How to Come up With Funny Conversation Topics

If you hope others will consider you the funny member in your group of friends; pepper your conversation with humorous stories and quips. Come up with several witty topics so you'll never be at a loss for words.

Instructions

1. Watch late-night television and political satire shows, listen to morning and talk radio or read newspapers and editorials to gather material for funny conversation topics. It's OK to borrow someone else's jokes as long as you give credit where credit is due.

2. Recount your embarrassing stories, playing up the humorous angles. Make fun of your shortcomings or appearance. Laugh at mistakes you've made. A self-deprecating sense of humor is always charming.

3. Discuss humorous sights you noticed on the way over to the event your attending or the last time you were at the mall, movies or dinner. Become a people watcher to come up with a wealth of funny ideas.

4. Follow each conversation closely and look for moments to inject a sarcastic-but-friendly comment or a one-liner. Ensure that you're actually listening to the speaker (and not just waiting for an opportunity to be funny) and not interrupting him to tell your jokes.

Tips & Warnings

• Practice telling jokes and injecting humor into everyday stories. Unless your delivery, timing, body language and gestures seem natural, it will look like you're trying too hard to be funny.

• Don't turn friends and family members into fodder for jokes if you know it will hurt their feelings. Also consider your audience before you come up with a conversation topic--you don't want to offend anyone with an offensive story or off-color joke.