Mengham Women's Institute, Hayling Island

I gave an evening talk on 8 July to Mengham Women's Institute on Hayling Island. Although technically in Hampshire, they are actually part of the West Sussex Federation.

I had only been to the island once before and that was later at night so it was fascinating to see the place in daylight. The WI meet in the hall of the South Hayling United Reformed Church in Mengham village.

There were about 35 ladies there and my talk on My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer got a great reception. Over on my other blog Freelance Comedy Writer I have written about the joy of receiving applause for your original humour. Although this article relates to radio, I can tell you that it's the same with public speaking.

Public Speaking Tip #337: Many speakers simply use humour in the form of jokes, observations and anecdotes simply lifted from other sources (and not always credited to them!) These can work but if you can use original humour, it will set you apart and you will experience the pleasure of a great audience response to something funny which none of them have heard before - and you thought of it!

Now this doesn't mean that you suddenly have to become a great comedian or comedy writer but simply that you should look for good observations and  brief, amusing personal anecdotes relevant to your content. They won't all be successful; some ideas which seem funny to us just don't work with live audiences or only seem to be amusing to certain groups or may have to be reworded several times before you arrive at the best version so it's best not to try out too many in any one presentation. But original, relevant humour can make most presentations more effective and their message more memorable. Add some apt humorous quotations (citing their sources, of course!) and you will be amazed at how the response can increase your confidence.

I think some measure of the success of my talk to these ladies was the fact that about 50% of them purchased my booklet Nick R's in a Twist! afterwards. It was a very enjoyable evening with this WI and my thanks to one one of their husbands, Peter, for the lift from Havant station and back again and for answering so many of my questions about Hayling Island.

Within a week, this WI had recommended me for a Group meeting in Hampshire so many thanks for that as well!