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Public speaking is undoubtedly one of the most nerve-wracking things you can do, and I’ve previously covered a number of technical innovations that attempt to help you deliver a better speech.

For instance, a British startup called Virtual Speech uses virtual reality to allow you to test out your speech in front of a (kind of) live audience. You upload your slides, select the environment you want (such as a conference hall or boardroom), and then deliver your presentation. You can even select a number of possible distractions to help you hone your delivery.

Or you have a piece of technology, called Rhema, which has been developed by a team from Rochester University to provide live feedback on your delivery via some augmented reality glasses. The glasses are capable of providing feedback on everything from your volume to your cadence to help you deliver the perfect presentation.

Getting The Content Right

Of course, whilst the delivery is really important, it’s hard to wow your audience if you don’t have great content. Here, technology is less helpful, although earlier this year a team of researchers did develop an algorithm to develop speeches for you automatically.

For the time being at least, most of us will have to make do with constructing our own speeches. This week I popped along to the Present Conference, which was hosted by the presentation software company Prezi to try and pick up some tips.

My focal point was a workshop delivered by David Nihill, author of Do You Talk Funny, on how to infuse your speech with comedy.  It was extremely topical as information is increasingly giving way to infotainment, with the likes of TED setting the bar for how presentations should be.

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Talking Funny

As with many things, the tips shared by Nihill seemed quite obvious in hindsight, but were nonetheless things that I had seldom used in my own presentations.

The first such nugget was to make liberal use of images. Whilst this is a staple of many a presentation these days, perhaps a smaller number go out of their way to use images that are designed to provoke a laugh.

Anyone that’s in anyway familiar with sites like Reddit will already be aware of the sheer number of fun images one can choose from. Are you giving a presentation on something that will excite your employees, for instance? There’s a gif for that.

Think Of Some Stories

Nihill also recommended liberal use of stories in your presentation.  He advocates breaking down your story into three chunks:

1. Set up/Introduction: Introduce your concept/topic in as few words as possible (no longer than three sentences).

2. Punchline: The key funny part to your story.

3. Taglines (Optional): Additional funny comment(s) after your laugh line.

Most of us have fun anecdotes that we can dredge from our past, and you’d be surprised at how easily you can find a hook to apply those stories to the central message of your presentation.

Use The Rule Of Three

The rule of three is a well known construct that copywriters have been using for eons. It basically suggests that information is more satisfying and palatable when it’s constructed in three components. Once you’re aware of the rule of three you’ll start to see it wherever you go. Think of “the good, the bad and the ugly,” or “friends, Romans, countrymen” and so on.

It’s not just useful for moving narrative however but also for comedy, and Nihill reveals that the rule of three is a standard structure for most jokes purely because of the way it taps into how we process information. So attuned are we to this pattern that breaking it can be a great way to grab the attention of your audience, so if you set them up with 1 and 2, give them 4 rather than 3 to complete the “set.”

All in all there were some good, and hopefully relatively painless tips to help add a little humor to anyone’s presentation. If you’re still convinced you’re just not that funny though, rest assured a machine will soon be on hand to write some jokes for you too.

Until that time though, why not give these tips a go and see if you can make the audience laugh on your next presentation.  Let me know how you get on in the comments.

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