Entertaining speech topics are NOT out there.
Here’s the big misconception.
I’ll come to it but first let’s talk about you.
You want to start writing an entertaining speech.
…But…Why?
Maybe.. you want to participate in a humorous speech contest.
Maybe.. you want your presentation to stand out from the crowd of boring presentations.
Maybe.. you want to just spread happiness in the world!
…But…Wait.
Why should you listen to me?
I am not a stand-up comedian…..I am not a full time humorist…..I am not son of Bill Gates.
Precisely, for the above reasons!
I am sure you also satisfy the above criteria. I am just like you. But there is ONE difference.
I studied the concepts of humor and applied them to get results and maybe you have NOT.
Check this video of mine. Hey, it’s all good. Don’t worry :).
Hope you enjoyed my entertaining speech.
Remember I talked about misconception…common that’s the first line of this blog post.
The misconception is that people think that they need to look for entertaining speeches topics OUT THERE.
Where?
Yes, OUT THERE: in joke books, articles, TV series.
Even if you find OUT THERE, it’s just a matter of time before it will stop working. Chances are that someone else in the audience also might have heard the story or joke from the same place where you saw or heard.
So, what do you do?
GOOD QUESTION.
Even though, many say it is difficult to come up with a topic for an entertaining speech, I believe finding entertaining speech ideas is not difficult.
Why?
Because you have a reservoir of untapped resources to find material.
You are going, “Really?”
Yep, that’s true.
And now you are asking, “What is it?”
It’s your LIFE.
You can write an entertaining speech based on your life. There are literally hundreds of funny topics hidden in your life experiences.
It’s all about HOW YOU SAY IT.
It depends on the UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE of the life and life experiences.
And this unique perspective can be transformed as laughter matter for your audience.
I cannot stress this enough: you can create HUMOR from your own life experiences. You don’t need to look for jokes in a joke book or from someone else’s material.
If something can make you laugh, why not use that as content for your speech.
I hear you say Enough Rama…. Ok, let us get going to the heart of the matter.
A word of caveat: this blog post is not about how to create HUMOR. If you want to know about creating humor, please check out the free ebook.
Check out my video where I explain three different ideas to start creating entertaining speeches.
Following are three ways to find entertaining speeches topics from your own life:
1) Largely relatable unexpected events:
Let us understand this with an example. Let us say, you are a guy and you are going on a date. Maybe you are a girl and you are taking a guy on a date. It is possible. Let us not rule this out! On the way, your vehicle ran out of fuel. And it turned out to be the worst date. I am pretty sure; you will share this incident with your buddies at the coffee table. Just note the way you describe the incidents to your friends. Note down the instances and sentences at which they laugh. Jot down the exact sentences. It will be easier to create an entertaining speech.
2) Any unusual physical traits can lead to entertaining speech topics:
Your physical traits are what the audience will see at the first place. If someone else uses your physical trait, then it becomes offensive. If you self-depreciate your own physical trait, it is comedy! Just think what is unique about your appearance. Are you very tall, good looking, not so good looking? Write down instances where you had embarrassing experiences / funny experiences because of that trait.
Let us see an example. I have seen a speech, where the speaker won the Humorous Speech Championship with just one idea: Being short. He constructed the whole plot with his height. He shared his embarrassments since he was a child. He cited funny incidents at school and public places. He described his relationship with his wife who was taller than him. It was a laughter riot. What ideas does this give you?
Are you dark in color? I don’t want you to spark any racist feelings. Only if others talk about your color, it can be called as racism. If ‘you’ joke about your color, it is not racism. There must be certain instances where you were embarrassed or had unique experiences because of your color. This could be your idea for an entertaining speech topic.
3) Your current life situation is an awesome place for entertaining speech topics:
Think about your current life situation. In whatever stage of life you are currently in, you could easily generate entertaining speech ideas.
For example, are you a teenager? You can talk about your experience with your ‘girl’ friends. It does not mean, you need to have one. Even if you don’t have one, write how hard it is to have one. If you have a girl friend, write how hard it is to maintain one!
Are you in your 20s? Can you talk about your quarter life crisis? Maybe you are not happy with your job. Maybe you don’t want to get married. Maybe you want to get married but are scared. May your got married! In that case, I think your every day life will be material for your entertaining speech! Just complain!
Even if you are in 30s, 40s, or 50s, I am sure some part of your current life situation worries you. By being real and authentic, you build trust and credibility with the audience. This is very important to create humor. And humor is the main ingredient in an entertaining speech.
I hope these ideas directly or indirectly helps you start off on your entertaining speech writing process.
Wish you all the best!
