Successfully using humor in presentations or the classroom:

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When teaching a class of giving a presentation, it is always a challenge to determine how to engage your audience into the topic of your presentation. I propose that humor can be a very key contributor to a successful speech. I would like to share some specific examples as to how humor can be used to teach important and serious topics.

First of all, I like to give a specific example of how a politician can use humor to gain an advantage in a political debate. In 1982, there was a big debate was between Reagan and Mondale. The host expressed concern about Reagan’s age, and if he could perform his duties, due to his maturity. Reagan announced the following quote

‘I will not make age issue an issue of this campaign. I will not exploit for political purposes my opponent’s youth and inexperience.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoPu1UIBkBc

Some people feel that this moment of humor was a key contributor for viewers of the debate to gain a greater appreciation for Ronald Reagan. Regain got 525 electoral votes out of a possible 538.

Humor can accomplish multiple objectives.

1: Humor can break the ice between the presenter and their audience. The audience can laugh and enjoy the humor of the joke. When the listener is in a relaxed state, they have fewer tendencies to be defensive or standoffish. They may now be in a more receptive mood to message being presented.

2: Humor, when used in the right way can provide a new way to present repertoire of information from a different perspective.

3: Sometimes, humor can help and gave it an audience member, a more positive response to someone they may not otherwise like. I give a specific example. I am not a fan of John McCain. But when he came to Utah to help promote a candidate that I do favor, he told a lot of funny lines. I still don’t like him, but my irritation toward him was lessened because I saw that he was a funny guy.

Let me provide some examples of humor and how they can be used to teach lessons.

Two men in the bar:

Two men were enjoying a few drinks in a bar. Clark turns the John and says, “I want to show you a trick.” Clark leads his new friend over to the balcony. Now this bar is quite unique. This bar is on the seventh floor of a skyscraper and customers can stand outside on the patio and enjoyed their drinks while standing outside enjoying the lights of the city.

Clark says. “I’ll bet you $50 that I can step beyond this balcony and stand in the air between these two buildings and I won’t fall down.”

“That’s impossible. Prove it!” The guy hands over another $50.

Clark steps past the rail and just stands in the air, just like before.

“It’s got to be a trick,” John says. “Do it again. I never really watch you this time.”

Clark receives a second $50 and stands in the air.

Clock stands on the balcony and says to his friend, “I’ll give you your hundred dollars back. If you can do the same trick.”

“It’s a deal.” John steps beyond the balcony, and instantly falls seven stories.

The bartender addresses. Clark when he will return back to the bar. “You can be quite mean when you’re drunk Superman.”

Now this joke could be a fun introduction to a variety of themes. It could be the beginning of a discussion that says, don’t believe everything you see and hear. I give to specific examples on this: Politicians and the media. I have seen multiple examples where the media will bend the truth for an agenda. Politicians often do the same. My encouragement is for people to do research of the original sources before believing something. That includes me. Other Joe could be an introduction to the topic of physics. An alternative, is that this joke could be a humorous warning against get rich schemes.

This joke might touch upon being careful to your friends are. There is a whole repertoire of choices that you can make on how to implement this joke into lesson.

Foul-mouthed parrot:

A man purchases a beautiful parrot from a pet shop at a great price. As soon as he brings the bird home why it was sold so cheaply he learns why the parrot sold as such good price. The bird has the most foul mouth around would even put a sailor to shame. No matter how hard the man tries to train the parent to not swear that bird continues to swear.

One evening, the man is entertaining business partners at his home. The parent disrupts the conversations by his colorful language. Eventually, the man is at his wits. He takes his bird to the kitchen and says, “if you don’t stop swearing I gonna put you in the freezer to cool you off.”

The parrot laughs.

The man puts the parrot into the freezer for only a minute or two before bringing him out again.

For the rest the evening, the parent is completely respectful to all the guests at the party and especially to his master. He doesn’t swear again throughout the entire night. At the end of the evening, when all the guests have gone, the parrot asked the man, “I realize I was put into the freezer because I had a swearing problem. But what did the frozen chicken do?”

Now this joke could be used to teach the topic of the importance of obedience. Or it could talk about perspective. How one person sees one way and another sees it differently. This joke could introduce the principle of the offensiveness of swearing. As a teacher, you can determine how to use the theme of the joke to match the topic of the lesson teaching.

Airplane testing:

A bunch of scientists from another a state in the East had just finished developing a wonderful new windshield for their airplanes. They wanted to make sure that the windshield works well. They knew a state in the West had just finished developing a new plane and asked what they use for testing.

The Western state suggested using a chicken.

So, the engineers created a cannon and shot a chicken at their windshields. Their wonderful new windshield shattered. They couldn’t understand why. They make additional changes to the windshield, but it still shattered every time they shot a chicken and it. Finally, they called the other state. They told them all the things they did to test their windshield and asked if the Western state had any suggestions.

They got the response, thaw the chicken.

Now the subject matter for this joke came easy to me. They say that global warming is for real, as determined by a consensus of some scientists. Yet recently, several recent scientific reports conflict with the previous reports. My analysis, the consensus of a few scientists does not make a theory law.

For me this lesson would talk about not trying to dictate facts to science. We might want to resist putting our own interpretations behind certain results. But then, it’s been too often the case with science has changed. I remember hearing that artificial sugar is healthier than real sugar. Or that margarine is healthier than real butter. Now I hear that butter is healthier. This joke would be useful for me is that it would be a way for me to teach that science is not always settled. Perhaps Galileo would agree for us not to jump to conclusions as he insisted that the world is not flat.

Alarm:

A dental office is calling patients to remind them of their appointments for the following day. The secretary called one particular patient who is notorious for being late.

The patient says I’m going to be 20 minutes late tomorrow. Is that okay?”

“That’s fine. We just won’t have time to give you the anesthetic.”

The patient was 15 minutes early the following day.

This lesson could teach on the topics of courtesy, managing your time or being punctual to appointments.

As you can see jokes can be a very good way to break the ice of the audience, present information in a fun way and even make a lesson memorable. If you have some specific examples where you have use humor in your lessons successfully, please feel free to share them in the comment section of this blog. Thank you.

On a personal note: I presented this topic a Toastmasters meeting last week, as I’m learning to give speeches to the public, more effectively. Check out Toastmasters, when you have a chance.

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