Do You Talk Funny? 7 Comedy Habits to Become a Better (and Funnier) Public Speaker

Warm, witty, extremely useful in many fields, and in life..., March 19, 2015
By L.

'Do You Talk Funny?' was written for business speakers, and maybe an aspiring TED talk-er or two, with an eye to allowing them to intersperse tried-and-true humor in their presentations. From the time I began reading, I realized the book's step-by-step tips and overall outlook would really help me as an adult ESL teacher and writer, and as a translator: I once actually worked on a text in a subject that's been (peculiarly, I thought) dear to me since college, the philosophy of comedy, and I thought for sure its author and I were the only ones so fascinated. Now here's David Nihill (with his 'rule of three', coincidentally), both fascinated and fascinating show more as he delves into all manner of comedic profundities. 'Do You Talk Funny?' thus lives up to its title and initial premise (if you add humor you'll be more of a hit than the 90% of other business speakers who think their job is to celebrate boredom), but provides the reader much, MUCH more. Nihill is eloquent as he convinces us yet again that perspiration beats inspiration, but he softens the news of how much work humor can be ("dying is easy; comedy is hard", as Peter O'Toole quotes in 'My Favorite Year') with detailed directions for structuring jokes, an inside look at the life of successful professional stand-up comics, AND serious ways of using comedy to 'pay it forward'. His initial inspiration for learning how to 'talk funny' was being asked to give a speech in support of a friend with a severe spinal injury, and now that he's moved from stage-fright-to-the-max, to comfortable with even a tough crowd, he organizes events worldwide to raise money for this cause. show less

I applaud David Nihill for his enthusiasm and interest in helping people become better, funnier, public speakers -- all of that comes through in these pages. But those good intentions aside, I disliked the book. It's bloated (despite his advice to “get to the funny fast”); is not funny (what humor there is, is often of the digestive-tract sort); and seems too much a memoir of his speaking career. Moreover, the how-to's are much more about public speaking in general than humor specifically, which surprised and disappointed me.

(Review based on an advance reading copy provided by the publisher.)