As you navigate through your public speaking
career, you will learn from failures. You will
learn your strengths, what resonates well with
different audiences and how to truly captivate
your audience.

Comedians are a group of people who are forced
to learn these things very quickly. Unlike public
speakers, they risk the chance of being booed
off the stage instead of simply being met with a
few people walking out of a theatre.

Here are four lessons that
public speakers can learn
from stand up comedians.

1
Create a Story that Your Audience
Will Appreciate.
2
Learn from The People You Admire.
3
Work the Room Before Hitting the Stage.
4
Comedians Hustle.
You Have to Hustle Too.

1
Create a Story that Your
How Comedians Do it:
When a comedian crafts their jokes, they don’t target
the entire world. They target a specific group with a
specific point of view and focus on truths, biases and
opportunities to challenge or reaffirm the audiences
hostilities and prejudices.

1
Create a Story that Your
How to Do it yourself:
No matter what size the audience is, always aim to
connect with them. Understand the audience and
strive to deliver a presentation that will provide them
with the value they need to leave the presentation
feeling as if they learned something.

1
Create a Story that Your
REMEMBER:
The target audience is arguably the most
critical factor in writing successful material.

2
LEARN FROM THE
How Comedians Do it:
The best comedians learn from the best before them
and study their craft. They recognize the importance
of studying the greatest in order to understand the
dynamics of good jokes and audience reactions.

2
LEARN FROM THE
How TO Do it YOURSELF:
The best public speakers have thousands of YouTube
videos online of them presenting at events and
conferences around the world. Spend a few hours a week
watching them perform and study everything from their
delivery, to their stage presence, to the way they interact
with the audience.

2
LEARN FROM THE
REMEMBER:
These folks are ahead of you for a reason: they’re
doing something you’re not. Studying their craft
and understanding their success will help you build
your career.

3
WORK THE ROOM BEFORE
How Comedians Do it:
Most comedians starting out work the crowd
beforehand. Its an easy way to handle hecklers,
because the individuals they’ve built rapport with
will often jump in and help mute them. It’s a simple
tactic but it’s also one that’s helped ensure that the
delivery of jokes are appropriate for audiences.

3
WORK THE ROOM BEFORE
How TO Do it YOURSELF:
Never hit the stage without having a conversation with one
or two people in the audience first. Strive to build rapport
with this person and you’ll feel confident knowing that
they’ll come save you if things go wrong.

3
WORK THE ROOM BEFORE
I disagree.
REMEMBER:
In business settings, a heckler is different from a heckler
in comedy. These people don’t scream, “you suck” from
the back of the room, instead they raise their hand and ask
you questions that add nothing to the conversation or
simply tell you they disagree without reason.
Be prepared to handle them.

4
COMEDIANS HUSTLE.
HOW COMEDIANS DO IT:
Seinfield is known as one of the greatest comedians of all
time. Outside of his amazing standup routines, he is also
known for working harder than anyone else in the business.
People say that Jerry Seinfield studied comedy more than
anyone else, got on stage more than anyone else and spent
more time writing than anyone else.

4
COMEDIANS HUSTLE.
HOW TO DO IT YOURSELF:
Work hard, understand the art of the hustle and be truly
dedicated to your craft. Hustling will help you to generate
a consistent revenue stream from being paid to speak.

4
COMEDIANS HUSTLE.
REMEMBER:
It’s rare for even the best public speakers to express that
they have “natural ability”. They will tell you that they
worked hard at their craft and studied the best.
Natural ability might get you to first base but hard
work will let you get home.

ROSS SIMMONDS
www.rosssimmonds.com
@TheCoolestCool