I just got back from Sri Lanka’s Division Evaluation & Humorous Contest 2007, organized by the Toastmasters International. And again, it was an eye opener.

Sri Lankan is a country famous for many things. For example,

Tea.
Gems.
Tamil Tigers.

But… today, I discover that this country boasts of very talented and witty speakers too.

I also conclude that humor is universal. Things that make a Singaporean laugh will make a Sri Lankan laugh too. For example, dating and marriage.

I remember during last year’s District 80 Humorous Contest (in Macau), the top three winners all focused on the same topic - dating and marriage. The third place winner (my friend, Jiayi) spoke about what an ideal boyfriend should be like, based on her observations of her parents. The second place winner (from Hong Kong) spoke about her crush and how she “seduces” him. The first place winner (from Singapore) spoke about his three time failed relationships with his girlfriends.

In a relatively conservative country like Sri Lanka, a topic such as dating and marriage is even more popular. Especially when the speech focus on the tension between the husband and his very fierce wife.

Hence it was no surprise when the speaker who shared his marriage woes won second place. I will like to add that the odds were strongly placed against him since he was the first speaker and there were 9 other speakers. It was very easy for us to forget him. His choice of topic, however, saved him.

Here’s one story he shared that got the entire audience bursting out with laughter.

Every evening, my wife will ask me whether I want dinner. And I will reply “Darling, what choices do I have?” And then with a wooden spatula, she will walk out of the kitchen, looked at me and say “Yes or no?”.

The third place winner was no surprise as well. He spoke about the House of Jokes. It was in the middle of the speech when I realized he was actually referring to the House of the Parliament. So yes, this was a satirical speech where he made fun of the politicians.

And the audience love him. Again, this is no wonder. Because in Sri Lanka, they have two loves. Cricket and Politics. Sadly I did not get all his funny antics, probably because I am not familiar with the situation here in Sri Lanka.

And now for the first place winner, my favorite. He had a huge advantage by being the last speaker and he has a tuxedo on which made him stand out from the rest of the nine speakers. His choice of topic was ingenious. He spoke about his experience in Toastmasters. Remember what I said about knowing your audience. He did exactly that! Plus, his stories were self depreciating which works to his advantage as well.

He started by singing this really silly song and goes on to tell us how much he loves to speak. So when he found Toastmasters, he was over the moon. He then shared us his experience with Round Robin. It’s an activity in Toastmasters where everyone gets to speak for 20 seconds. And you have to build the speech from the last word that the person used.

So not surprisingly, he was excited. He waited and waited for his turn. And when it was about his turn, the speaker beside him left him with this word - “Philonesia” And in the first time in his life, he couldn’t speak.

You should see his facial expression.

Priceless.

And the audience laugh for a total of 1 minute. It was THAT funny.

So… what did I learned from this experience?

Firstly, I realized that once you master the mechanics of humor, you can make any audience laugh.

Secondly, stories still work best.

I notice that the speakers who won were speakers who shared personal stories of their experiences. They were sharp in picking stories that have a lot of humor in them. These stories were also well written which brings out the “funny” in them.

However the rest of the speakers weren’t that original. Most of them use stale internet jokes that I am sure some of the audience have heard before.

In fact, one joke was repeated by two separate speakers. You should see how embarrased we were for the second speaker.

Thirdly, I CAN’T WAIT TO GET SOME ACTION!!!

It will be an honor to compete with the best speakers of Sri Lanka.

Here are some pictures that I snapped along the way. Enjoy!

That’s the top three winners for the Evaluation Contest.

That’s the top three winners for the Humorous Contest - the guy on the extreme right hand side is the champion.

As I walked out of BMICH (like Expo in Singapore), this Buddha statue caught my eye.

Felt so humbled as I admired the grandeur of the Buddha statue.

Cheers,
Eric Feng
Your Public Speaking Coach

P.S: If you want one-on-one coaching to help you become a funnier and well-liked speaker, click here.

P.P.S: Here’s an update from one of the contestants over at Singapore for the Division Humorous Contest. His name is Kia. (Congrats Kia for coming 2nd runner up!)

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