How to Get an Audience to Laugh

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One trick that many highly paid speakers use is to get an audience to laugh within the first 30 seconds of their presentations. Here are a few tips to try when you next need to address an audience.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Getting your audience to laugh

Step1

Give the person who will be introducing you a few funny lines to say about you, so that the audience will be laughing already when you take the stage. Be sure to have the person practice these lines with you a few times beforehand.

Step2

Have music playing before you take the stage. It can be classical or motown, just make sure it is upbeat. Have the music grow louder just before you go on stage, then end as soon as you pick up the microphone. People will be upbeat and ready to listen and laugh.

Step3

Do not rely on jokes to get a laugh, because people often do not understand them, or are offended by them.It is better to tell a humorous personal story.

Step4

If you say something that was unplanned, but created a laugh in the audience, follow up by saying,"Please write that down, I may want to use it again later." This creates more laughter and a bond withyour audience.

Step5

Use planned mistakes whether physical like dropping something, or verbal, like stumbling over adifficult word several times. You can follow this verbal stumble with a synonym or phrase that meansthe same thing. This makes you more human and likable to your audience, especially if theyare a highly technical or scientific group.

Tips & Warnings

High energy and making eye contact with your audience makes you more likable, and they will be more
willing to laugh at your humorous comments and guffaws.
Laughing at your own jokes is usually not a good idea.
Starting a joke or story by stating that it is really funny guarantees that it will not be. Let the audience decide if
it is funny or not.