I love to laugh.  But I’m not funny.  Sad but true.

I know that one of the quickest routes to connection with our audience is to make them laugh, but too often I’ve been left standing with crickets chirping after telling what I thought was a funny.  I’ve learned a few methods over the years (through the school of hard knocks) that have helped me get my funny on, and I’ve tried to learn from others.  I’m not shooting to be Chanda Pierce, but I do long to allow people to laugh and connect.

If you’re humor-challenged too, here are a few tips for adding some humor to your speaking:

• Collect funny stories from outside sources– There are so many funny stories being written or told that I’d be remiss not to recommend sometimes using other people’s funny.  Be careful, though.  It should be a story that’s fresh, not a forward that half the world has read.  I’ve got a hilarious story  I read on the internet that I use in one of my talks, but I’ve never heard it anywhere else.  Also, make sure to give an outside source credit rather than acting like it’s your own.
• Take cues from your own life–I have an aunt and uncle who have countless hours of funny stories from their own life.  Although it does seem that more funny/wacko things happen to them than anyone I know, it’s really just their perspective.  Even disasters are hysterical, because they see them as funny.  Pay attention to your own daily life, and you’ll have material until the end of time!  Jeff Foxworthy recommends keeping blank notecards with you so that you can write down observations from real life.  You’ll have a file of hilarious stories and thoughts in no time.  Also, I’ve learned that self-deprecation is my best form of humor.  Making fun of my own goofiness is the best way to get people to laugh with me.
• Practice–Give your stories a trial run in front of family members or friends in conversation.  Do they laugh?  Their reaction is an indicator of how an audience will probably react.  Their laughter will be a confidence builder for the day that you tell it in front of a group.
• Let yourself go a little–One of the things that I’ve had to fight from within is the tendency to shut down emotionally when I get on stage.  It’s purely a selfish self-protection mode, but it is a negative when trying to connect with my audience.  I’ve found that praying to be focused on the audience rather than myself allows my natural expressiveness and animation to come out.  Those things enhance funny stories.  I gave the qualification “let yourself go a little“, because too much is just too much.  When listening to the recordings of my speaking, I’ve noticed that I laugh at myself.  Out loud.  Too loudly.  There’s nothing like awkward laughter to make an audience clam up.  I’ve been working on making a face or dead-panning rather than laughing my goofy laugh.

Occassionally I still hear crickets after I’m pretty sure I’ve been hilarious, but it’s less often now.  Have you had to find your funny?  What’s working for you?

Amy

I’m still chewing on and digesting all the information and advice given in the first Preaching Rocket webcast, but there’s one piece that has really made a huge difference in my spring events.  Andy Stanley quoted his dad, Charles Stanley, with a thought that has refocused me with a Divine purpose.

Dr. Stanley regularly says this to preachers and speakers, “Unless you have a burden, you are not prepared to speak.”

In all my work to become a better speaker, I’m always checking and rechecking my motive to make Jesus know rather than to make myself known.  Still, its easy to get caught up in creating a captivating opening, including statistics that pack a punch, honing personal stories and crafting an ending with impact.  At times I’ve gotten lost in the craft of speaking and neglected the heart.

This spring, along with all the work of creating effective, impactful messages, I’ve started with the prayer, “Lord Jesus, give me a burden for Your people and a passion for Youe message.”

Charles Stanley, in his personal teaching section, commented that he only wants to preach when he’s gotten to the point that he can’t NOT preach.  That kind of passion is only gained by seeking God’s heart and asking Him to burden us with the things that burden him.

Andy told a story in which a friend was struggling to feel prepared right before he spoke.  Andy urged him to picture his 18-year-old son on the back row and to imagine that his son had come with a resolution to never set foot in a church again unless God made Himself real that day.  Andy’s friend preached that day with a new and brightly burning passion.

The thing is that we don’t even have to imagine that scenerio.  It’s a reality in any room to which we speak.  There is probably at least one desparate heart that is clinging to the hope that today will be the day.  A heart that is depending on hearing words delivered straight from God into her life.  A heart that can’t stand one more trite saying, “have a nice day” or hollow, pleasant message.

Not long ago, a woman came up to my friend Luann Prater after her message at a weekday women’s event.  She said, “Luann, thank you for being real.  I had promised myself that if I heard one more fake message from one more glossy, plastic woman that I’d never set foot in a church again.”  That night, Luann’s burden and passion met the desparate need in another’s heart.

Do you have a burden?

I let that question lead me into my spring events this year, and it made a difference.  I saw responses like never before as my passion met with the needs in the room.

Amy

Preaching Rocket is offering another free webinar on “Preaching with a Point”.  You can follow this link to sign up for one of 4 different dates and times.

If you’d like to receive daily encouragement for speakers and new resources, please join us on Facebook or Twitter @nextstepspeaker.

When asked to give a message, so often we get busy trying to craft our talk and cover all our bases.

Good opening story? Check!

Got some relevant, outside supporting material? Check!

Original stories unique only to us? Check!

Biblical content included sure to encourage and instruct? Check!

Some take-away action points and a final closing “bang”? Check and check!

However, sometimes in carefully building our unique message, we forget one teeny, tiny detail….our audience.

We must get in tune with who our audience is and where they are spiritually. Even the best message will lose a listener if it is not taking into account where that person may be in their relationship with God. Or, perhaps they don’t even have a relationship with Him yet.

Make sure to talk to the event coordinator to inquire about the spiritual make-up of the audience. It won’t do any good, and may alienate some listeners, if you say “Now, you all know the story of Mary and Martha…”

No. Maybe they all don’t. Some gals may be sitting out there thinking, “Who? Mary Tyler Moore. And Martha? Does she mean as in ‘Stewart’?”

Instead of assuming that the women all know the Bible stories you are referring to, assume they know nothing. A better way to phrase that would be, “There is a story in the Bible about two sisters. One was named Mary; the other Martha. Let me tell it to you.”

This way, you won’t lose one group but will still be able to teach and encourage the other.

Pray each time you speak that while crafting your message, God will give you the words to say that will bless the believers without losing those who have yet to follow Christ.

Karen