Some people say that you cannot learn to be funny. While you might not be funny enough to work as a professional stand-up comedian, you can certainly learn to be humorous. Being humorous is enough to succeed as a presenter.

If you are naturally funny, you can still use this method to add a bit of variation and colour to your speech or presentation.

One method you can use is by adding humour found from an external source. What do I mean by this? Well, essentially what you can do is to quote from a comedian or another witty celebrity. This is a perfectly legitimate way to use humour in a speech or presentation.

The easiest thing to do is to search online for quotes; either by the person you think originated the line or, if you know the quote, you can search by the learn itself.

If you are going to use quotes in your presentation you have to make sure that you cite your sources. You cannot deliver a line from a famous comedian and pass it off as your own, there will always be people listening who know you're not being original.

However, if you quote directly and say the name of the person that you're quoting then there is nothing wrong with doing that. This is a technique more suited to giving a presentation rather than writing, then performing stand-up comedy.

Here's a down and dirty process for you to learn to be funny enough for presentations:

1. Find a quote. Make sure that the topic of the quote you use relates to the subject of the speech that you're giving.

2. Do you find the quote funny or witty? It will make your life a lot easier if you actually find the quote amusing. It doesn't have to read amusing on the page. Read it out loud and if it makes you laugh or chuckle then you're off to a good start.

3. Find a home for it. Go through your speech and find the best place to use the quote that you have found. Using a quote in the opening of your speech can be a great way to start. Likewise with closing your speech.

4. Cite your source. When I say this I don't mean you have to give us details like a bibliography. What we need is the author of the line and, if you think that they might not be recognised by your audience, a one-line description of their occupation. For example, at a Toastmasters meeting I gave a speech where I quoted Jerry Seinfeld. However, I reasoned that many people in my audience might not have heard of Seinfeld so I said "as the American comedian Jerry Seinfeld said..." and then delivered the line.

5. Be specific. Specificity can really help nail your humour. Consider this line from comedian Woody Allen:

"I was thrown out of NYU. On my metaphysics final, they caught me cheating. I looked within the soul of the boy sitting next to me".

He wasn't just thrown out of University he was thrown out of New York University. Being specific in that way adds to the realism of the first part of the humour. It also helps him paint a picture of his overall love of New York.

Be careful about how much you use quote humour, you don't want to overdo it. I would use quotes any more than twice. I think three times is pushing it. I like to vary the types of humour I use, shake things up a little bit. It stops you from being predictable and it stops the audience from second guessing you.

Next time you have a presentation to give and you decide to use some quotes run them through this step-by-step blueprint.



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