Last Friday, I represented my Toastmasters club in two speech contests.
The first contest was the evaluation contest, where you evaluate a model speaker. Your evaluation is judged against the other contestant’s evaluation of the same speech.
The biggest opportunity for improvement I gave to the speaker was to not step on her laughs. The speaker gave a funny speech but several times, she tried to speak over the laughter.
Stepping on laughs is a common mistake beginning speakers and comedians make. It means starting to speak (continuing your speech or moving on to your next joke) before the laughter stops.
There are two problems with this. One, your audience cannot hear you until they are quiet and two, you inhibit their fun … so they are less likely to laugh as much, the next time you are funny.
In my inspirational speech, which is embedded below, I had some humor. At [0:55], [1:45], and [3:45], I get laughs. Note how I paused to allow the audience to enjoy the moment. And you can hear my next words.
If you are a Toastmaster in a speech contest or a comedian with a time limit, you should also be aware that the bigger the venue, the longer the laughs will be. Figure that into the length of your speech or your bit.
Instead of speaking while your audience laughs, remember to stop so that you and your audience can enjoy the laughter.
