Why not start with a so-called humorous story?

Some beginners who study public speaking often think that only by being funny can they be considered as a speaker and please the audience. His nature may be as serious as an encyclopedia, lacking a sense of humor. However, when he stood up to give a speech, he fancied himself as witty and full of skills as Mark Twain. Therefore, he is likely to start with a humorous story, especially after dinner. What will happen? The story he told, this temporary change of attitude, will make the scene as boring as a dictionary. And there is a 20-to-0 chance that his joke will not "take effect". As Hamlet's immortal famous saying said, it just proves that this kind of joke is "stale, old-fashioned, dull and useless".

If an artist fails in this way several times in front of a group of people who pay for tickets, the audience will turn on the soda and shout, "Blow him off the stage." However, the audience who listened to the speech were generally sympathetic. Therefore, out of pure sympathy, they usually try to laugh as much as possible, but at the same time, deep down, they are deeply sympathetic to the failure of this quasi-humorous speech. Although they insist on listening, their thoughts may have flown over Qianshan, and some people even started chatting below. Don't you often witness the horror of such a speech's complete failure?

In the field of relatively advanced speech, what ability is more difficult and rare than making the audience laugh? Humor is an "explosive" thing, which has a lot to do with a person's personality and characteristics.

Generally speaking, the story itself is rarely interesting. On the contrary, it is said that the storyteller's way of telling stories will interest the audience. Tell the same story of Mark Twain's fame, 99 people in 100 will fail, and it is difficult for a successful person to reach the level of Mark Twain. This is determined by a person's temperament and cultivation. Lincoln is a master of storytelling. He told many stories in hotels in the eighth judicial district of Illinois, and people even had to chase them for miles to hear his stories. People listened to his story all night and didn't feel tired at all. According to some listeners who witnessed the scene with their own eyes, his stories sometimes make local people scream with excitement; Some people can't help jumping out of their chairs. This is a story that Lincoln often tells. Every time he tells this story, he always makes the audience laugh. You might as well try. You can read these stories aloud to your family and see if you can make them smile. However, for the sake of prudence, please don't try it in front of the audience.

"There was a traveler who came home late, walked on the muddy road of Illinois grassland, and was in a hurry to go home, but unfortunately he was caught in a storm. The night is as dark as ink; It is raining cats and dogs, like a dam; Thunder roared like a bomb. Lightning knocked down several big trees. The thunder was deafening. Finally, when the terrible thunder that the poor traveler had never heard in his life came, he knelt down in fear and prayed to God. His prayers at this time are also very different from usual. He gasped, "Oh, God, if it doesn't affect you, please give me more lightning and less thunder." "

Of course, this doesn't mean that you can't use humor in your speech. If you are a lucky person with a precious sense of humor, you must try your best to cultivate it. No matter where you give a speech, you will be very popular for it. But if your talent is in other ways, you shouldn't pretend to be humorous.

As long as you carefully study the speeches of Lincoln and others, you will be surprised to find that they rarely add humorous jokes to their speeches, especially in the opening remarks. Carter, a famous speaker, told me frankly that he never tells funny stories just to show humor. The humorous stories told by famous speakers must be enlightening and have their own views. Humor should be just the icing on the cake surface, or the chocolate between the layers of the cake, not the cake itself. Gurilan, one of the greatest humorous orators in contemporary America, has a rule: "Never tell a joke in the first three minutes of a speech." Now that he has proved that this rule is very effective, I think you and I, the speakers, can't help thinking deeply.

Of course, this does not mean that the opening remarks must be very solemn and extremely serious. That was not the case. If you have a way, you can tell jokes according to local materials to win the audience's smile. You can talk about things related to the speech occasion, or say a few words about other speakers' views. We can catch what people think is wrong and exaggerate it. This kind of joke is generally dozens of times more effective than the old jokes of mother-in-law or goat.

Sometimes, the simplest and most effective way to create a happy atmosphere is to make fun of yourself. Telling some absurd and embarrassing situations about yourself can make humor play its greatest role.

Jack Benny likes to use this technique. He was one of the first important people on the radio to play tricks on himself. Jack Banny took himself as a laughing stock, joking about his violin skills, meanness and age. His witty remarks are also harmonious, which keeps the listening rate high year after year. The audience will naturally open their hearts to speakers who can think skillfully, are not arrogant, but are humorous and do not confess their shortcomings and failures. On the contrary, speakers who pretend to be omniscient will only alienate and exclude the audience.

Some people who can talk can associate irrelevant things and make the audience laugh. For example, a newspaper columnist said that he hated "children, stomachs and Democrats" most.

When Kipling, a famous British writer, gave a speech to a political group, he told a joke in the opening remarks, which caused the audience to burst into laughter. I'll quote this opening remark as follows, and you can see how clever he is to make people laugh. What he told was not some old anecdotes, but some stories that happened to him, and he also jokingly emphasized some mistakes.

"Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, when I was young, I was a journalist in India, reporting crime news for a newspaper.

"This job is very interesting, because it let me know some liars, kidnappers, murderers and some enterprising gentlemen. Sometimes after their trial, I will go to the prison to see these old friends who are serving their sentences. I remember a man who was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder. He is a smart, soft-spoken and organized guy. He told me what he called "the lesson of life". He said,' Take me personally as an example. Once a person has done something dishonest, it is difficult to extricate himself and he will stick to it one after another. In the end, he will find that he must get rid of someone to restore his integrity. "(audience laughs) Ha, that's what the cabinet is like at present. (Audience laughs and cheers) "

President Taft also played a lot of jokes in this way at the annual executive reception of MetLife. The most amazing thing is that he not only made everyone laugh, but also praised his audience.

"Mr. and gentlemen, President of Metropolitan Insurance Company,

"About nine months ago, I went back to my hometown for a holiday. I listened to a gentleman's speech after dinner there. The gentleman said that he was a little afraid to make such a speech. So I asked a friend for advice, because this friend has very rich experience in speaking after dinner. This friend suggested to him that for a person who gives a speech after dinner, the best audience is those who have high IQ and good education but are already half drunk. (Laughter and applause). Now, I can only say that the audience in front of me is the best I have ever seen. The audience mentioned by the above speaker is sitting here! I must also point out that this is the spirit of MetLife. (applause lasts for a long time) "