Winning the Humorous Speech Contest
For two years I tried and failed to win the District 3 Toastmasters’ Humorous Speech Contest. Each year I made it to the Division level but failed to advance. Although I was frustrated and ready to quit I decided to try one more time.
What follows is a summary of the four major changes I made that resulted in finally reaching my goal and winning the District level humorous speech contest.
- Know the Criteria
- Select the Right Topic
- Create the Best Speech Structure
- Follow the Laugh Generator Process
Know the Criteria
The first thing I did was I looked at the judge’s’ ballot. If you are planning to participate you should download the ballot and study it so you intimately know the judging criteria. Here’s a link: Humorous Contest Judges Guide and Ballot
I was shocked at what I found. I shouldn’t have been shocked but I was and so are others when I share my discovery. I found out that humor was actually only 15 out of the possible 100 points, 15!
I was perplexed, “Wait a minute, I thought this was a humorous speech contest.”
If I was going to win I still needed to be funny but I also had to earn as many points possible in the other categories. As a result of knowing the criteria I invested more time to ensure my speech:
- Had a clear purpose.
- Justified the act of speaking.
- Provided something meaningful and original.
- Included important ideas.
- Contributed to the audience’s thinking.
- Immediately engaged the audience.
- Flowed to a significant conclusion.
In addition to the content, I ensured my delivery:
- Supported the points through gestures, expressions, and body positioning.
- Effectively used the speaking area.
Those 7 content points and the 2 delivery points are derived from the ballot and helped me to stay focused as I refined and polished the speech.
Study the judge’s ballot and read it carefully. As you develop, practice, and refine your speech ensure you are doing everything you can do to earn every point possible in each category.
Select the Right Topic
What is the right topic for the humorous speech contest? People laugh for a variety of reasons but one of the main reasons we laugh is because we feel superior.
Tragedy is when I get a paper cut, but comedy is when you fall in a manhole and die. – Mel Brooks
In Comedy Writing Secrets, author Mel Helitzer explains that noted psychologist Patricia Keith-Spiegal has identified that superiority is one of the primary reasons we laugh. Superiority is the actual reason the audience laughs when a speaker makes a self-deprecating joke. The audience feels superior to the speaker.
Because of the laugh inducing power of self-deprecation I recommend that you are the topic of your speech. Specifically I recommend you talk about a time you metaphorically fell into a manhole.
Consider the many events of your life and pick one where you encountered a struggle or when you wanted to achieve something but encountered obstacles. Or, put another way, think of it as you trying to get from point A to point B and encountering obstacles.
In addition to superiority, we often laugh simply out of recognition. Which means then that if your struggle is one that is relatable and the audiences recognizes it, they will laugh even more.
Pick a topic that is all about you facing a struggle and metaphorically “falling into a manhole.”
Create the Best Speech Structure
Is there really a best speech structure? Yes, there is. In Wired for Story, author Lisa Cron explains:
… the pleasure we derive from a story well told is nature’s way of seducing us into paying attention to it.
The best way to structure your speech is in the form of a story. I watched a humorous speech contestant share his struggle with being short. He selected a perfect topic but he didn’t win at the District contest.
In my opinion a big reason he didn’t win was because of structure. He chose to share three instances where his height was a challenge. At each transition he had to set the new scene and develop the point. Those transitions between points kill the moment and create a lull.
We think in story. It’s hardwired in our brain. – Lisa Cron, Wired for Story
In Comedy Writing 4 Life, author John Vorhaus explains that comedy is truth, pain and often cruelty. He then presents two simple steps to comic storytelling:
- Create a bad situation
- Make it worse
Those two steps (along with truth, pain, and cruelty) perfectly describe this classic I Love Lucy scene:
When I crafted my winning speech I used a simple three act story structure. Since then though I have fallen in love with Doug Stevenson’s Nine Steps of Story Structure. I discovered Doug’s Story Theater method at workshop he presented to the Arizona chapter of the National Speaker’s Association and it is perfectly suited to serve as the foundational structure of speech.
Follow the Laugh Generator Process
Finally, we come to one of the most important changes I made. After studying stand-up comedy and comedy writing I was building my contest speeches around the jokes. However, to make all of the above changes work well, I had to change that approach.
For this attempt a new approach was needed so I started with the content and then added the jokes. Adding humor is considered blasphemy to many but my unique approach allowed for the laughter to flow from the content of the speech.
I started with the story of the day I rode my bicycle 100 miles by mistake. Yes, it really happened and I set out to simply tell the story with a focus on the 7 content points. Along the way I used what I knew about writing jokes to add laugh points throughout the story.
It was a bad situation that was made worse so the foundational elements of comedy were there. The only thing I had to do was add as many laugh points as possible.
The process is built on the foundational humor principles I outline here: Humor Simplified and Demystified
Once you read and understand that information, you are ready to begin using The Laugh Generator process. You can learn the process and read the full story of how it came to be here: The Laugh Generator Process
You now have the 4 essentials steps required to craft an award-winning humorous speech.
- Know the Criteria
- Select the Right Topic
- Create the Best Speech Structure
- Follow the Laugh Generator Process
Originally posted on LinkedIn on
