1. Nonetheless, we’re going to try.

2. Goal: Incorporating humor into your speeches Process: Learn terms Identify examples Create with a partner Create and use in your speeches

3. Understatement Definition: drastically downplaying an event. Guy gets leg caught in machine, “It hurts a little bit. Kid bombs a test, “I could have done better.” Monty Python movie line, “Merely a flesh wound.”

4. Overstatement Definition: drastically exaggerating an event “After finishing my 25 page paper for English, I started splicing genes for Biology, and then I’ll build a cold fusion reactor for Physics.” “Everyone was there.” “What a hit! He knocked his head off!”

5. Irony Definition: least expected event firehouse burning down Homer Simpson working at sensitive nuclear power plant Krusty the Clown – a clown who is supposed to be a happy kid friend, actually smokes, drinks, swears, never smiles, and hates kids

6. Personification Definition: giving human attributes to inanimate objects The tree jumped in front of my car. The sidewalk laughed after tripping me.

7. Your turn – identify each Did you hear the police station was robbed? I played basketball against Michael Jordan – he was okay. I was great, and scored about a thousand points! When he scored, it wasn’t my fault, the wind took the ball away!

8. Your turn - use humor! In partnerships, practice using all four techniques in a quick anecdote. Make it funny. If you’re stumped on what to talk about, try describing your first day at JMHS.

9. Tommy Powell & Andrew Yadlowsky  Finally, the day of my first speech had come. I was a little nervous, having thrown up only 13 times the previous night. Standing at the podium in front of thousands of people, even the walls were staring at me, waiting for me to make a mistake, which didn’t take long. After the speech spiraled into disaster, I received a standing ovation from the audience.  May 2014

10. HUMOR Grading – 6 points total  With your partner, present your humorous anecdote (4 points each).  While listening to others, identify their use of humor (1 point each, need two points) Identify who spoke, write a few words from the story, and identify the device used.