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Do You Talk Funny?: 7 Comedy Habits to Become a Better (and Funnier) Public Speaker Paperback – March 8, 2016

by David Nihill (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 783 ratings
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Public speaking can be terrifying. For David Nihill, the idea of standing in front of an audience was scarier than cliff jumping into a thorny pit of spiders and mothers-in-law. Without a parachute or advanced weaponry. Something had to change.

In what doesn't sound like the best plan ever, David decided to overcome his fears by pretending to be an accomplished comedian called "Irish Dave" for one full year, crashing as many comedy clubs, festivals, and shows as possible. One part of the plan was at least logical: he was already Irish and already called Dave.

In one year, David 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.

Do You Talk Funny?: 7 Comedy Habits to Become a Better (and Funnier) Public Speaker shows how the key principles of stand-up comedy can be applied to your speaking engagements and presentations to make you funnier, more interesting, and better looking. (Or at least two of the three.) Whether you are preparing for a business presentation, giving a wedding toast, defending your thesis, raising money from investors, or simply want to take on something you're afraid of, this book will take you from sweaty to stage-ready.

You'll learn how to:
- Craft a story and content that your audience will want to listen to
- Find the funniest parts of your material and how to get to them faster
- Deal with stage fright
- Master the two most important parts of your performance: timing and delivery

Ten percent of the author's proceeds from this book will go to Arash Bayatmakou via Help Hope Live until he is fully back on his feet and thereafter to one of the many facing the same challenges after suffering a severe spinal cord injury.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    208 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    BenBella Books
  4. Publication date
    March 8, 2016
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.55 x 8.31 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1942952279
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1942952275
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"David Nihill talks funny. He also writes funny. But his book isn't just entertaining, it's incredibly useful. It's packed with effective and easy-to-implement tips that have helped me in my presentations."

—AJ Jacobs, author of Drop Dead Healthy and The Year of Living Biblically 

 "The best public speaking book of all time."

—BookAuthority 

"Your next talk will be 10 times more entertaining if you read this book."

—Charlie Hoehn, author of Play It Away: A Workaholic's Cure for Anxiety  

"The best book of public speaking techniques on the market."

—Books Inc. 

"This is a book you don't just read, it's a book you DO. Look, I'm such an expert in this field that I'm quoted in the book, and even I learned a tremendous amount reading it, so I'm gonna guess you will too."

—Bill Grundfest, Golden Globe Winner, 3 Time Emmy Nominee, Founder of NYC's Comedy Cellar

"It is one of those rare books that makes you think, laugh, and embrace your quirky self. In an inspiring and entertaining manner, Do You Talk Funny? teaches you how to find your inner storytelling mojo. A great read!"

—Michael Margolis, CEO, Get Storied

"Not only does David nail how to add funny to your talks, he also practices what he preaches in this very entertaining read. My two complaints are: 1) This book didn't exist when I started as a speaker and 2) I didn't write it."

—Andrew Tarvin, author of Humor That Works, award-winning speaker, NYC-based comedian

"From writing to performing to where to put your hands, David Nihill will help you become a more humorous storyteller."

—Peter McGraw, University of Colorado professor, director of the Humor Research Lab (HuRL), coauthor of The Humor Code: A Global Search for What Makes Things Funny

"Read this book and you'll enjoy presenting to people, they'll enjoy listening to you and crucially they'll happily retain your message. A riveting read, a super story, and awesome advice."

—Neal O'Gorman, CEO, Artomatix

"David's rich life experiences shine through in this wildly entertaining guide to public speaking. Whether you're reading it for fun or to stand out at your next business presentation, I promise you'll be inspired."

—Sami Aziz, Producer on ABC's Shark Tank and two-time Emmy Award Winner

About the Author

From Dublin, Ireland, David Nihill is a bestselling author and the Founder of FunnyBizz Conference. His work has been read by over 1 million people and featured in Inc., Lifehacker, The Huffington Post, Fast Company, Entrepreneur, Forbes, NPR, The Irish Independent, TV3, Newstalk, and The Irish Times. “One of the best speaking coaches out there” according to Forbes.com, David’s program with over 34,000 students has been featured by Prezi as one of the best training courses for presenters. A sought after international business and TEDx speaker, David has also performed standup comedy and was the winner of the prestigious San Francisco International Comedy Competition (previous finalists include Robin Williams, Dane Carvey, and Ellen DeGeneres). As a lecturer, he has taught at Stanford Graduate Business School, UC Berkeley, University of Oxford, and University College Dublin. A graduate of the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, he now calls San Francisco home when immigration officials permit, and was named on the 2017 Irish America 100 List, which recognizes the accomplishments of the best and the brightest Irish-American and Irish-born leaders.

About the Editor

Nils Parker is the editor of multiple New York Times, Amazon, and Wall Street Journal bestselling books, including I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell and Assholes Finish First by Tucker Max, Trust Me, I'm Lying and The Obstacle Is The Way by Ryan Holiday, and Choose Yourself by James Altucher. He loves comedy, Cal football, and his wife. Not necessarily in that order.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ BenBella Books (March 8, 2016)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 208 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1942952279
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1942952275
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.55 x 8.31 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 783 ratings

About the author

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David Nihill

David Nihill

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David is the Founder of FunnyBizz, a community, writer platform, and conference series, where business meets humor to abolish boring content. His work has been featured in Inc., Lifehacker, The Huffington Post, Fast Company, Entrepreneur, NPR, The Wall Street Journal, The Irish Times, TED and Forbes. He has taught at Stanford Graduate Business School, UC Berkeley and the University of Oxford among others, and his videos have been viewed over 50 million times. He was named on the Irish America 100 List, which recognises the accomplishments of the best and the brightest Irish-American and Irish-born leaders and the GlobalGurus Top 30 List, which recognises the world's leading communications professionals. A graduate of the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School he calls San Francisco home when immigration officials permit. Full info here: http://davidnihill.com/

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
783 global ratings
Fun read & actionable!
5 Stars
Fun read & actionable!
Awesome book! I'm writing my first book and was looking for some tips on adding humor to a rather heavy story. I'm so happy I bought and read this. I've got like 10 books going but this one I read stay to finish in about a week. Highly actionable and entertaining. (Insert joke here)
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Top reviews from the United States

Ephraim Natan (formerly known as Beit Hagafen)
5.0 out of 5 stars Brainwashed Toastmaster Likes the Book
Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2016
Verified Purchase
At the outset, let me state that I received an advanced copy to review without cost.

I'm a member of a local Toastmasters club, completed my CC and working on a double DTM (if you're into TM, then you know what I mean). I was raised on PBS, British comedies, and have a highly idiosyncratic sense of humour - meaning that, generally, only long-time friends and family members get my humour. I'm fairly adept at academic, inspirational and informational speaking, but felt that I could use some humour training. I found Mr. Nihill's blog very helpful. That's how I ended up getting to review the book.

This book takes the info on the blog (and his information out there in inter-verse) to a whole new level. I've read it once and plan on reading it again very soon. I was so engrossed that I would make up fictitious spills on my tablet screen so my co-workers didn't know I was taking it into the lavatory to read during my water-closeting breaks. The tone is conversational, like a public-speaking mentor you go out for pints with (which might count for the bit of wordiness here and there). The examples and suggestions are realistic and easy to comprehend. This is not an academic treatise or a "philosophy of funny" thesis - it's a good, basic, nuts and bolts guide to developing the skills necessary to grow as a humourous speaker. Maybe it is a bit basic for those of you who are naturally gifted and who pull gufffaws out of people like bonobos pick chits out of fur, but for those of us who stumble in that area (being funny, not chit-picking), - the book is a real value. I wish I'd read this book before I gave my Humourous Speech Contest bomb on the Cain and Abel story. I'll be recommending it to a newbie Toastmaster I eventually get selected to mentor.

Other than a free review book, I didn't get chit for writing this.
20 people found this helpful
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Jason Spencer
5.0 out of 5 stars "Presenters are expected to be entertainers."
Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2016
Verified Purchase
Life is all about perspective. The sinking of the Titanic was a miracle to the lobsters in the ship's kitchen. This book gleans new perspective on presentations. Maybe not new. After all, Michael Port does a decent job breaking down the fine art of presentation in his book  Steal the Show . I've been an entertainer for over two decades, primarily as a Wedding Master of Ceremonies. In recent years, I have started speaking to groups of small business owners - as few as eight people in a room, to as many as 800 in the room. Funny makes or breaks you, which is why David Nihill's accounts spending time as a nervous wreck of a stand-up comic is like pure gold.

The author does a brilliant job of breaking down the 7 Comedy Habits. One that I feel most people tend to forget: Rehearsed Spontaneity. You can write jokes all day long, great jokes, but if you sound scripted nobody will care. They will tune you out, and if they have a chance, stand up and leave the room. I've seen it happen. DYTF prepares you for this.

I think the unique thing in this book has to be the Tipliography in the back. Nihill even admits to making the word up, but it's full of the best tips that the most seasoned comedians utilize to build their material. All told, there are 80 of them. If you really want to know what this book is about, pick it up and read pages 143-160 first. Highlight the ones that resonate with you or that you find interesting, then go back and read the book start to finish (shouldn't take you more than an hour or two - really, it's a quick and fun read and I rarely ever finish self-help books). Repeat. You'll find your strengths and weaknesses, and you'll start being funny at all the right moments.

If you find yourself needing to deliver any kind of presentation, be it once or over and over again, this is a great read to put and exorbitant amount of life into you, your message, and your audience.
14 people found this helpful
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Shankar Ratneshwaran
4.0 out of 5 stars This book is pretty well written in terms of content
Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2017
Verified Purchase
This book is pretty well written in terms of content, but a little lacking on "writing funny" given the topic of the book. Has great insights and pointed advice on how one could add humor in their talks. Was a great quick read. Thanks to David Nihill for this book
One person found this helpful
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L.
5.0 out of 5 stars Warm, witty, extremely useful in many fields, and in life...
Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2015
Verified Purchase
'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 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.
5 people found this helpful
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Tina Larsson
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliantly written!
Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2023
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This book is the most inspiring story of overcoming the fear of public speaking I have read. Very captivating with lots of techniques and actionable tips on how to become a better, and funnier speaker. Highly recommend!
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Keith
3.0 out of 5 stars Good read, helpful tips.
Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2016
Verified Purchase
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.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Sanjey Sugalingam
5.0 out of 5 stars Good
Reviewed in Canada on October 5, 2022
Verified Purchase
Book good, me likey
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M J Rogers
5.0 out of 5 stars A great resource for a humorous life!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 9, 2021
Verified Purchase
A very good read and full of relevant tips and tricks to help you give a real punch to anything you say. Wether you’re talking to friends at the bar, giving a business presentation or simply struggling to overcome frayed nerves at your PhD. viva voce, this book will guide you to become a successful communicator! Only one downside; the book makes numerous references to a resource website (7comedyhabits.com) that doesn’t exist!!! Maybe that jokes on me…
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Elena
3.0 out of 5 stars How to be boring...
Reviewed in Italy on November 17, 2018
Verified Purchase
Ho acquistato questo libro per un corso di public speaking all'università, ma si è rivelato una delusione.
L'argomento in sé è interessante, ma l'autore si perde in continue ripetizioni che non giovano al libro. La scrittura è ridondante e ripetitiva, si sarebbe potuto riassumere il contenuto in una 70 di pagine.
A parte questi difetti, il mio giudizio è positivo: vengono dati molti consigli e strategie per parlare in modo divertente e accattivante. Molto carini gli esercizi presenti alla fine di ogni capitolo, con i quali è possibile esercitarsi e migliorare le proprie capacità.
One person found this helpful
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SMR
5.0 out of 5 stars A Must For All Speakers
Reviewed in India on August 16, 2018
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Every public speaker must add humour to his/her speech and this is the simple book to learn
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Arturo
4.0 out of 5 stars Do you talk funny?
Reviewed in Mexico on December 21, 2016
Verified Purchase
Ideas y la for,a de explicar son muy buenas, buenos tips y material de apoyo para reforzar o explicado en el libro
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