C O M M U N I C AT I O N S K I L L S :
Using Humor in Speaking
Introduction
SPEAKERTRAINING
I. Using Humor In Speaking “There are two insults no human being can bear; that he has never known trouble, and that he has no sense of humor.”
A. Cautions with using humor in speaking Q U I D
1. Trying to be funny when you are not
P R O
Q U O T E
“. . . you should use humor whenever possible, but it should arise naturally from the context of who you are, where you are, and what you have to say. That is what ‘wit’ is all about.”
2. You can’t be funny in a talk
Charles Osgood, Osgood on Speaking: How to Think on Your Feet without Falling on Your Face (New York:William Morrow & Company, Inc., 1988), 51.
3. Use of inappropriate humor
4. Untimely humor
B. Why use humor in speaking? 1. It dissolves ____________
2. It breaks _________________
USING HUMOR IN SPEAKING
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C O M M U N I C AT I O N C E N T E R