Are you naturally funny? Do you leave your audience rolling on the floor? Or have you every made a "Funny Bomb?" I titled this article "Avoid the Funny Bomb" because I want you to learn from the priceless lessons that I have learned.
And yes, even if you are naturally funny, you need to read this article.
I am committed to creating a "Funny Bomb Free Society" one person at a time.
I am almost too embarrassed to tell you why I called this the "Funny Bomb.
" However, because I am committed to your success, it is my obligation to tell you this story in hopes that this article will save you the humiliation, remorse and dead stares that I got.
Anyone that has attended my workshops or seminars already knows that I am a huge silly goofball.
That has always been my source of presentation humor.
It seems to go over pretty well because I create an environment in my workshops and classes were others can let their inner goof ball come out and play.
I have never had a knack for telling memorized jokes.
As a result, I decided to attend a course on using humor in presentations a few years ago.
During the course, I picked a few jokes that I was committed to using in my next presentation in Colorado where I was a guest presenter.
I was so excited to apply what I had learned.
I thought the jokes were absolutely hysterical.
Here comes my Funny Bomb! I had anticipated great results from the few jokes that I told, however I had the exact opposite response.
With each joke that I had told, the audience stares became more intense.
Right after my first "Funny Bomb", I was a fast sinking ship.
I felt like screaming "Somebody please get me out of here!" Once the damage was done, I had lost total connection with some of the audience members.
Even though I thought the jokes were funny, had clean language and were appropriate for adult audiences, many of the audience members disagreed.
Without going in to all the horrific details, I want you to remember this.
Please learn from my mistakes.
Never ever make fun of anyone else except yourself, your pets or your family, even if you think it is harmless humor.
Avoid this other Funny Bomb - Making the "Funny Story Announcement.
" One big mistake I see over and over is when an individual announces when they are getting ready to tell a joke or a funny story.
They start a joke by saying "Here is a funny story.
" or "A funny thing happened when I ...
" The challenge is when someone announces it is going to be funny; they have set themselves up for potential failure.
Unless the joke or the funny story is absolutely hysterical and leaves everyone rolling on the floor, it will make you look bad.
When you tell them it is going to be "funny", you have to deliver something that is exceptionally funny.
Their expectations of your joke or story will be set really high and you are almost doomed to failure.
So what do you do instead? Surprise them by just telling the story.
If they find it funny, it will be an unexpected sensational experience and they will love you.
If they don't, you saved yourself from a huge disaster.
If they weren't expecting your story to be funny, they would barely notice if it turned out to be a Funny Bomb.
Knowing how to use humor in a presentation is essential to leaving your audience wanting more and keeping them entertained.