I guess one way to describe my over zealous sense of humor is as "uninhibited."
I try to not hurt anyone's feelings with it. Honest, I try. But I love to make other people laugh. If I were a betting man, I'd bet that the picture above brought at least a smile to your face.
In yesterday's blog on Toastmasters, I mentioned I learned many things. While I am quick with a quip, I had a hard time putting planned humor into my presentations. It took a lot of practice. Two things in particular helped:
*Know your audience. I made it a point to mingle and chat with my audience before my speech. What will work with some, will not work with others. Personally, I found interacting with a mostly female audience difficult. They have a different funny bone from me. After mingling and after an welcoming speech by another male, I completely scrapped my keynote to an all-female audience and ad libbed my keynote. The previous male speaker had told two blue jokes and the temperature in the room had dropped 20 degrees. I would have been crucified if I had stuck to my planned speech. Instead, I let them know I felt their pain and managed to work in some remarks from their president in their program.
*When in doubt, throw it out. If you personally don't feel comfortable with the humor, don't use it. My boss once put a humor slide into my bar code presentation. The males in the audience laughed; the females torched me in their critiques. It was only used in one presentation.
I am a little boy at heart. Thus, I still like junior high bathroom jokes. I probably type "pee" in more Facebook comments than anyone else.
I delight in texting on my cell phone to family and close friends. The best response I can possibly get is "LOL" or "ROFLOL" or "LMAO". Bingo! DC has struck again.
I've tried to keep this year's A-Z Challenge blogs a bit more serious. But, only a "bit." Serious isn't really in DC's nature. So go ahead and look at that picture above again and let the smile become a chuckle and then progress into hearty laughter. Get uninhibited! I dare you!
You're a sensible man to drop the planned speech and wing it. Good for you.
ReplyDeleteThe View from the Top of the Ladder
Know your audience is such an important point that many people completely miss. I used to do trainings and presentations for an IT company I worked for. No matter how many times I gave the same class or presentation, they were never the same. The materials were identical but I adjusted my verbiage to those in the audience. Sometimes it was all business and very serious (especially when I was at a huge NYC law office) and others it was a fun class filled with a lot of interactive humor (best way I found to keep people awake and attentive).
ReplyDeleteEmily In Ecuador
I love giving presentations and teaching. Fun makes the learning easier to swallow. One time I was giving a seminar at work and was using some Toastmasters material. I intoned that I was standing behind a table. A voice in the back said, "To me, you are standing in front of the table." I jumped up and stood on the table directly in front of the startled director of
DeleteHR, who was auditing the class, and shouted, "I am on top of the table!" The whole room erupted in laughter -- including the HR director.