Know your audience: the link between stand-up comedy and public speaking skills
The second most frequently asked question I field when acquaintances discover I perform stand-up comedy is “have you ever bombed?” (behind “can you tell me a joke?” side note: don’t do that - that’s akin to asking a chiropractor for a back adjustment when they reveal their profession at a party).
Every comedian, regardless of their success, has bombed. Bombing comes with the territory - if a comedian performs new material to a wide range of audiences, inevitably they’ll suffer a bad night. It’s both inevitable and a right of passage.
Instead of publicly sharing solely my bombing story, I’ll save myself some dignity by first telling the tale of my best gig ever - which happened to take place on the eve of my disastrous performance - and what this juxtaposition taught me about public speaking.
Night One:
I was honored to participate in Show Me the Funny in Galway, Ireland in February 2023 - the largest nationwide comedy competition. The contest has a fabled history, having launched the careers of several prominent comedians - in fact a runner-up finish kickstarted the comedy career of my business partner Brian Gallagher.
Flyer for the Show Me The Funny Competition in Galway, Ireland.
It was a lively, full house that night with about 150 in attendance. The audience consisted primarily of Irish students, local Irish families and a few American tourists who stumbled in. I took the stage more nervous than normal given the size of the crowd and the stakes but my nerves quickly calmed when I received a sustained eruption of laughter and cheers (an applause break in comedy parlance) after my first joke - only 5 seconds into my set! I proceeded to kill for the next eight minutes. Every joke hit harder than the previous one. My gag imitating a Cork accent had them rolling on the floor! I hadn’t felt that connected to the audience in some time. I left the stage to raucous cheers, feeling confident I’ll advance to the final, which I did.
After the show students lined up to take pictures with me and compliment my set. The next morning a man on the street recognized me and noted how amazing my performance was. I felt like a celebrity! I was on cloud nine, prepared to hire an agent and begin planning my Netflix special. That is, until my performance the following night…
Night Two:
My next gig was at a pub in Temple Bar, the touristy neighborhood in central Dublin known for cobblestone streets, live music and over-priced Guinness. It’s common for a Dublin visitor to spend 100% of their time in Temple Bar. It’s equally common for a local to never step foot there.
The Temple Bar pub in the Temple Bar neighborhood.
I started with my crowd-pleaser celebrity comparison joke (Jim Carrey and the Dad from Modern Family - Phil Dunphy - if you were wondering) - the one that elicited an applause break in Galway - which was met with a lukewarm chuckle this time. Ok, I figured, maybe they didn’t see the resemblance, I’ll just move on to the next joke. The following joke about my Irish citizenship received bleak murmurs of laughter.
My one risque-ish joke fell flatter than a pancake. The reaction to my Cork accent quip that killed the previous night was tumbleweeds and crickets. Comedians typically finish their set with their best joke, and my grand finale about a word lost in translation received a resounding…confused glare from the audience. Although I was two minutes under my allotted time I scurried off the stage, prepared to dodge incoming tomatoes.
Normally after a performance - regardless of how it lands - the other comedians on the bill offer praise and encouragement: “Nice set!” “Good stuff man!” But since I did so poorly they couldn’t even pretend that all was well; they essentially offered their condolences. One comedian friend whispered to me “Are you ok? The floor fell out below you and you couldn’t get back on.”
The Takeaways
Comedians can bomb for a variety of reasons, and I concluded I went down in flames primarily due to two missteps:
1) I did not tailor my set to the audience and
2) I stuck to my plan when things went south
Unlike my homogenous Irish audience in Galway, this crowd in Temple Bar was diverse, consisting of tourists from Denmark, Germany, South Africa, UK, and Belgium, which I was unaware of until after I performed. In retrospect, of course a family from Copenhagen won’t understand - let alone laugh at - my joke about mispronouncing Irish women’s names! Nor will they think a joke about Cork accents is funny - it’s far too nuanced. I should have removed the jokes that required a knowledge of Irish culture, and I also should have cut the profane-ish adult jokes given the families in attendance.
The second mistake I made was not pivoting when the ship was sinking. Most comedians will create a “set list” before they take stage - the order of the jokes they plan to deliver. As Mike Tyson famously said, “everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth” and when I received that first jab I should have tried something else - different jokes or crowdwork (conversing with the audience).
Me facilitating one of my first workshops for LinkedIn EMEA
These two principles are paramount to effective public speaking. It’s critical to know who is in your audience, no matter how big or small and customize your message accordingly. More specifically, what do they all have in common? Does everybody work for the same company or in the same industry? Are they all located in the same country or city? Do they all have a similar job title? The larger the group the broader the shared attributes may be. The references, stories - and even jokes - should align to those common denominators. For instance, if everybody in the audience works in tech sales then share a story related to closing a SaaS deal to kick off the presentation. Heads will nod as a connection is established.
Secondly, when it’s clear the speaker is not connecting with the audience, for whatever reason, it’s time to try something new to engage them. Poll the audience (e.g. “show of hands...”), ask a provocative question or share a personal story instead of robotically voicing over the remaining slides - the speaker has nothing to lose. Audiences are more engaged when they feel the presenter is reacting in the moment, not delivering a carbon copy of what they rehearsed.
Get in touch to learn more about how Corporate Charisma can help you and your team authentically connect with and engage the audience through our workshops and speaker offerings!
