makes the audience wonder whether you are mean.

A Simple Practice Drill

Pick one serious sentence from a classic speech (or yours), then rewrite it seven ways using these comedy techniques.