Funny topics for a persuasive speech may often be an excellent way of making people more interested in what you have to say. Incidentally, it is not that easy to formulate funny topics for a persuasive speech.
You may have to spend a bit of your time and effort to get that ideal subject matter. Here are a few tips on how to find hilarious topics that will keep your audience alive and kicking!
Start With Normal Topics
The important idea that you should remember is the definition of a persuasive speech. You need to bear in mind that a persuasive speech, whether it is about a funny topic or not, is there to persuade people - to convince people to believe in what you are saying.
What better way to persuade people than to talk about something you have knowledge about or a topic that you are interested in.
You can then list subject matters that interest you or something you're familiar with. You can get a pen and a piece of paper and write them all down. You do not have to be formal when writing your thoughts. Just write them in anyway you want for as long as you can read them later.
Target Audience
Now that you have your list of ideas, it is time to choose which subject would fit your audience. You do not want to talk about something political when you are supposed to deliver your persuasive speech to 5-year-old children.
On your list, choose the best ideas that would best suit your target audience. Crush out any other ideas that would not fit the profile of your audience.
Make Them Funny
Funny topics for a persuasive speech are not, in their nature, really funny. You will be the one who can turn these "unfunny" ideas and turn them into something hilarious.
A good example would be chocolate. Chocolate by itself is not funny, but you have the power to turn it into funny topics for a persuasive speech. Just by the idea of chocolate, you can create a funny topic that states, "Why momma wouldn't let me eat a lot of chocolates?" This can be interesting to an audience of kids and at the same time funny for them.
Another good example would be talking about college in front of a teenage audience. The idea of college can become a funny topic if you state your topic in a way like, "Why does college suck?"
Any idea you have written on your list has the potential to become funny topics for a persuasive speech. You just have to be a little creative.
Finale
Funny topics for a persuasive speech can only do so much for the impact that it can make on people. The way you deliver your speech in front of the audience will also play a very big role on how funny it will be and how it can affect your audience.
Monday, 30 November 2009
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
10 Funny Conversation Starters for Every Situation
Funny conversation starters can be a risky business, but they can also add interest and sparkle to your conversations. People like, listen to and trust people who make them laugh. Get your conversation off to a great start by making people laugh straight away.
Humor is personal, though, so if you can, get an idea of the sense of humor of the person you are talking to first. Does he or she tell jokes? Do they add a funny angle to their stories?
Adding humor to your conversations is easier if you understand what makes something funny. The two main aspects to this are:
1. Surprise
2. Relationships
Basically, that means keeping a punchline hidden until the very end of the joke, or bringing some unexpected element into your story, and building a relationship with your listener. To make other people laugh, you need to be relaxed or else your audience will not feel relaxed enough to laugh. They will feel uptight. So, stay true to your own sense of humor. Plenty of people will like it.
1. "Excuse me, but I do think it is time we met" will put a smile on most peoples faces without sounding too intimidating.
2. Share something funny that happened to you, especially if it was the same day. You will sound modest and that is quite an attractive quality.
3. "What kind of old person do you want to be?" intrigues people. Everyone hopes to get old and so they will have an opinion. Also, though, it will make people smile because you are taking old age as something positive - an unusual twist on any everyday topic will make people interested.
4. You could share a fun story about your children. They are a rich harvest for fun stories - and cute too! You could then ask something like 'what is the weirdest thing you brought home when you were a child?" Take a little trip down memory lane with the person you are talking to.
5. How about asking - 'what is the best question in the world?' You are going for the element of surprise and this one has the added benefit that it sounds like you are interested in getting to know the other person.
6. If you are at a party, try bringing a funny card for the host and get everyone to sign it. What to write and what others have written will give you a wealth of funny conversation openers.
7. Ask someone about their worst holiday to introduce talking about one of your recent vacation mishaps. These can be really funny conversation starters, get people laughing and will not cause tension. In addition to this, everyone will start providing their worst vacation stories and everyone will be laughing over the unfortunate events.
8. This one might work best for the younger generation - to whom all things gross seem hilarious - but try asking about the worst meal the person has ever eaten or seen someone eat. It always seems to get people talking and makes them laugh. You will also bring in most women who are pregnant or who have ever been pregnant and had cravings. Perhaps skip this one over dinner, though!
9. Ask people about their pet peeves. People are always happy to talk about these. Done in the right way with a touch of humor, you will not come across as a moaner, but as someone with a keen sense of humor.
10. The tenth? ...The tenth is up to you! I told you the element of surprise was important in humor. Seriously, you have learned a few things here about how to use humor in your conversations.
You do not have to be the funniest person on the planet to open a conversation with humor. Just keep in mind your aim, which it to make people relax and get them talking. Funny conversation starters are really about giving the other person a relaxed way in to the conversation.
Peter Murphy is a peak performance expert. He recently produced a very popular free report: 10 Simple Steps to Developing Communication Confidence. Apply now because it is available only at: conversation starters
Humor is personal, though, so if you can, get an idea of the sense of humor of the person you are talking to first. Does he or she tell jokes? Do they add a funny angle to their stories?
Adding humor to your conversations is easier if you understand what makes something funny. The two main aspects to this are:
1. Surprise
2. Relationships
Basically, that means keeping a punchline hidden until the very end of the joke, or bringing some unexpected element into your story, and building a relationship with your listener. To make other people laugh, you need to be relaxed or else your audience will not feel relaxed enough to laugh. They will feel uptight. So, stay true to your own sense of humor. Plenty of people will like it.
1. "Excuse me, but I do think it is time we met" will put a smile on most peoples faces without sounding too intimidating.
2. Share something funny that happened to you, especially if it was the same day. You will sound modest and that is quite an attractive quality.
3. "What kind of old person do you want to be?" intrigues people. Everyone hopes to get old and so they will have an opinion. Also, though, it will make people smile because you are taking old age as something positive - an unusual twist on any everyday topic will make people interested.
4. You could share a fun story about your children. They are a rich harvest for fun stories - and cute too! You could then ask something like 'what is the weirdest thing you brought home when you were a child?" Take a little trip down memory lane with the person you are talking to.
5. How about asking - 'what is the best question in the world?' You are going for the element of surprise and this one has the added benefit that it sounds like you are interested in getting to know the other person.
6. If you are at a party, try bringing a funny card for the host and get everyone to sign it. What to write and what others have written will give you a wealth of funny conversation openers.
7. Ask someone about their worst holiday to introduce talking about one of your recent vacation mishaps. These can be really funny conversation starters, get people laughing and will not cause tension. In addition to this, everyone will start providing their worst vacation stories and everyone will be laughing over the unfortunate events.
8. This one might work best for the younger generation - to whom all things gross seem hilarious - but try asking about the worst meal the person has ever eaten or seen someone eat. It always seems to get people talking and makes them laugh. You will also bring in most women who are pregnant or who have ever been pregnant and had cravings. Perhaps skip this one over dinner, though!
9. Ask people about their pet peeves. People are always happy to talk about these. Done in the right way with a touch of humor, you will not come across as a moaner, but as someone with a keen sense of humor.
10. The tenth? ...The tenth is up to you! I told you the element of surprise was important in humor. Seriously, you have learned a few things here about how to use humor in your conversations.
You do not have to be the funniest person on the planet to open a conversation with humor. Just keep in mind your aim, which it to make people relax and get them talking. Funny conversation starters are really about giving the other person a relaxed way in to the conversation.
Peter Murphy is a peak performance expert. He recently produced a very popular free report: 10 Simple Steps to Developing Communication Confidence. Apply now because it is available only at: conversation starters
How To Be Funny: 20 Tips and Ideas
How can one be funny? Is there a science to it? After lots of observation and studying humor devices, I've found that there are many common ways to be funny. I've compiled a list of 20 techniques that you can try. Experiment and see which suit your personality well.
How to be funny: 20 Tips and ideas
# Caricature/impersonation: Exaggerating someone (sometimes a celebrity or someone well-known) and their physical traits, personality, voice, or common expressions. Saturday Night Live's impersonations of George W. Bush is one example.
# Coining New Words: to modify or combine multiple words to make a new one (e.g. beer + gut = beergut)
# Generalizations: a sweeping statement about a group or subculture (e.g. "Men are like creepy vultures.")
# Hyperbole: exaggerating something for effect (e.g. "Johnny has muscles as big as Rosie O'Donnell.")
# Insult: a boorish, straightforward insult (e.g. low-brow momma jokes such as, "Your momma is so fat, when she jump for joy, she got stuck!")
# Ironic words: Saying something counterintuitive (e.g. "Why they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?", or something that expresses an idea completely different from the literal meaning.
# Joke: a short story that typically ends with a funny twist.
# Messup: Humor based on a mistake (intentional or unintentional), which makes a person look silly.
# Nonsensical: a statement that doesn't make sense. For example, Yogi Berra often said illogical statements such as "I never said half the things I said" and "It ain't over til it's over."
# Observational: finding the humor in realistic circumstances or details (e.g. "Did you ever notice how butlers always seem to be named 'Jeeves'?) Jerry Seinfeld was the master of this.
# One-liner: A short quip, often with something unexpected (e.g. "There are three kinds of people in the world: people who can count, and people who can't."
# Parody: a funny mutation of something well-known (e.g. "Amish Paradise" song instead of "Gangster's Paradise").
# Personal story: a tale from your own experiences, perhaps an embarassing or humorous situation that you have experienced.
# Prank: someone expects a normal situation but is assaulted by something surprising or unexpected. The humor often comes from the reaction.
# Satire: subtle humor that appears serious at first glance, but is actually either sarcasm or something told in a ludicrous fashion.
# Slapstick: physical humor, typically with quick horseplay and antics (e.g. hitting someone with a baseball bat).
# Surprise Ending: a story that builds up to an expected ending, but surprises the listener with an abrupt, silly, and unexpected ending.
# Taboo (Crude) Humor: not appropriate for some settings. This is humor based on subjects that might offend some people (e.g. flatulence, body parts, etc).
# Understatement: making something large trivial for effect (e.g. "Bill Gates could probably afford a few items on the dollar menu.")
# Zinger: a typically short quip that pokes fun at someone or something. (e.g. "N'Sync? More like, N'sucked.")
How to be funny: 20 Tips and ideas
# Caricature/impersonation: Exaggerating someone (sometimes a celebrity or someone well-known) and their physical traits, personality, voice, or common expressions. Saturday Night Live's impersonations of George W. Bush is one example.
# Coining New Words: to modify or combine multiple words to make a new one (e.g. beer + gut = beergut)
# Generalizations: a sweeping statement about a group or subculture (e.g. "Men are like creepy vultures.")
# Hyperbole: exaggerating something for effect (e.g. "Johnny has muscles as big as Rosie O'Donnell.")
# Insult: a boorish, straightforward insult (e.g. low-brow momma jokes such as, "Your momma is so fat, when she jump for joy, she got stuck!")
# Ironic words: Saying something counterintuitive (e.g. "Why they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?", or something that expresses an idea completely different from the literal meaning.
# Joke: a short story that typically ends with a funny twist.
# Messup: Humor based on a mistake (intentional or unintentional), which makes a person look silly.
# Nonsensical: a statement that doesn't make sense. For example, Yogi Berra often said illogical statements such as "I never said half the things I said" and "It ain't over til it's over."
# Observational: finding the humor in realistic circumstances or details (e.g. "Did you ever notice how butlers always seem to be named 'Jeeves'?) Jerry Seinfeld was the master of this.
# One-liner: A short quip, often with something unexpected (e.g. "There are three kinds of people in the world: people who can count, and people who can't."
# Parody: a funny mutation of something well-known (e.g. "Amish Paradise" song instead of "Gangster's Paradise").
# Personal story: a tale from your own experiences, perhaps an embarassing or humorous situation that you have experienced.
# Prank: someone expects a normal situation but is assaulted by something surprising or unexpected. The humor often comes from the reaction.
# Satire: subtle humor that appears serious at first glance, but is actually either sarcasm or something told in a ludicrous fashion.
# Slapstick: physical humor, typically with quick horseplay and antics (e.g. hitting someone with a baseball bat).
# Surprise Ending: a story that builds up to an expected ending, but surprises the listener with an abrupt, silly, and unexpected ending.
# Taboo (Crude) Humor: not appropriate for some settings. This is humor based on subjects that might offend some people (e.g. flatulence, body parts, etc).
# Understatement: making something large trivial for effect (e.g. "Bill Gates could probably afford a few items on the dollar menu.")
# Zinger: a typically short quip that pokes fun at someone or something. (e.g. "N'Sync? More like, N'sucked.")
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