7 Comedy Habits to Become a Better (and Funnier) Public Speaker

Seriously, it's great to finally get a practical guide to combine comedy and business. I take improv classes and see huge benefits (applied to presentations, speeches, and communication in general). Your insights on joke structure and other "insider view" perspectives were extremely helpful. And it didn't hurt that you entertained us with Guatemalan-house-ruining-via-beer-funnels stories sprinkled in. You definitely practice what you preach. Bravo.

I appreciate the scope, David tackles a lot of issues about public speaking and comedy. He spends considerably more time on how to develop humor in your own personal story than offering a process for developing humor in the mundane everyday business stuff that most of us have to talk about daily.

Really wanted to like this one. Just couldn't get through it.

He was very analytical and thoughtful about how he goes through the process of writing comedy material. But it just didn't work for me. But maybe that's because I have a horrible sense of humor.

This might be a great book for someone else, it just didn't connect for me.

Even though I've been teaching for over twenty years, I still struggle with nervousness when it comes to public speaking, especially when I have to speak to an audience I don't know. Over the years, I've had to speak at conferences, at workshops for my college, and, currently, at meetings as the volunteer president for a non-profit society. In each situation, I've always clammed up -- but this book has helped spark new ideas for how to rely information in a fun, informative way.

There are seven chapters that outline tips and strategies to help you locate humorous situations. As other reviewers mentioned, it's a book that you'll want to keep as a reference and refer back to.

It's also a fun read, and, while it appears to be a small book, it's packed with useful information. While some strategies don't quite mesh with my shy personality, the author suggests ways to make his ideas your own, so that they fit with your goals and personal manner of speaking.

As another tip, I've also found that using Amy Cuddy's "Power Posing" (Google her if you haven't seen her TED Talk on presence) also helps calm my nerves before speaking.

Overall, this is a really useful book!

Two things I worry about. First, I fear people will think this is a book about how to be a stand-up comic, because that is the challenge David Nihill set for himself when trying to cure his fear of public speaking. Second, since he often describes his audience as business speakers, I fear this book won't reach its FULL potential audience. Namely, anybody who has occasion to speak publicity about any topic whatsoever.

As a former staff writer at the Wall Street Journal, I can certainly attest to Nihill's assertion that most business speakers are deadly dull. But I reached out for this book as someone whose two major topics are family traditions and quilting. I lecture often, and I want to keep improving: lectures are one of my main sources of income.

I've gotten really helpful tips from several other books, including Talk like TED (which I've also reviewed on the store.com). But this book came along as I was creating a new speech, and I got wonderful practical ideas from Do You Talk Funny. Much of what I was discussing wasn't inherently humorous, and some of the material was downright somber. But Nihill gave me great advice on making everything more crisp and being more dramatic in my opening and closing. Because of his advice, I was less hesitant about going for the full-bore laughs when they were appropriate. He really helps you figure out how to "deliver" a line so it lands with the absolutely most dramatic punch possible. I don't think I have ever been as totally in synch with an audience as I was after following the advice in this book.

Highly recommended!!!!

This is a good book on public speaking. Particularly on integrating humor, one of the best techniques for making it easy for audience members to both enjoy sitting through and actually remember something from an oral performance. I had recently finished TED Talks, which is also excellent and worth getting, so here's a comparison between the two.

Irish Dave's book (this one) is shorter, and easier to read. The TED book, while also filled with great content (and more of it), takes more work to digest. Dave made this one easy. I particularly like the frequent use of lists in this one, which present material in a way that's easy to skim, glean main points from, and remember fairly easily. Spend just five minutes flipping through this book and you'll find a number of useful tips and have a few ideas to already improve your next talk. The TED one has more in it overall, and a wider variety of suggestions for improving public talks, but will take a bit more time and mental power to sort through it all.

This book delivers on solid advice for improving one's skills and comfort in public speaking. It's an easy read that doesn't waste time. It's often pretty funny, and on many occasions I found myself laughing while reading. The author discusses his journey from fear of public speaking to stand up comedian, and shares what he learned along the way. There's good instruction on using the material of your life's stories, and humorous things you encounter in every day life, and crafting those with the skills of a storyteller for delivery in speeches. The emphasis is on a natural style of delivery without notes, that will connect with audiences.
I like that the book promotes using humor in everyday life to help connect with people and lower stress. A good sense of humor can be cultivated with time, attention, and care. I think if you are looking to improve your sense of humor, or your speaking skills, there's plenty of practical, effective advice here.

Not only is this book very helpful, it is downright funny. David Nihill's writing is witty and informative and is presented in a manner that makes it easy to absorb and to apply in real life. I laughed out loud at least once in every chapter and I was left wanting even more. I knew it was going to be good when I read one of the reviews at the beginning of the book. It was from Marita Nihill, David's mother. She says, "This book is great. I haven't read it yet but David drew a picture when he was six years old of a penguin drinking beer in a Chinese restaurant and it was clear the potential for slight wisdom and misguided creativity were there".

I am currently in grad school and presentations are often a big part of my classes. While I haven't really minded doing them, I can't say I was great at it, maybe not even good at it. After reading this book, I can hardly wait for my next presentation as I'm sure it will be vastly better than before.

I am also going to be jumping back into the labor pool and I am certain this book will help me feel more confident and comfortable in job interviews, because, after all, they really are just presentations.

The book is divided into 7 chapters: #1 Start with a Story, 2 Add Humor - Find the Humor, #3 Write Funny, #4 Rehearsed Spontaneity,
#5 Delivery, #6 Control the Audience, #7 Close the Book, but Not Fully - Permanent Beta.
It also contains a wonderful section called Tipliography. It is a summary of the tips offered in the book plus more from other successful comedians.

If you are completely satisfied and absolutely certain of your public speaking skills, then this book could still be for you due to it's wonderful humor. If, however, you are a normal person and have at least some apprehension about public speaking, then you will definitely benefit from reading this terrific book.

The premise of David Nihill’s Do You Talk Funny? is that while we all can’t be professional comedians we can, and should, utilize the comedians’ techniques for public speaking in order that we make more powerful connections with our audience. Whether you work in business, the arts, or education, Nihill’s comedy primer is designed for you.

Nihill correctly points out that the secret to comedy is not the one-liner or the punch line, but the personal story or anecdote: “Modern-day storytelling is joke telling.” Much of his book centers on crafting one’s personal story in order to maximize comic impact so that the story leaves a deep lasting connection. One of my favorite lines, from Rita Rudner, is that we don’t connect when we act confident and brag about our success; rather, when we “embrace our embarrassment” and show the humiliations that toughened our character is when we really connect with our audience.

Nihill explains that to tell an effective story we must have a hero/protagonist, a clearly identifiable conflict, a “clear lesson of transformation,” unexpected story twists, believability, and an “inciting incident.”

Nihill makes it clear that “great stories are told, not read.” They must be performed from the heart, and he teaches you how to develop a “memory palace” so you can caress al the details of your story without notes.

One of the major exercises you’ll have to do to successfully apply this book to your storytelling improvement is to make a long story bank or what he calls a “story file.” Your story list will be the bank that you go back to again and again. A related exercise is to comb over each story and identify the comic bit, what he calls “find the funny.” What we’re doing with our story is creating a “joke funnel,” beginning with the general story and premise and moving toward a punch line and taglines (related punch lines).

Over and over, Nihill will have you go back to your story file. With each story, you’ll want to identify the funniest part and the life lesson as you discover how to make it into a public presentation.

Nihill succeeds in selling the story as a universal form of human connection, and told well, a story helps us identify meaning in our lives and make this connection with others.

For anyone trying to improve his or her storytelling skills, I can give Do You Talk Funny? the highest recommendation.

This book makes the basic point that public speaking is most effective when an audience is engaged, with an easy way of engaging an audience is to connect to the audience through personal experience, possibly using humor. What I liked about this book is that it was indeed based on the experience of the author who explained how difficult public speaking was for him and how he overcame this difficulty by working as a stand up comedian. I've read a number of books on public speaking (with best written around things learned in giving TED talks), and found that this had a number of very good pointers, wrapped around inclusion of humor. For me, good speaking doesn't necessarily have to be humorous, but rather has to have some element of anticipation, which is to me what humor is about - you want to keep listening to hear what comes next,. Humor is way of getting attention and engagement, but must be combined with substance of talk.

The book has a lot of good tips, which basically come down to engage your audience early, make points clearly and in a way that your audience will find interesting (e.g., in form of a story) , and make sure that there are clear takeaways. These may seem like clear points, but I think we have all heard many talks that don't engage us or leave really leave us with little to take away.

I liked the book a lot, in that it really was an easy read,. It certainly had lots of examples based on the author's experience and other's real life experience that I could identify with, and it does make a case that using humor in a talk is an effective approach to engagement. The book is short (130 pages or so, and is engaging. There are exercises in each of the 7 main chapters that are helpful to speaking more effectively.

Highly recommended.

Author David Nihill spent a year facing his fear of public speaking. He wanted to become a better speaker to help the business presentations that he began having to give more frequently. He shares honestly about his fears and struggles and some of the funny stories when his communication skills failed him.

Time and again, people told him that stand-up comics are the hardest working speakers out there, because they have to make every minute count. For a business speaker aiming to entertain, every minute counts as well, by seeking to add humor to keep your audience's attention while you transmit information to them.

This book has many examples, and lots of funny, memorable stories, but it's jam-packed with information as well. The "7 Comedy Steps" that he shares, are easy but not effortless. Each chapter ends with an assignment. Completing them all, and making an effort to practice as he advises, you will definitely know how to punch up that funny story you always tell, or how to add a funny story to your presentation.

If you like reading project memoirs, this one is similar enough to give you enjoyment as David sought to do the hard work on the stand-up circuit, but it's also full of information that will help anyone who has to give public presentations or anyone who just wants to be funnier and tell better stories.

.
It's clear, practical coaching…How to make your talk fun, funny, engaging.

Not a masterpiece, but lots of correct and helpful tips, easily digested.

Many links to example talks and resources.

Lots on delivery…dealing with nervousness, hecklers, etc. as well as how to craft your anecdotes and story.

Nit-picks aside (see Note 1), it will probably help you give much better talks.

If in doubt, skim it first using the store’s “Look Inside” feature. Read the “Tipliography” (pages 143-160) which lists 80+ tips from throughout the book.

- - - Disclosure - - -

The publisher gave me this item for review. I believe my review is impartial.

- - - Notes - - -

Note 1: Nit Picks: A. It’s true, his writing is not all that funny, but it’s not boring either. And there are some funny anecdotes given as examples. B. The book zig-zags between “how to be a successful standup comedian” and “how to make your business talks more funny and engaging.” C. There’s a certain amount of “padding”...key points are repeated as large-font sidebars (helpful if skimming the book).

This book achieves something very difficult: a mindset shift.

Comedy or even "being funny" is something that most of us think is a talent someone is born with and if you're lucky, you have it. But Nihill says it isn't so. Sure, some people have more talent than others, but with most things in life, to get better, you need practice. But also to practice, you need to know what to do, how to do it and, ideally, someone with experience to help you get there. This book does just that.

Nihill also write (paraphrased), "No one wants to hear about how you're now successful and how you weren't scared to reach your fame." He gives his own examples (and those of others) about how he struggled, tried, failed and then progressed using techniques laid out in the book. It gives the reader just what we're looking for: the confidence and tools to succeed ourselves.

It's a skill to add humor to your speaking (and writing and presenting). Skills can be acquired and learned.

I'm going to paraphrase again, but it was one of my favorite parts. He quoted someone as saying that " ... the time after laughter is when the audience is at its most attentive." In other words, you've opened them up and humor is giving you the opportunity to really dig deep and reach your audience.

.
It's clear, practical coaching…How to make your talk fun, funny, engaging.

Not a masterpiece, but lots of correct and helpful tips, easily digested.

Many links to example talks and resources.

Lots on delivery…dealing with nervousness, hecklers, etc. as well as how to craft your anecdotes and story.

Nit-picks aside (see Note 1), it will probably help you give much better talks.

If in doubt, skim it first using the store’s “Look Inside” feature. Read the “Tipliography” (pages 143-160) which lists 80+ tips from throughout the book.

- - - Disclosure - - -

The publisher gave me this item for review. I believe my review is impartial.

- - - Notes - - -

Note 1: Nit Picks: A. It’s true, his writing is not all that funny, but it’s not boring either. And there are some funny anecdotes given as examples. B. The book zig-zags between “how to be a successful standup comedian” and “how to make your business talks more funny and engaging.” C. There’s a certain amount of “padding”...key points are repeated as large-font sidebars (helpful if skimming the book).

This book achieves something very difficult: a mindset shift.

Comedy or even "being funny" is something that most of us think is a talent someone is born with and if you're lucky, you have it. But Nihill says it isn't so. Sure, some people have more talent than others, but with most things in life, to get better, you need practice. But also to practice, you need to know what to do, how to do it and, ideally, someone with experience to help you get there. This book does just that.

Nihill also write (paraphrased), "No one wants to hear about how you're now successful and how you weren't scared to reach your fame." He gives his own examples (and those of others) about how he struggled, tried, failed and then progressed using techniques laid out in the book. It gives the reader just what we're looking for: the confidence and tools to succeed ourselves.

It's a skill to add humor to your speaking (and writing and presenting). Skills can be acquired and learned.

I'm going to paraphrase again, but it was one of my favorite parts. He quoted someone as saying that " ... the time after laughter is when the audience is at its most attentive." In other words, you've opened them up and humor is giving you the opportunity to really dig deep and reach your audience.

David Nihill teaches how to weave humor into presentations by using the techniques of successful comedians and storytellers. It is not about telling jokes, but about learning to "talk funny."

Nihill's seven comedy habits are:
Start with a story
Add humor--find the funny
Write funny
Rehearsed spontaneity
Delivery
Control the audience
Close the book, but not fully--permanent beta

Each section has helpful information to make you talk funny--or at least, funnier than you do now. My favorite part of the book, though, are the 80 tips in the Tipliography section. There is a lot of good advice there. Read through the entire book and when you need a quick refresher, read those tips.

This book will not make you a professional comedian, but it can help you to make your presentations more engaging and entertaining. After all, if you want people to listen to you and remember what you say, making them smile and laugh is a good way to start.

As an author, I sometimes have to speak to groups. When I was teaching, I had no problem addressing assemblies of children. When the principal came into my room, though, I always dropped my chalk. When I left the classroom to write full time, my fears of speaking ballooned. There was one embarrassing presentation where I demonstrated, unintentionally, how to use PowerPoint to provide listeners with a nap. This book may be the remedy. Showing, not telling, it shows how to deliver information through humor, by, well, delivering information through humor. It is hilarious and packed with practical, authoritative tips for improving the delivery and content of your next talk. I am going to keep it on my shelf and consult it while I prepare each talk from now on, until I master the art, or at least improve. The book is intended for business speakers, but I recommend this slim volume to all fellow writers. You will learn more than you expect and spend a lot of time explaining why you are laughing.

In 'Do You Talk Funny' David Nihill does what many authors aren't able to do - practice what he preaches. He uses funny stories to teach you the skill of developing and delivering humor in speaking.

David doesn't rely solely on his expertise, He offers supporting evidence of his key points from some of the best humorists, professional speakers and storytelling experts in the business.

After reading this book, you'll understand:

WHY humor in speaking is important, and why it works
HOW to uncover relevant humor for your presentations
The processes of writing funny material
The importance of storytelling in building your brand and your credibility
How to deliver your talks for maximum humorous impact

Most importantly, this isn't a book that you simply read and absorb skills through osmosis - I tried, it doesn't work. David provides exercises at the conclusion of each chapter; these exercises offer a roadmap for you to master these storytelling and speaking skills.

If you want to be funnier when you speak, get this book.

Michael Davis
Author, 'THE Book On Storytelling'

I like books about public speaking--and "Do You Talk Funny?" is the latest of my reads about the subject. It's broken down into the following sections:" start with story," "add humor--find the story," "write funny," "rehearsed spontaneity," "delivery," "control the audience," and "close the book--but not fully." The book finished off with a further reading section (which includes a link to comedy book resources) as well as a longer section summarizing all the tips dispersed in the book (which include things like drawing upon real life experiences, finding the key point of each story, getting to the funny part fast, starting a funny story file, feeding the stories in to the joke structure of 1)intro---2)punch line--3)taglines (taglines are optional), etc. to more general public speaking tips like making eye contact knowing who the audience is, etc.) Overall, I thought this was a fun yet informative read.

At first I doubted this book would be helpful. But soon after I started reading, I wondered why no one else had ever written a book on such an obviously helpful topic (and maybe they did, but I didn't notice).

David Nihill went from being deathly afraid of public speaking to hosting a business conference, regularly performing stand-up comedy and winning storytelling competitions in front of packed houses. And he did it by learning from some of the best public speakers in the world: stand-up comedians.

This book tells David's story – and distills what he learned about how even non-funny people can apply key principles of stand-up comedy to speaking engagements, presentations, and other business content to make it funnier and more engaging.

This is a book that's fun to read and that I plan to refer to every time I develop a new presentation. It's a great vaccine for death-by-PowerPoint!

I have not yet had the opportunity to actually hear David Nihill speak at an event, but the details and preparation that went into this book makes me look forward to that in the future.

David is an Irishman by birth who, like many of us, was not drawn to public speaking. He recounts his professional and personal life experiences in this short book (170 pages) in very interesting and easy to read ways. By the way, my comment on the length of the book was a compliment - David is not paid by the word, but the message.

His 7 points that discuss approaches, rehearsal, delivery, audience interaction and dealing with all the events that can happen are right on target. He offers exercises, personal insights of failures and successes along with short tips.

Many of us do not want to ever deliver comedy or speeches, but we do all need to be able to present our messages in ways that can work for us. David does an EXCELLENT way to find the approaches you may be seeking. I particularly liked his 80 points of TIPLIOGRAPHY that provide yet another way of communicating to the point. The ten pages of NOTES share his sources and these also can be valuable tools for many or all of us.

I will deliver my 5,000th class or training program sometime this year, and I must say that I picked up some new ideas and reminded of other messages I have forgotten over the years. David - well done!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

John J Hogan
Hospitality Educators
Hogan Hospitality

A fantastic resource that will help you get, as David so eloquently puts it, from “sweaty to stage-ready.” And that’s no exaggeration. In ‘Do You Talk Funny,’ he provides vital advice that is easy to apply in almost any public speaking situation. Very highly recommended!

Full disclosure: I received a free advance review copy of this book from the author. Further disclosure: I do not know David Nihill personally, nor do I want to, and I am not one of his immediate family members, even though my grandmother did come from Ireland like he does so we might be related in some way. I took a course from him on Udemy. Final disclosure: I only read the funny parts of this book, so if you find a part that's not funny, I didn't read that part, and this review's not about it.

This is a dangerous book. It should not be read while eating, unless you like food coming out of your nose. Its advice is seriously sketchy. For example, Mr. Nihill tells you to take every opportunity to use humor when speaking in public. He should have mentioned there are exceptions, like when giving a eulogy. I shouldn't have been the one people will remember forever. If everyone were to put the advice in this book into practice, the level of public speaking in this country would rise so much, no one could do it anymore. In spite of the dangers, the book is worth the read, especially since you can get it at the store's discount price.

In our post-Jon-Stewart age, Do You Talk Funny? is a much needed book for public speakers. If you have to give presentations and they're not at an insomnia conference, you need to include humor in what you say or people will play with their phones. You need to be able to find the funny in your talk. David Nihill will help you find it.

One thing about this book is that it won't make you funnier just by sitting on your shelf, unless the shelf collapses while you're sitting on it. Then you'd be hilarious. It won't even make you funnier if you just read it. It's not magic; it's a book. If you're looking for magic, you need a fairy godmother, not Mr. Nihill who looks terrible in a frock. But if you take what's in the book and you work the exercises and you become a student of humor, people will laugh at you during your next talk, and more importantly, they will remember what you say. And in the end, that's the point, isn't it?
That and getting paid, of course.

I have been trying to improve my public speaking abilities, and in a broad sense, I've focused on storytelling. In James Whittaker's The Art of Stage Presence, he talks about comedians as examples of good storytellers. With this in mind, I decided to see what David Nihill had to offer. He outlines a structured approach to comedic storytelling that is easy to follow. I liked that the chapters include exercises to help the reader put what they learn into practice. While I don't know if I'm quite up for some what he did - signing up for open-mic storytelling contests for example - I think this is a beneficial book for aspiring speakers. I recommend it without reservation.

I received an advance copy because I took David's Udemy course on this subject. I found his material to be very well researched and I applied it successfully in a presentation I gave on quite a dry subject (Flight Safety). The techniques in this book will help you to stand out in a field where all too often people present in a technical correct but ultimately forgettable way. I found it admirable that David really put himself out there as a guinea pig and walks the walk. Because the topic is about speaking, I can recommend his Udemy course too which has a good selection of useful background example material.
If you have to present often in any forum, this book will give you great tips and techniques to make you stand out and be remembered.

One caveat though, you will have to put in the work and rehearsal to make it work, there is never any magic wand which will solve your problems without effort. But if you apply even only 10 % of this book and some time to internalise it you will most definitely stand out!

Great book with lots of helpful tips and techniques. I read the book and purchased the video course on Udemy and have been able to put the skills to use right away. I spoke at a conference recently and had excellent feedback - the best I've ever had. Just last night I was speaking to a small group and used some of the story telling techniques to relate my message to the audience and got a lot of laughs and kudos. And let me be clear, this book teaches more than just being funny, it teaches effective story telling techniques that help you connect to your audience.

I suggest the book and/or the video course if you already know the basics of public speaking and now want to stand out from everyone else and be a memorable speaker. Considering how boring most business speakers are, I think you can quickly see how easy it would be to rise to the top 10% of speakers in your company.

That said, there is a lot of basic public speaking concepts that are not discussed in this book. I benefitted because I had a foundation of several "how to be a boring speaker" classes that I've taken over the years. Also, if you can, do the video and book together. They make good companions. Either one by themselves are great, but as a set will help re-enforce the material and cement it in your mind.

David has implemented in his writing and editing what he's trying to teach us.
Stories √
Humor √
Rehearsed Spontaneity ( could use a bit more rehearsal ) but √
Delivery √ ( this is the part that struck me )

He'll teach you something, and you'll quickly realize he's actually using that mechanism himself. (at first you're like.. "hey.. he's just using the stuff he's writing about.. where's the magic in that?" and then.. after a bit more, you feel like "wow, this guy is not trying seem super smart. He literally just went out and researched the heck out of this topic and documented his work." and then.. you start to think.. "hmm.. I bet I could do that too."

David has clearly done his research. Unlike some authors, he doesn't just change the words of the ideas he's 'borrowed' and make himself come off like a scholarly expert. He simply wraps his ideas in the quotations of people we all know, like and trust. It's as if he had an idea, discovered the formula, and implemented the wisdom from many - many people; as we all do naturally.

I've heard David live - and it's easy to imagine how the simple techniques he covers can actually be learned. He went through an intensive obsession to master his fear of public speaking. He immersed himself in standup comedy, figuring those people are the best suited to deal with fears in public speaking.

The first time I met David, my face was literally falling apart as I was laughing so hard for more than an hour.

What strikes me about the book is how confident I felt I could use the material. It's presented in a very pragmatic way that can be absorbed (practiced) in small chunks.

It's not critical that you get 100% before you're ready to use these knew skills.

You can immediately read or listen to a single chapter, and start to get ideas for experiments you can try. With practice and feedback (which he encourages), you'll start to be like the professional comedians who watch for the things that make people laugh. (think about those memes you've seen of cats trying to get out of bath tubs - guaranteed laugh)

In his talks, he shows with videos how predictable humans are when it comes to humor.

Certain things will always make us laugh. He encourages you to not be afraid to just insert those funny things into your talk. Don't invent funny; borrow it.

In summary, there are things that are always funny. There are ways to make things more funny. When you put those two ideas together, you'll be able to predictably add laughter to your presentations. People listen better and remember feeling great about your talk when you've made them laugh.

When I go back to read it a second time, I'm going to really pay attention to the structure. If you do the same, you'll feel not only like you can be more humorous, but that you could take any thing you're interested in, research the heck out of it, and write your own book.

There obviously are people that don't catch on to david Nihill's style, and you'll notice the very tiny percentage of negative reviews. But for most of us, this is a book to read and learn from. Whether you're a member of your local Toastmasters group, or a professional speaker, you'll find much here to amuse you and guide you. Ministers, school teachers, as well as others who are regularly called on to make speeches will all benefit from this. Read the handfull of negative reviews, but I believe you'll find most of us have read this book and are enthusiastic about it.

Really enjoyed seeing the author speak at an engaging workshop and following up with his book. I love how David weaves in his own experience and challenges with public speaking and how he has dived into learning how to take the mystery out of being funny in speaking, storytelling, and presenting...with exceeding success. The result is this actionable, practical, entertaining guide on using humor not to distract from your message...but to highlight and amplify it!

The short end: think fun, then funny then funnier with a host of great practical tips. An awesome book on public speaking you'll surely read more than once...and may even listen to over audio to hear "Irish Dave" in full force :)

I can see how implementing the principles taught by David, will improve my ability to relate with people in so many ways. But I sought this how-to-guide specifically because I am in the middle of launching a kid's product that will be competing with some already well established products in the kid's furniture category. As a newcomer I will need any edge I can to not only break the ice with my target audience but also to distinguish my brand and to effectively tell the story of how the product came to be.

I have always been considered the strong silent type, a man of few words if you will and have always struggled not only to tell stories but also with being funny. And like David points out so many self improvement guides, which focus on effective public speaking, talk about how being funny is a great skill to have- yet do little to show you how to actually be funny if you're not a born comedian. Do You Talk Funny is unique in the sense that it will not only show you how to be be funny but also how you can incorporate this skill to into telling a more effective story and ultimately improving your public speaking sensibility. You get great bang for the buck with this guide and if your pondering whether or not the knowledge/ wisdom imparted by Mr. Nihill is worth the price my response is buy it! Your ROI will be ten fold, or more, if you actually practice and follow what David has to offer.

As a high-school teacher who trains other educators to use humor in the classroom, this book is an excellent resource and one I will definitely recommend. Although it is geared towards a business audience, the public speaking and comedy tips can be utilized by teachers to improve their delivery and, inherently, their students' content retention. It's a quick read, but, as Nihill notes, we are an increasingly ADD society, and those pressed for time or who are easily distracted can read through just the portions that relate to their specific needs, or study and apply the tips consolidated at the end of the book.
I'm also looking forward to relaying some of these tips to my own students. Throughout the book, Nihill humanizes himself with references to his own stumbles and struggles with stage fright. The fear of public speaking is at a particular zenith in a high-school classroom and hearing some advice from a speaker who has been there may serve as a particular source of comfort.

This is a wonderful book. It does not only explain how to be funny, it actually shows it. It also teaches in a clear way, using 7 main points and going into detail for each of them. I already started to incorporate some of the ideas into my stage show (I'm a Blues musician and I use funny and interesting stories between songs to turn people onto this kind of music see andisaitenhieb.com) and it works. While I wasn't born as the funniest guy on earth (the author wasn't either according to his own words) I start to understand how being funny works, especially while being on stage, which is even more difficult than in a 1-on-1 situation. Recommended!

I met David at his conference, Funny Biz, and enjoyed the book not only for his actual tips but also for the anecdotes he shares about comedy in San Francisco! The Moth! The Punchline! The Castro Theatre! (check check and check). I was entertained more than I had expected of a business book (NOTE: I would say the same for his conference which is a MUST) and I learned techniques I have already put to use in my business. This book is, unlike many, NOT destined to be deposited in my neighborhood mini-free-library, but will be shared with colleagues. Thanks, Irish Dave.

Confession time: I was given an advance copy to read by David. But don't let that sway you...

Not sure exactly what I expected when I got this book. Probably a book full of jokes, humour and anecdotes? Otherwise something dry, unappealing and a chore to read? Thankfully this book has amusing material but it is definitely not the latter. Far from it. David has instead created a book full of useful insights, distilled experience and practical assistance for those who find themselves speaking in front of groups of strangers, or people, or strange people. He breaks a method down into a structure followed by implementable action steps in order to teach the reader how to create a talk to which both engages listeners and allows them to relate to the speaker and his/her message. Humour done well is both a terrific ice breaker and effective message carrier, and the book explains the core concepts and delivers digestible takeaways that can be used by anyone to improve their talks and speeches. Thoroughly recommended!

I am deeply grateful for David to have written this book. What a gem of a book! While I am quite skilled and used to speaking in public, I am most often too serious about what I talk about. Comedy does not come to me easily, maybe it is because of my German nature...
This book gives me instant access to how to include stories in my talks that are funny, uplifting and easily accessible to my audience!
While I don't read a lot of books these days, this book is captivating and I read it within a few days.
This book is my personal "bestseller" and I have already recommended it to many of my presentation coaching clients.
Since- what is really more important than an entertaining, charismatic and fun presentation filled with stories which makes us laugh?
David Nihill is a riot !
If I could give this book a 6-star, I would.