Communication Assessment & Learning Lab
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Knowing When to Use Jokes and Stories 

1. Know your audience and know what will make the laugh
2. Research your audience and call on people in the industry for advice (e.g., If you are giving a speech to engineers, you may want to say, "My father is an engineer, and he knows the time by looking at the sun and the creating an outline for its position")
3. Never tell a joke that could be offensive
4. Use a joke or story in the opening of your speech
5. Use a joke or story to conclude your speech
6. Save the story for when you recognize a lack of interest from you audience because stories are great attention getters
7. Plan a joke by being spontaneous through your anticipation (e.g., If someone's cell phone rings, say something like, "Sorry, you’re not saved by the bell!")
8. Use witty answers during the Q&A portion by anticipating the questions beforehand
9. Use a joke or story with hard to remember information to help the audience remember your speech
10. Use jokes and stories when it does not distract from your topic