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Stanley
Guest
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 Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 6:15 am Post subject: Humor speech contest |
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I'm going to enter into the speech contest in two weeks. I'm not sure
how to find funny stories to tell (my last few jokes at Toastmasters
weren't all that funny). Finding it on the internet may not be all
that original. But I have been having a hard time noticing anything
funny going on with my life. What would be your recommendations on
observing an occasion to be used for a humor speech? |
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p c
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 2:41 pm Post subject: Re: Humor speech contest |
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Stanley wrote:
| Quote: | I'm going to enter into the speech contest in two weeks. I'm not sure
how to find funny stories to tell (my last few jokes at Toastmasters
weren't all that funny). Finding it on the internet may not be all
that original. But I have been having a hard time noticing anything
funny going on with my life. What would be your recommendations on
observing an occasion to be used for a humor speech?
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If nothing humorous has happened to you, how about people you know? You
can tell their story. |
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John Fleming, DTM
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 5:11 am Post subject: Re: Humor speech contest |
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On Fri, 29 Aug 2008 23:15:00 -0700 (PDT), while chained to a
desk in the scriptorium Stanley <stanigator@gmail.com>
wrote:
| Quote: | $I'm going to enter into the speech contest in two weeks. I'm not sure
$how to find funny stories to tell (my last few jokes at Toastmasters
$weren't all that funny). Finding it on the internet may not be all
$that original. But I have been having a hard time noticing anything
$funny going on with my life. What would be your recommendations on
$observing an occasion to be used for a humor speech?
|
Number one. You need to find stuff *you* find humorous. If
you don't see the humour in it, nobody esle will.
As pc points out, it doesn't have to be humorous material
about you. It can be situations involving people you
know--family, friends, acquaintances, coworkers, employees,
business partners and so on. You can also adapt other
material about other people as well.
Don't worry about stuff you find on the Internet. While the
Humorous Speech Contest rules do require substantially
original content, that doesn't mean it has to be 100%
original. As a contest judge, I would look for a minimum
75% original material
--
John Fleming, DTM
Edmonton, Canada
Attitude Boosters Toastmasters (7022-42) - Member
Chamber Toastmasters (5594 - 42) - VP Membership
A scientist can discover a new star but he
cannot make one. He would have to ask an
engineer to do it for him.
- Gordon L. Glegg |
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John Fleming, DTM
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 6:21 am Post subject: Re: Humor speech contest |
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On Fri, 29 Aug 2008 23:15:00 -0700 (PDT), while chained to a
desk in the scriptorium Stanley <stanigator@gmail.com>
wrote:
| Quote: | $I'm going to enter into the speech contest in two weeks. I'm not sure
$how to find funny stories to tell (my last few jokes at Toastmasters
$weren't all that funny). Finding it on the internet may not be all
$that original. But I have been having a hard time noticing anything
$funny going on with my life. What would be your recommendations on
$observing an occasion to be used for a humor speech?
|
Number one. You need to find stuff *you* find humorous. If
you don't see the humour in it, nobody esle will.
As pc points out, it doesn't have to be humorous material
about you. It can be situations involving people you
know--family, friends, acquaintances, coworkers, employees,
business partners and so on. You can also adapt other
material about other people as well.
Don't worry about stuff you find on the Internet. While the
Humorous Speech Contest rules do require substantially
original content, that doesn't mean it has to be 100%
original. As a contest judge, I would look for a minimum
75% original material
--
John Fleming, DTM
Edmonton, Canada
Attitude Boosters Toastmasters (7022-42) - Member
Chamber Toastmasters (5594 - 42) - VP Membership
A scientist can discover a new star but he
cannot make one. He would have to ask an
engineer to do it for him.
- Gordon L. Glegg |
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Brian Christiansen
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 10:32 am Post subject: Re: Humor speech contest |
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"Stanley" <stanigator@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:9b4e9f93-3534-4c58-8353-a35310ee4a37@p31g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
| Quote: | I'm going to enter into the speech contest in two weeks. I'm not sure
how to find funny stories to tell (my last few jokes at Toastmasters
weren't all that funny). Finding it on the internet may not be all
that original. But I have been having a hard time noticing anything
funny going on with my life. What would be your recommendations on
observing an occasion to be used for a humor speech?
|
I am perhaps not one to speak, because both times I have entered the
club-level humorous speech contest I have been the runner up. That isn't
quite as much as it sounds like because both times there were only 2 of us
in the contest.
However, do not look up stuff on the internet. The best it can be is you
just up there telling essentially a "joke." At worst it will be just a
"stand-up monologue." In fact, I would say if the only place you can get
material is to look it up on the internet, respectfully withdraw from the
contest.
I hate to sound mean-spirited or unencouraging, but that is how I feel about
it. Looking stuff up on the internet is OK for a research based speech, or
perhaps for a joke to tell as humor master, but not for a humorous speech.
One of my speeches were about something that happened probably 30 years ago,
essentially getting stuck up in the mountains of New Mexico. I told the
story pretty straight, without trying to interject "jokes" into it, though
perhaps I did exaggerate some of the things that happened.
The other speech looked at some of the things that happen in my kendo class.
I tried to put a funny spin on these things, but did not tell "jokes" in
this one either.
For the kendo speech, I did look some stuff up on the internet to get some
ideas, but nothing from the internet made it into either speech. In fact in
the kendo speech, I was going to say that I did look up some stuff on the
internet, but all I found were some bad puns based on the terminology that
we use in class, and that those puns would have to wait until I did a speech
teaching some of that terminology, but it had to be cut because of time
considerations.
The winners of the contests were also both stories of something that
happened to them. The first was one of our members giving a speech about
how best friends can get away with more than other people can.
The second was about the trials and tribulations another of our members went
through on her wedding day. Again, I can't recall 100%, but neither speech
had any "jokes" in them.
When I went to the area contest, as a spectator, not a contestant, since I
was only the alternate, there were some speeches that I thought were not so
good.
One was a string of jokes that amounted to essentially a stand up monolog
with a bunch of jokes strung together. I don't know if the jokes were found
on the internet, but even judged as a stand-up act and not a speech, it was
really lousy.
Another was a parody of the song "Macathur Park." In the opinion of a lady
in our club who is a DTM and served as high as division(?) governor, this
violates the rules of what is and is not a humorous speech. Also, at one
point I suspected, or at least wondered, if perhaps those lyrics were not
"original" and were simply copied off the internet.
Another of the speeches, one of the better ones, in my opinion was about a
guy who was taught a course in accounting or something like that. The
speech was about things like how "my hard drive crashed" has replaced "the
dog ate my paper" as reasons for not handing in a paper.
So my advice is:
1. Don't look up a "funny story" or "jokes" on the internet. The internet
can be used to spur your memory to give you some ideas, and perhaps can be
used for some part of your speech, but the main body should not be from the
internet. I say this not because of originality, but I think that the best
it can be is just a "joke," rather than a speech.
2. Make it something that happened to you, not something that happened to
someone else. I can't explain why I think that, other than to say I think
it is more "genuine" to tell such a story.
3. Perhaps try to put a humorous spin on what happened, but do not try to
turn your story into a bunch of jokes. I think it is actually better to
tell your story straight than trying to turn it into "jokes."
4. Don't worry if your story is something the happened recently or 30 years
ago.
Brian Christiansen |
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Joy
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 1:07 am Post subject: Re: Humor speech contest |
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"Stanley" <stanigator@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:9b4e9f93-3534-4c58-8353-a35310ee4a37@p31g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
| Quote: | I'm going to enter into the speech contest in two weeks. I'm not sure
how to find funny stories to tell (my last few jokes at Toastmasters
weren't all that funny). Finding it on the internet may not be all
that original. But I have been having a hard time noticing anything
funny going on with my life. What would be your recommendations on
observing an occasion to be used for a humor speech?
|
Others here have give some good advice.
I've found that some of my funniest speeches were about things that happened
to me that weren't funny at the time. Often things that go wrong, or things
that embarrassed you at the time, make a funny story to tell later.
For instance, a few years ago, I went to a party 80 miles from my home. It
was held in someone's apartment, and there was practically no parking, so I
parked in a nearby strip mall. There was a sign in the parking lot saying
that non-customers would be towed, but since all the stores were closed, I
didn't think that would be a problem. Another person attending the party
parked in the same lot.
When we came out, at about 1:00 a.m., we found that our cars had been towed.
We went back to our friend's apartment and called the number on the sign.
We were told we couldn't pick up our cars until 10:00 a.m. Another friend
took us home. By the time I got home, it was 3:00 a.m. It had been a very
hot day, and my house smelled like something dead. The next day I found
that there was a dead possum in my garage.
My son took me to get my car the next day. The name of the towing place was
"Gotcha! Towing".
None of that was funny at the time, but the humorous speech I gave about it
won second place at Division.
Joy |
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Joy
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 1:07 am Post subject: Re: Humor speech contest |
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"Stanley" <stanigator@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:9b4e9f93-3534-4c58-8353-a35310ee4a37@p31g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
| Quote: | I'm going to enter into the speech contest in two weeks. I'm not sure
how to find funny stories to tell (my last few jokes at Toastmasters
weren't all that funny). Finding it on the internet may not be all
that original. But I have been having a hard time noticing anything
funny going on with my life. What would be your recommendations on
observing an occasion to be used for a humor speech?
|
Others here have give some good advice.
I've found that some of my funniest speeches were about things that happened
to me that weren't funny at the time. Often things that go wrong, or things
that embarrassed you at the time, make a funny story to tell later.
For instance, a few years ago, I went to a party 80 miles from my home. It
was held in someone's apartment, and there was practically no parking, so I
parked in a nearby strip mall. There was a sign in the parking lot saying
that non-customers would be towed, but since all the stores were closed, I
didn't think that would be a problem. Another person attending the party
parked in the same lot.
When we came out, at about 1:00 a.m., we found that our cars had been towed.
We went back to our friend's apartment and called the number on the sign.
We were told we couldn't pick up our cars until 10:00 a.m. Another friend
took us home. By the time I got home, it was 3:00 a.m. It had been a very
hot day, and my house smelled like something dead. The next day I found
that there was a dead possum in my garage.
My son took me to get my car the next day. The name of the towing place was
"Gotcha! Towing".
None of that was funny at the time, but the humorous speech I gave about it
won second place at Division.
Joy |
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