Finding the Funny: the power of humor in public speaking | Al Wiseman | TEDxDecatur
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0:08 - 0:10When I first moved to Atlanta,
-
0:10 - 0:16I was driving a 15-year-old, aqua-green,
Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme -
0:17 - 0:20with over 300,000 miles on it.
-
0:20 - 0:24Now, where I come from,
they call this kind of car a "hoopy." -
0:26 - 0:28So for all of you
who are not from the hood, -
0:28 - 0:29let me explain.
-
0:30 - 0:33A hoopy is an old car,
it's a junker, it's a beater. -
0:33 - 0:37It's one of them cars you're determined
to drive until the wheels fall off. -
0:37 - 0:39Well, my car's name was Miss Bessie.
-
0:40 - 0:44Now you know if you ever had a hoopy,
you've got to give it a name. -
0:44 - 0:45(Laughter)
-
0:45 - 0:47I wrote a speech about my car.
-
0:47 - 0:51That speech was called
"Miss Bessie, the Hoopy." -
0:52 - 0:56In that speech, I talked about how,
every time I drove this car, -
0:56 - 0:59tow trucks would be circling
around me like vultures. -
0:59 - 1:01(Laughter)
-
1:02 - 1:06This car burned more oil
than a deep fryer at Church's Chicken. -
1:06 - 1:07(Laughter)
-
1:08 - 1:13I no longer had a car note,
but repairs were running me $450 a month. -
1:13 - 1:14(Laughter)
-
1:15 - 1:19I entered that Miss Bessie the Hoopy
speech into a speech contest, -
1:20 - 1:21and that year,
-
1:21 - 1:25I won first place in the Toastmasters
humorous speech contest -
1:26 - 1:27for the state of Georgia.
-
1:28 - 1:31Now, I tell you that story
because it's the perfect example -
1:32 - 1:35of what I've come
to call "Finding the Funny." -
1:37 - 1:39I do a lot of public speaking.
-
1:39 - 1:41Over the past 25 years or so,
-
1:41 - 1:44between giving sales presentations,
-
1:44 - 1:48doing training sessions,
speaking in Toastmasters, -
1:48 - 1:51I've probably spoken
over a thousand times in public. -
1:52 - 1:56Out of all the things that I love to do
when it comes to public speaking, -
1:56 - 2:01I love to tell humorous stories
and to give humorous speeches. -
2:01 - 2:05In 2010, I wrote a book
called "Finding the Funny." -
2:06 - 2:08That book was a compilation
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2:08 - 2:12of a lot of humorous speeches
that I had done up until that point. -
2:12 - 2:15So, after winning the contest
and writing the book, -
2:15 - 2:19people have asked me to come out
in their workshops and seminars, -
2:19 - 2:22teaching people how to develop
humor in public speaking. -
2:23 - 2:28I call this philosophy or the body
of knowledge "Finding the Funny." -
2:29 - 2:30So what is Finding the Funny,
-
2:30 - 2:34and how can you use it
to help you as a public speaker? -
2:35 - 2:38Finding the Funny,
first of all, is a mindset. -
2:39 - 2:44Finding the Funny is looking at the world
through humor-colored glasses. -
2:45 - 2:48It's about taking all the things
that happen to you -
2:48 - 2:49on a daily basis,
-
2:50 - 2:52and trying to find the humor in it.
-
2:53 - 2:55Let's face it, if you
have to speak in public, -
2:56 - 2:59if you have to go out
and give presentations for work, -
2:59 - 3:02you need to have a little humor
in your presentation. -
3:03 - 3:06When you learn to develop
a Finding the Funny mindset, -
3:06 - 3:10you're able to take those things
that happen to you on a daily basis, -
3:10 - 3:13and you're able to develop
humorous stories and vignettes -
3:13 - 3:16that you can incorporate
into your speeches, -
3:16 - 3:19so that you could be
a more entertaining speaker. -
3:19 - 3:22Speakers love to tell jokes,
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3:22 - 3:24and audiences love to tell jokes
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3:24 - 3:26and hear speakers be funny.
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3:26 - 3:28When you can add humor
to your presentation, -
3:28 - 3:31it lets the audiences loosen up,
-
3:31 - 3:34and it helps you become
more entertaining or likable as a speaker. -
3:35 - 3:38So, what can you do to Find the Funny?
-
3:39 - 3:42First of all, I'm going
to give you a few examples -
3:42 - 3:46of how I was able to Find the Funny.
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3:48 - 3:51So I'm having Sunday morning with my wife,
-
3:51 - 3:53we're sitting there at the table,
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3:53 - 3:55we're looking out our back window,
having Sunday breakfast, -
3:55 - 3:59and my wife says to me,
"You know, we should get a bird feeder." -
3:59 - 4:01I said, "No problem."
-
4:01 - 4:03Like a good husband,
I march off to the hardware store, -
4:04 - 4:07I get a bird feeder, I bring it back,
I hang it up on the deck. -
4:07 - 4:08No problem, right?
-
4:09 - 4:10Wrong!
-
4:11 - 4:12That's when I discovered
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4:12 - 4:17that, in addition to attracting birds,
bird feeders attract squirrels. -
4:19 - 4:22I had just purchased a squirrel magnet.
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4:25 - 4:29That one suggestion that my wife
gave me of purchasing a bird feeder -
4:29 - 4:31started a whole series of events.
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4:32 - 4:33It was a battle royale.
-
4:33 - 4:34Oh, it was on!
-
4:35 - 4:37It was between Al versus the squirrels,
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4:38 - 4:39and I was determined
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4:39 - 4:43not to let a rodent with a brain the size
of a peanut outsmart me. -
4:44 - 4:48I was determined to find
a squirrel-proof bird feeder. -
4:49 - 4:50I got online.
-
4:50 - 4:52I started googling high-tech bird feeders.
-
4:53 - 4:55I'm looking up bird feeders
with names like: -
4:55 - 4:57Super Stop a Squirrel,
-
4:57 - 4:58(Laughter)
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4:58 - 4:59Stump a Squirrel,
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4:59 - 5:00(Laughter)
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5:00 - 5:01Squirrel Be Gone.
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5:01 - 5:02(Laughter)
-
5:03 - 5:04It got so bad
-
5:04 - 5:06my wife walked in the house one day
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5:06 - 5:10and found me laying on the floor
with a BB gun aimed out the window. -
5:10 - 5:13She said, "What in the world
are you doing?" -
5:14 - 5:17I said, "I've got to keep those squirrels
away from the bird feeder." -
5:18 - 5:19Totally obsessed, right?
-
5:19 - 5:22So I wrote a speech called
"Squirrels at the Bird Feeder," -
5:22 - 5:25and this became one
of the leading chapters of our book. -
5:26 - 5:29Let me give you another example
of how I could Find the Funny. -
5:30 - 5:33So I'm sitting on my sofa one day,
I'm channel-surfing, I'm watching TV, -
5:33 - 5:36and all of a sudden,
I can't get the remote to work. -
5:36 - 5:38So my first thought in my mind was,
-
5:38 - 5:42"Ah, heck, I have to get up
and walk all the way over there -
5:43 - 5:44and change the channel."
-
5:46 - 5:48That's when it dawned on me:
-
5:48 - 5:50are we so spoiled by our technology
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5:50 - 5:52that it's actually making us lazy?
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5:53 - 5:57I wrote a speech called
"Is Technology Making us Lazy?" -
5:57 - 5:59Well, I made a direct comparison
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5:59 - 6:01of all of the gizmos and gadgets
-
6:01 - 6:04and high-tech things
that we have in our life, -
6:05 - 6:08and how we're getting
a little soft around the middle. -
6:08 - 6:12I even developed a name
for this phenomenon. -
6:12 - 6:15I call it techno-lazy.
-
6:16 - 6:17Just think about it.
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6:17 - 6:20We don't have to wash dishes anymore,
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6:20 - 6:22we don't have to open doors,
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6:22 - 6:24we don't have to walk up stairs.
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6:24 - 6:26I just used the restroom at the break.
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6:26 - 6:28I didn't have to turn the water on,
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6:28 - 6:29I didn't have to flush the toilet.
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6:29 - 6:31(Laughter)
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6:32 - 6:37All of these gizmos and gadgets are making
our lives so much easier for us. -
6:37 - 6:38Techno-lazy.
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6:40 - 6:44Another way to Find the Funny
is to make fun of yourself. -
6:45 - 6:46Audiences love it
-
6:46 - 6:48when you can use
a little self-deprecating humor -
6:48 - 6:50and make yourself the butt of the joke.
-
6:51 - 6:53So what you want to do is you want to find
-
6:53 - 6:57all of the weird and crazy
little wacky things that you do, -
6:57 - 6:58and you want to learn -
-
6:58 - 7:00I know you all got them, right?
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7:00 - 7:03Everybody's got all
of our little weird perks in that. -
7:03 - 7:06Take a look at those things,
make a list of those things, -
7:06 - 7:08and be willing to talk about
those things in your speeches. -
7:08 - 7:11For example, you could talk
about where you're from. -
7:12 - 7:14Now, I happen to be
from Detroit, Michigan, -
7:14 - 7:15born and raised.
-
7:15 - 7:20I grew up with kids named
Rocky, Bonky, and Oogie, -
7:20 - 7:22and these were the girls.
-
7:22 - 7:25(Laughter)
-
7:29 - 7:31I wrote a speech called
-
7:31 - 7:35"My Pet Peeves,
Idiosyncrasies, and Quirks," -
7:35 - 7:37where I talked about
all of our little quirks. -
7:37 - 7:42I talked about how I'm a neat freak,
how I'm organized, how I'm a germaphobe, -
7:42 - 7:45and how I'm faithful
and loyal, just like a dog. -
7:46 - 7:48Ah, my wife threw that last one in.
-
7:48 - 7:49(Laughter)
-
7:50 - 7:51So,
-
7:51 - 7:54once you start developing
this Finding the Funny mindset, -
7:54 - 7:58you develop the ability
to see your life almost like a sitcom, -
7:58 - 7:59and you walk around
-
7:59 - 8:03and you start Finding the Funny
in everything that happens to you, -
8:03 - 8:05Let me give you a little formula
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8:05 - 8:07on how you can use Finding the Funny
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8:08 - 8:12to develop it into speeches and humor
when you have to give presentations. -
8:13 - 8:16I call this formula "OCDD."
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8:16 - 8:21It's observe, capture,
develop, and deliver. -
8:22 - 8:24First of all, you've got to observe.
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8:24 - 8:25Humor is around us everywhere.
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8:26 - 8:27You've just got to learn to see it.
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8:28 - 8:30So always be on the lookout
for humor in your life. -
8:30 - 8:32Everywhere you go, things happen to you,
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8:32 - 8:34but you just don't notice the humor in it.
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8:34 - 8:37Once you start developing
a Finding the Funny mindset, -
8:37 - 8:41you'll learn to see the humor
in everything; so always observe. -
8:41 - 8:44The second is you've got
to start capturing these events. -
8:44 - 8:46Now, because I'm a humorist
-
8:46 - 8:48and because I have
a Finding the Funny mindset, -
8:48 - 8:51I have a notebook that I carry
with me all the time. -
8:51 - 8:52Even when we go on roadtrips,
-
8:52 - 8:55I give my wife the book,
she's writing, and I say, -
8:55 - 8:56"Honey, write this down."
-
8:56 - 8:57I'm thinking about ideas.
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8:57 - 9:01Over the years I've accumulated
this shoe box full of notebooks -
9:01 - 9:04just with all of these little ideas
that I capture on it. -
9:04 - 9:07Some of you are saying,
"Notebooks? That's old-school," -
9:07 - 9:10If notebooks are too old-school,
there's probably an app for that, right? -
9:10 - 9:12So you have to capture all of these ideas.
-
9:12 - 9:14So once you capture these ideas -
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9:14 - 9:17What I've started doing recently
is I've even started taking pictures -
9:17 - 9:19of funny things that I see.
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9:19 - 9:22I was sitting at a light the other day,
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9:22 - 9:25and I looked, and this guy next to me
had a landscaping truck. -
9:26 - 9:29The name of his landscaping business,
-
9:29 - 9:31emblazoned in a big logo
on the side of his truck, -
9:31 - 9:33was "The Weed Man."
-
9:33 - 9:37(Laughter)
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9:41 - 9:44How many times a day does this guy
get stopped by the police? -
9:44 - 9:46(Laughter)
-
9:46 - 9:49I envisioned there were
two guys sitting in the truck. -
9:49 - 9:51They looked just like
Cheech and Chong, right? -
9:52 - 9:54They roll the window down,
and smoke comes on out of there. -
9:55 - 9:57So, you guys, start capturing these ideas.
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9:57 - 10:01Capture them, write them down,
put them on the voice-controlling app. -
10:01 - 10:04And then next, you have to start
developing your ideas. -
10:04 - 10:07Once you start building up
all these ideas and that, -
10:07 - 10:08then you can sit down.
-
10:08 - 10:09Sit down with the ideas.
-
10:09 - 10:11Work with them, embellish them.
-
10:11 - 10:14If nothing occurs to you
that's funny about it at the time, -
10:14 - 10:16google the idea with the word "humor"
-
10:16 - 10:18just to get some ideas flowing.
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10:18 - 10:20You've got to play with the ideas.
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10:20 - 10:22All it takes is
a little creative imagination -
10:22 - 10:25and a healthy dose of embellishment.
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10:25 - 10:27So always create.
-
10:27 - 10:29And then, next is delivery:
work on your delivery. -
10:29 - 10:32What you want to do is to find
a good Toastmasters club -
10:32 - 10:34or a good public speaking venue
-
10:34 - 10:37where you can stand up,
and you can practice these ideas, -
10:37 - 10:40so that you can get some humor,
and you can get some feedback. -
10:42 - 10:45So that's how you develop
the Finding the Funny mindset. -
10:46 - 10:48I witnessed something recently
-
10:49 - 10:51that I think is a perfect example
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10:51 - 10:55of using the power of humor
in public speaking. -
10:56 - 10:58Two weeks ago,
-
10:58 - 11:01I watched the Toastmasters International
-
11:01 - 11:052019 World Championship
of Public Speaking. -
11:06 - 11:07This was broadcast live
-
11:07 - 11:10from the annual convention
in Denver, Colorado. -
11:11 - 11:14Now this is, by any stretch
of the imagination, -
11:14 - 11:17the largest speech contest in the world,
-
11:17 - 11:19with over 30,000 participants
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11:20 - 11:22from over 140 countries.
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11:23 - 11:28At this stage, there were six finalists
who had made it to the world stage. -
11:30 - 11:31Now these six finalists
-
11:32 - 11:35had to give a significantly original
five- to seven-minute speech. -
11:36 - 11:38And keep in mind,
this contest is international, -
11:38 - 11:41so these speeches had to be
universal enough -
11:41 - 11:44to appeal to the international audience.
-
11:45 - 11:47Six finalists had made it
to the world stage. -
11:49 - 11:52As they began to speak,
I started to count the laughs -
11:53 - 11:55that each number of speakers received.
-
11:56 - 12:00I found it very interesting
that the first-place winner -
12:00 - 12:04also had the most laughs at 26.
-
12:05 - 12:10The second-place winner had
the second highest laugh count at 25. -
12:11 - 12:16The third-place winner had the third
highest laugh count at 20 laughs. -
12:17 - 12:20That, ladies and gentlemen,
is a powerful example -
12:20 - 12:23of using humor in public speaking.
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12:25 - 12:28What I hope I've shared with you today
-
12:28 - 12:33is developing a Finding the Funny mindset.
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12:34 - 12:38Here's the most important thing
of what I'm saying with you today. -
12:39 - 12:42If you develop
a Finding the Funny mindset, -
12:42 - 12:46it not only helps you as a speaker,
when you're giving presentations, -
12:47 - 12:49but it will also help you
in your personal life. -
12:51 - 12:56I could count the times on one hand
that I have a bad day every year -
12:57 - 12:59because I've learned
to see the humor in life. -
13:01 - 13:03When you develop
a Finding the Funny mindset, -
13:04 - 13:08you bypass all the negativity
and all the divisiveness -
13:08 - 13:12because you will always find
something to smile about. -
13:13 - 13:17Finding the Funny is
an "Idea Worth Spreading." -
13:17 - 13:20Just one simple change in mindset
-
13:20 - 13:23has the ability to change
your entire outlook on life, -
13:23 - 13:25and not only will it
make you a better speaker. -
13:26 - 13:31I hope that every single one of you
will develop a Finding the Funny mindset, -
13:31 - 13:34so that you can wake up every day,
-
13:34 - 13:36and you can put on
those humor-colored glasses -
13:36 - 13:39and Find the Funny in your life.
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13:39 - 13:40Thank you.
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13:40 - 13:43(Applause)
- Title:
- Finding the Funny: the power of humor in public speaking | Al Wiseman | TEDxDecatur
- Description:
-
Being able to use humor is a valuable skill for public speakers. In this TEDxDecatur talk, Al Wiseman shows how to add humor to your speeches and presentations by developing a "Finding the Funny" mindset and learning how to see the humor in everyday life.
Al Wiseman is a humorist, trainer, and speech coach in his company, A Wiseman Speaks. He has been a Toastmaster for over 25 years and has earned three Distinguished Toastmaster awards - Toastmasters highest level of achievement. He was crowned the state champion in the Humorous Speech Contest, and he has presented his Finding the Funny workshops at the local, state, and international levels. For several years, he wrote a humor column entitled "Laugh Lines" for a local community newspaper, and he is the author of "Finding the Funny," published in 2010, and the soon-to-be-released, "Finding the Funny Too." With his trademark style of humor, he delivers workshops, seminars, and one-on-one coaching that help professionals add humor to their presentations. Al Wiseman is a certified John Maxwell Trainer and Coach. He is also a loving husband and father, who enjoys reading, hiking, and yardwork.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 13:52