Tammy Miller is a Past International Director and Accredited Speaker of Toastmasters International and a member of the PA Auctioneers Association and National Auctioneers Association.  In 2015, Tammy was chosen by the Huffington Post as one of the “15 Women Over 50” in the United States to watch. As a speech coach, she has helped leaders in education and business, political figures, and people from all walks of life become better communicators. She is also an instructor of communication courses at Penn State University.  Clearly, she’s got a lot on her plate, so I was grateful when she took a few minutes out of her day to chat with Public Words about humor these days.

Nick:  Thanks for taking on the serious issue of humor in public speaking, Tammy!  Start by telling me which is the better way for a speaker to get laughs — to prepare some jokes for various points in the speech, or to wing it and just wax witty in the moment?

Tammy:  Preparation is always important, to a point. I don’t like a totally canned presentation anytime, and that relates to humor as well. A couple of brief jokes to illustrate the points is fine, but I prefer a funny, related quip about something that happened to the speaker, or a real person they might know.

Nick:  How does an un-funny, serious, expert speaker start adding humor to his/her speech?

Tammy:  I believe to add humor, a person has to take themselves lightly and have a sense of wonder and curiosity. It’s when we open our minds and look for what can be funny in a situation that we start seeing and feeling more humor. If someone truly believes they are not funny and want to add more humor to their presentations, I suggest watching videos with people they consider humorous, not especially comediennes. More about people who look at everyday experiences and find that funny.

Nick:  How important is humor for public speaking today?  Has there been more or less demand for funny speakers and speeches during the pandemic? 

Tammy:  Definitely more demand during the pandemic, especially now. At the beginning, people were frightened and didn’t know what to expect. At this point, a year later, people are more frustrated, tired, weary, and adding humor is especially important. We have lost a lot of our social interaction, and people want to laugh!

Nick:  How should a speaker recover if the audience doesn’t laugh at one of his/her jokes?

Tammy:  Make light of it not working, “Hmm, note to self, don’t use that one again.” and move on quickly!

Nick:  Tell us more about Tammy — how do you like to laugh and if you have children, do they think you are funny?

Tammy:  I love watching old television. Carol Burnett skits, that I have seen many times, still make me laugh! I do not care for off-color language; it is so overused today.  I tend to go to old television or clean comedy. There is so much in our world to laugh about, in my opinion, bad language just gets in the way!! I have two grown children and two grandchildren and YES, we love to laugh! I think my children think I am zany, and I think the same about them. We especially love puns. The grandchildren are perfect ages, 5 and 6, and we giggle and laugh a lot!

Nick:  Tammy, thanks for your time!