Entertaining People Anywhere
1.Tell funny stories.
It can be tricky to tell a story that can entertain a crowd and make people laugh. Some stories are hilarious if you tell them to one person in private, while others really can win over a diverse group of people. Do not tell a story that would embarrass your friend or family members. The key is to keep the story short enough to hold interest, but long enough to have entertaining details that leave people wanting more. Tell the story with charm and confidence, and, if you can pull it off, you can even reenact parts of the story of do impressions of the people involved. While you shouldn’t spend all night trying to tell stories to entertain people, one or two stories per night can really do the trick. Here are some things to keep in mind:
- A story that lightly and playfully makes fun of someone you all know, whether it’s a friend or a teacher, can crack people up, especially if you know how to do impressions. However, if your story is mean-spirited in nature, people will be naturally turned off.
- Read the audience as you’re telling the story. If they’re making eye contact, not whispering to each other or playing with their phones, or even gently nodding as you talk, then they’re engaged and want more. But if they’re shifting on their feet, looking at each other, or act like they’re in a dentist’s chair, then you should probably wrap up your story sooner than expected.
- Be animated as you tell your stories. While you don’t have to walk back and forth across the room and gesture wildly like Dane Cook, you should stand upright, maintain positive body language, and gesture occasionally as you tell your story.
- Build suspense when you talk. People need a reason to get to the end of the story. If they feel like they already know what happened, then they won’t want to hear the end. Instead of saying, “Let me tell you the story about the crazy ex-girlfriend who painted my car pink,” you can say, “You’ll never believe what my ex did to get revenge on me…” Then, the audience will want to keep listening because they’ll want to know what happened next.
2. Laugh at yourself.
One important part of being entertaining is to be able to laugh at yourself. People who are natural entertainers can laugh at themselves because they have the confidence to know they’re funny and don’t take themselves too seriously. If you show that you’re comfortable with having a joke at your own expense and that you’re not too proud to know when a joke has fallen flat, then people will feel more open and at ease around you. And hey, one of the ways to entertain people is to make fun of yourself in a goofy, silly, or offbeat way.
- You can show off your dancing skills while knowing that you have two left feet. As long as you’re laughing, other people will think it’s funny.
- Having people laugh at you is also can also cause them to bond and to be brought closer together. This works especially well if you’re trying to entertain two groups of friends that don’t really know each other. They may not think they have a lot to talk about, at first, but they’ll feel more at ease once they all tease you about how much you love your cat.
- This doesn’t mean you have to be self-deprecating or down on yourself to entertain people. However, if you’re comfortable enough with yourself to laugh at yourself, then it can help you keep people entertained.
3. Ask questions.
You may not think that asking questions is very entertaining, but if you know which questions to ask and can keep a person engaged, then you can keep people interested because they’ll be talking about their favorite topics – themselves. As long as you act genuinely interested, and not like you’re interrogating people, they’ll be happy to open up about themselves. Here are some things you can ask them about:
- Their pets
- Their hobbies
- Their favorite bands
- Their favorite movies
- Their least favorite TV shows
- Their favorite thing to do to relax
4. Help people find a common bond.
Another way to entertain people is to help them find a common bond. You may think that standing around with the people you’re with is about as entertaining as watching paint dry – until you find out that they are all avid fans of The Bachelor. You can try talking about movies, books, places you’ve lived or visited, favorite sports teams, or other subjects that are likely to start a lively discussion and see what people think about those subjects. Soon enough, people will have a more engaging, fun conversation because you’ve provided the topic.
- Sports teams are a good thing to talk about, because people are likely to have an opinion about them without feeling so maniacally devoted that they’ll fight each other if they don’t like the same teams.
- Avoid bringing up any controversial topics, such as abortion or gun control, or you’re likely to start a lively discussion, but not one that will be very entertaining.
5. Let other people talk.
You may think that the best way to be entertaining is to tell jokes, juggle oranges, do the moonwalk, or just do a million things to keep your audience engaged, but in reality, you have to take a break every once in a while to let someone else get a word in. If you’re trying too hard or talking 90% of the time, then it’s likely that people won’t really be entertained. Your best bet is to try not to completely dominate any conversation, but to make a strong, entertaining impression when you do have a chance to talk.
- Make sure you’re not dominating more than 50% of the conversation when you’re talking to one person, and that you’re not taking more than 1/3 of the time when you’re with a group. You don’t want to put too much pressure on yourself, and you don’t want to wear on people, either.
