Hampshire Presentation Skills & Public Speaking Trainer

More help for stand up comedy at open mic nights

Ok, so I went along to my first open mic night on Monday and after ten pretty reasonable musical acts (and a questionable 70 year old man rapping), there was one comedy act.

Unfortunately, the audience felt that the ‘comedy’ area of the act was somewhat lacking. I’m not so sure it wasn’t just a lack of stage presence and impact (which could be easily solved) but hey, at the end of the day, your audience are the group you have to please!

So what other tips for stand up comedy tip I pick up from attending this open mic and witnessing an unfortunate stand-up ‘bomb’?

1. At an open mic night you often won’t be the centre of many people’s attention. There will be a lot of background noise which is easily overcome if you are a musician, but not if you are relying on your voice alone. My advice would be to get on stage early before this background noise gets louder (generally due to alcohol!).

If you do have to go on with a lot of background noise present, open with impact (a great joke or some real vocal variety and presence) to get everyone’s attention.

2. My second piece of advice would focus on keeping your audience attention. With the background noise and various other distractions, you need to keep your audience engaged (as with any public speaking). Do this by interacting with the crowd and asking questions of them – perhaps get them involved in your best gag or catchphrase.

3. My final tip would be about getting your audience onside – something all comedians aspire to. For an open mic night, I’ve found that the only thing that you and your audience likely have in common is your shared experience of the previous acts (good and bad). Why not make reference to a shared observation or piece of humour from a a previous act to quickly get your audience on side?

Has this experience of an open mic night put me off getting up there myself? Nope, it’s terrified me, seeing someone bomb, but if anything it has made me more motivated to get up there and do it myself!

Tips and advice for open mic stand up comedy nights

I’ve spent this afternoon watching strangers attempt stand up routines on YouTube, looking to identify the elements of successful stand up comedy at open mic nights.

It’s obvious that so many of the rules that apply to ‘general’ public speaking apply to doing stand up comedy too – here’s a few I’ve noticed;

- Grab the attention of your audience straight away with an interesting opening

No pressure here, but the acts that appeared most successful opened with a piece of quick wit that got their audience ‘onside’ early.

- Use your body and voice to bring the content to life

The most successful aspiring comedians were those that had personality, animation and life – they bought their humour to life with movement and variations in their volume and tone. Think of the funniest jokes you have heard in the past – I’m sure they were the ones that were told by a passionate and engaging joker?

- Structure your speech clearly

The best open mic ‘sets’ had a good flow of one joke to the next, or a clear story and purpose behind them. This helps the general flow of the set and avoids any pauses as the comedian hurriedly changes topic. A flowing humourous set appears to go down better than 50 unrelated jokes told one after the other!

- Leave your audience with one clear message

The best comedians at the open mic nights that I watched signed off their short open mic spot with their name and a final piece of quick wit – this helped the audience to remember who they were so that they could tell their friends exactly who they had seen and how good they were!

Overcoming fear of failure in public speaking

I’m currently sat near Heathrow airport watching the planes come in over ahead. I’m estimating it’s one every 45 seconds, if not more.

As a person who hates flying (and loves a bit of drama too) there’s a small part of me that hopes that one of the planes I’ve been watching for the past hour has some sort of difficulty, perhaps a dangerous landing or a bit of a skid.

But overall, I’m extremely glad when each plane lands safely, for the passengers, for my own confidence in air travel and for the fact that I know if I witnessed an air tragedy it would haunt me forever.

Many speakers suffer from nerves because they imagine themselves forgetting their lines, giving a bad performance and their audience laughing or jeering them.

They believe that their audience will actually delight in the tragedy of them failing – that they want to witness a ‘car crash’ of a performance.

These are the speakers that must remember that their audience wants them to succeed and wants them to give a good performance because they want to hear a powerful speaker.

Much like me watching planes, each successful landing or speech is exactly what your audience wants.

REMEMBER – Overall, your audience would be more disappointed if they arrived to hear you speak, only to witness you fail and have left the room no wiser, no better informed or no more inspired.

Remember, your audience is on your side and wants you to make a safe landing – perhaps even more for their own personal benefit than yours!

Using stories to get your point across

It’s the reason why a parent that tells their child off and explains why what the child has done is wrong will have a more obedient child in future than one that does not.

It’s the reason why we love Jeremy Clarkson’s rants about life in Britain and buy his books.

It’s the reason why X Factor contestants are more likely to get through auditions if they have had a life in which they have had to struggle against adversity.

Stories help us to interpret the world around us more easily, to learn, to understand and develop. We relate to stories, we understand stories and we are conditioned to enjoy stories from childhood.

If you’re having trouble getting your core message across in a speech, try incorporating a story into your speech that demonstrates your point.

It could be a story about what the audience should aspire to, what they should avoid doing or simply just why they should believe your message.

Either way, it could be the difference between your audience understanding, agreeing and actioning your message or just missing your point completely.

Try it next time you have to persuade, influence, educate or inform in your public speaking – we all love a good story!