Wow - a 10-15 minute speech that was filled with humor and got that much practice! What's interesting is that you forgot to mention that being funny in a speech is HARD. Hat's off to your client who seems to have pulled this off. The rewards can be great; however, the risks can be even greater.

One point that we public speakers always seem to forget is that what happens before we speak may have a huge impact on how funny we appear to our audience. Your customer was celebrating a significant birthday and can you just imagine what would have happened if someone had asked for a moment of silence to remember a friend who had not made it to their significant birthday just BEFORE your customer had gone on stage?

That's why all comedians have an opening act. The opening act's role in life is to get the audience started laughing. This way it's going to be easier for them to laugh at whatever the main act says! If at all possible, when you plan on delivering a humorous speech, do your best to control what happens before you go on stage!

- Dr. Jim Anderson
Blue Elephant Consulting - The Accidental Communicator Blog

Thank you for your comments, Dr Jim.

I didn't 'forget' to mention that being funny in a speech is hard; I didn't mention it because where this type of speech is concerned, I really don't believe that to be the case.

Speeches at most weddings, retirements, anniversaries, birthdays, etc, are delivered to friendly audiences and unless someone is particularly insensitive, humour will be well-received. A social speech for these occasions which omits the 'risks' of using humour altogether could well draw negative remarks afterwards.

As far as your hypothetical example is concerned, I have lost count of the number of occasions when I have delivered the humorous content I have been booked for just after an organisation has stood in silence for a minute to remember one of their own who has passed away since the last meeting. Then I am introduced and do what I do and they laugh. I may remove the odd reference if I think it might just appear tactless but apart from that, life goes on, business as usual, etc.

Not 'all' comedians have opening acts (and who opens for the warm-up or the MC?) but stand-up comedy is usually a much tougher environment than the rather more dignified world of public speaking anyway (and I've done both!) Often the person introducing your speech gives you all the warm-up you will need.

It is true that you cannot always control what happens before you speak. Last Friday, as I was waiting to to enter the room where I was due to deliver a presentation, a gentlemen came out and collapsed. There was a delay while he was treated by the paramedics and then eventually I went in and spoke. A more extreme example happened 6 years ago when my mother died on a Wednesday night and I fulfilled a booking to speak to a business breakfast club 80 miles away on the Friday morning. I won't say that either of these were my biggest successes but I was still able to make people laugh. It's about not letting audiences down, getting into speaker mode whatever has happened beforehand and having confidence in my content and delivery - in other words: professionalism.

I will never subscribe to the 'best to avoid humour as it's too risky' school of thought - but then my 26 years as a comedy writer for broadcast, live performance and publication, the past 13 years of which have also been spent as a humorous speaker, make this a superfluous statement!