cool Public Speaking : Humor Delivery Tips

**Never ever tell a public speaking joke on stage that you haven’t practiced in real life about a thousand times. You don’t go into a fight without training…or sending someone for you…why go on stage without testing your material? (And no, you can’t send in a pinch hitter!)

**Minimize your amount of movement when telling a joke. I like to pause at important points for emphasis.

**Explain actions or mathematical equations…but NEVER EVER explain a joke! If the crowd doesn’t get it move on! And make a note to keep that one for your friends who will pretend to laugh to make you feel good. Ha!

**Memorize a punch line! Your public speaking joke is not going to seem funny if you have to stop, pull out an index card and be like, “Oh, ya, here it is…”

**Which reminds me, don’t let your audience know the punch line is coming. It’s called a punch line for a reason! And use the fewest words to get to is. Brevity is clarity!

**And lastly, and most importantly, don’t repeat a punch line. There’s no point, the joke was already made! Move on! The only time this can be acceptable is if the public speaking audience doesn’t laugh. Then later you can make fun of yourself for it, but only then!