How to Write a Humorous Speech

Write a humorous speech.

What’s that? You don’t think you’re funny?

Well, you’re not alone. Most comedians aren’t funny, either. Contemporary humorists have broken every toilet humor and sexual humor boundary, and yet so many of them keep trying to shock us into laughing.

So how can you write a funny speech?

Go back to some of your life’s most disastrous moments—events that you’ve healed from and are now able to look back on and laugh at.

The camping trip from hell.

The date from hell—especially if you eventually ended up getting married.

What was so horrible about the worst job you ever had?

Did you ever do something dishonest and have the lie snowball?

You didn’t pay your taxes for how many years? What were you thinking?

What meaningless stuff did you fight over in that divorce, just to get at each other?

Disasters aren’t funny in and of themselves, but when you can look back on them and laugh, the audience will respect your transparency and vulnerability—and they’ll see that you’re a person who falls down like we all do, but then recovers and moves on. They’ll find lessons in your transformation without feeling preached to.

Or just keep your eyes open for the absurdity that’s all around us. People make funny mistakes and they do crazy things. Here’s a humorous speech contest presentation I gave many years ago based entirely on “found humor.”