Giving A Presentation? Take A Tip From Some Standup Comics

It’s presentation time. You’re going to get up in front of people and talk to them about something. Here’s my advice: go to school on standup comics and do what they do.

 

 

Wait, wait– cancel Red Alert!!

I am NOT saying you should be a standup comic. (Although humor is an important ingredient in any successful talk.)

I’m saying that standup comics have little tricks of the trade.

You can use these same tactics to make your next speech or presentation successful.

Here they are:

1. Never finish your presentation on a Q&A

Picture this: You’ve given your talk. You’ve ended it on a rousing note. You’re done. But you’re not quite done. Now comes Q&A. You ask: “Does anyone have a question?”

And there’s silence. No one raises their hand. Or worse, some windbag stands up and starts telling a story that has nothing to do with what you’ve talked about. The audience gets bored and restless and you’re left hanging there. Your brilliant talk ends on a lame note.

No standup comic would allow the audience to hijack his act at the end.

So take questions just before you wrap up. Before you show your final slide. When there are no more questions, launch into your closing and end your presentation on your own terms.

2. Delay keywords till the end of a sentence

Example: a comic is telling a funny story. He’s coming to the end. In the story, he’s taking the lid off a box. He tells the audience:

“There was a cat in the box.”

Maybe he gets a laugh. But he’d get a much bigger laugh if he delayed the surprise till the end:

“And in that box… there was a cat…”

The “keyword delay” works just as well with facts and statistics.

“We’ve had an 80% growth rate year after year” doesn’t register with the same impact as “Year after year, we’ve had a growth rate of 80%.”

The latter phrasing gives you an enforced pause for effect. Your audience will pick up on it. They’ll jot that fact down, or tweet it out.

3. Tell stories that draw on your own real life experiences

Comics do this all the time. For some, it’s their whole routine. A lot of these stories are about embarrassing situations. The audience loves it. You’re demonstrating openness and humility. They’re rooting for you. They’re on your side.

Personal stories are also the safest stories to tell. Because you know them by heart. You’ve shared them with family and friends, and you know they work. You even get requests for them: “Tell that one about the time you…”

And personal stories are unique to you. Anyone can speak on a topic, but no one else has your “lived” perspective on it.

After you tell the story, tie it back to whatever point you’re trying to make. Build a little bridge. “I told you that story because… (insert loose connection).”

4. Don’t be visibly dependent on written notes

David Nihill says that “once the audience sees you with paper in hand they subconsciously assume you are unprepared, nervous and unlikely to be worth their attention.”

His solution: hide a notecard behind some water bottles. If you draw a blank, walk over, take a drink, and sneak a peek at your notes. The audience will just think you’re thirsty.

Now that’s clever, but it’s a bit too cloak-and-dagger for me.
I see no problem with having a notecard in your hand. Just don’t walk onstage with a fistful of paper.

5. Use visuals

Comedian Sammy Wegent says most business presenters have a big advantage over standup comics: a giant screen the audience is staring at the whole time.

He notes that today, visual humor has never been bigger. “So don’t just say funny things in your presentation. Show funny things, too.”

6. Be fully visible to your audience

Nihill says that podiums make people think of lectures and boring speeches and politicians. He recommends getting out where people can see you. If there’s a microphone stand, take the mic out, move the stand aside, and walk around.

He says that “often the audience needs to see you to fully trust you.” Psychologically, I think that makes sense. It puts you closer to the audience, which projects candor and honesty.

7. Get the audience clapping

A trick for quieting a room: Let’s say it’s time to begin your presentation. You’re on your own. There’s no host to introduce you. The audience hasn’t settled down yet, they’re still chatting.

The trick: Ask the audience to clap if they can hear you. When a couple of people begin clapping, start clapping yourself until others join in. And they will join in because groups produce conformity. People will assume you said something worthy of applause and join in.

8. Don’t ask the audience a question, ask them to DO something

Wrong: “How many people think Mark Armstrong is a great illustrator?”

Right: “By your applause, how many people think Mark Armstrong is a great illustrator?” (insert thunderous ovation here)

Be clear about what you want them to do.

9. Use The Rule of Three

The Rule of Three is based on the fact that human beings process information through pattern recognition.

Three is the smallest number that allows us to recognize a pattern in a set, which makes “threes” easier to remember than, say, groups of two or five.

Comedians use the Rule of Three to craft three-part jokes (set up, build up, punch line).

Like this one:

Three guys are sitting in a bar.

The first guy says, “It’s funny– my wife was reading A Tale of Two Cities and she gave birth to twins.”

“I’ll be darned,” says the second guy. “My wife was reading The Three Musketeers and she gave birth to triplets.”

The third guy jumps up and yells, “I gotta get home!”

“What’s wrong??” cry the other two guys.

Third guy says: “When I left the house tonight, my wife was reading Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves!”

The Rule is also used in stories like The Tree Little Pigs:

The first pig sets up the story by building his house of straw, which the wolf blows down. The same thing happens to the second pig’s stick house, creating a sense of anticipation. The third pig breaks the pattern when he builds his house out of bricks, which drives the fable’s resolution.

Use the Rule of Three when you craft your presentation: give it an introduction, body and conclusion. In the words of Dale Carnegie:

“Tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you just told them.” (note use of the Rule again)

Then apply the Rule to the body of your speech: break it into three ideas you’d like to present. Fewer than three, your presentation will seem thin; more than three, you risk boring your audience. Three ideas strikes the right balance.

10. Use a callback

Comics use callbacks to get extra laughs. In a callback, they refer back to a joke they told earlier in the set. Kind of an inside joke for the audience.

Callbacks, whether they’re funny or not, also enhance memory. So when you conclude your presentation, refer back to something you said earlier. It’s a way of emphasizing your core message, something you want the audience to remember.

11. Think fun over funny

“Making people laugh is only one type of humor; getting them to smile is another,” says Andrew Tarvin. “When starting out, focus on making things fun as opposed to making things funny.”

That’s an incredibly important point, and one I tried to make in a post called Humor In Content Marketing: It’s NOT About Being Funny.

When you create content or give a presentation, “humor” is not about telling jokes or being a standup comic. It’s about being genial, positive, upbeat, and ready to laugh and poke fun at yourself. It’s putting others at ease, which is what makes communication possible.

12. Have fun yourself

“Don’t put something out there that bores you. If it bores you to tell it, you can bet it will bore your audience to hear it,” says Sal Calanni.

Two final thoughts:

Keep it short.

Dave Nihill claims that “the human attention span deteriorates after 9.59 minutes and never recovers.” I can’t find anything to back that up, but it sounds about right to me.

Acknowledge the obvious and never ignore disruptions.

Mr. Nihill says he once saw a speaker interrupted by a fire alarm. He announced he only had 15 slides left and would rush through. No doubt the audience’s attention was elsewhere.

I’m done. Here’s my callback: Don’t try to be a standup comic, but do think about using their tactics in your next presentation.

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About Mark: I’m an illustrator specializing in humor, branding, social media, and content marketing. My images are different, like your brand needs to be.

You can view my portfolio, and connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Questions? Send me an email.

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