How often have you heard someone start a speech with a joke? Too often probably. Speakers with limited experience tend to tell jokes just to get a laugh in the hope the audience will warm up to them. The jokes are often irrelevant to the topic of their speech.

Experienced speakers know there are better ways to add humor to a speech or presentation, including:.

Using funny stories and anecdotes–not jokes–in your speech

Everyone has had bad experiences that become funny with the passage of time. They make great stories Remember that today’s tragedy is tomorrow’s funny anecdote.

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I got my first big job promotion in the late 1980’s. One of my first major marketing presentations was to the entire Field Sale Force, over 700 people in a giant hotel ballroom. I knew that I had to “motivate” them, yet I was scared to death.

My boss, a seasoned veteran of giving many of these presentations, asked me what I was so afraid of. As I explained my nervousness about trying to remember every last detail in my 20 minute message, he just smiled as told me to remember one thing: Only you know the script.

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Think about this: In just a few days, with a video camera and digital editing tools, you can create many of the same powerful effects as major movie producers.

But good video – like good speeches and good prose – begins with the writing. And since I’m a writer, not a videographer, the tips below are intended to assist you with the writing part of an effective one to five-minute presentation.

1. Single theme – For a short, non-fiction video, focus on a single, basic theme. Everything in that video should relate to that single subject.

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