Steal the Show: From Speeches to Job Interviews to Deal-Closing Pitches, How to Guarantee a Standing Ovation for All the Performances in Your Life by Michael Port

Author:Michael Port
Language: eng
Format: mobi, azw
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Published: 2015-10-05T14:00:00+00:00

8. Once you start, don’t stop. Commit to the joke or you won’t get a laugh. If you back off as you’re telling it or you tell it halfheartedly, the audience will feel your hesitation and assume the joke isn’t going to be good. Also, avoid detours. Jokes usually work best in a straight line.

9. Don’t forget timing. This is important to prepare and all the more important to execute. Timing requires real awareness on your part. You need to make sure that you deliver the punch line at the optimal moment. Part of that is keeping an eye on the room and your audience. Who’s unsettled or restless? Do you have an interrupter in your midst? If there is a sudden distraction in the room or a lot of movement in one part of the audience, slow it down. Draw out the setup or the conflict so that the room is settled in time for your punch line.

10. Create tension. The optimal moment for the punch line is after you have built up tension with your setup. Take your time. Make them lean forward in their chairs. Then, when you deliver it, the tension will release with a bigger laugh. And what happens just before you deliver the punch line? The pause . . . of course. For timing, the biggest weapon in your arsenal is the pause. Don’t rush it as you bring it home: “And the moral of the story is . . . [wait . . . wait . . . wait . . . then land it].” Also: a good joke gives the context quickly and efficiently, so the audience instantly recognizes the setup. If you take too long establishing the context, you’re going to lose them.

11. Be appropriate. Be very, very careful of offensive and off-color humor. Know this: Bad humor selects weak targets. Great humor at someone’s expense should only take on the most powerful folks in the room. That’s the power dynamic of good comedy: if you’re going to make a joke at someone’s expense, make a joke about someone who is in a higher position than most of the audience. You can make fun of the president or a well-known politico as long as it’s not overtly political because that activates everybody’s baggage. Jimmy Fallon made endless hay out of the buggy website for Obamacare but never let his Obama jokes get nasty or controversial. A little joke focused on the CEO of the company where you’re speaking can put you on the side of the employees, and in most cases, the boss will take it just fine. Just be careful, and do your homework in advance.

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