Become A Comedian: Connecting With Your Audience

As you go through the process of learning how to become a comedian, you will hear this phrase thrown around a lot:

“You need to connect quickly with your audience”. But what does that really mean?

Let me just say that connecting with your audience involves a number of factors, some of which happen before you ever even speak a word on stage. I should also mention that connecting with an audience is directly tied into your confidence on stage.

If you want to become a comedian worthy of mention, here are some tips to help you connect with an audience quickly:

Audience Connection Tip #1: Don’t be in a hurry to get to the microphone and start talking. Audiences can sense if you are in a hurry or anxious. The initial connection you want to make with an audience is you are confident and in control.

Audience Connection Tip #2: Look your audience square in the eye—all of them. It’s impossible to look at every single person in a packed room. But you can easily give the impression that you are by simply looking in all directions as you take the microphone and start your stand-up routine.

Direct eye contact is critical to your ability to connect (and maintain your connection) with an audience.

Audience Connection Tip #3: Be a pro with the microphone. If you want to immediately disconnect with an audience, fumble with the microphone or move it intermittently away from your mouth because you haven’t mastered holding a microphone when you are talking.

Audiences are smart. They can immediately pick up that you are a rookie, whether consciously or subconsciously. That’s not the connection you want to make. You want to become a comedian who audiences immediately respect because you handle yourself like a pro.

Audience Connection Tip #4: Be prepared! Don’t just fumble through your act. Deliver a well rehearsed, well thought out act to your audience. Again, audiences can tell…

Audience Connection Tip #5: Make sure that you can get your first laugh within 30-45 seconds. A better way to put this is that you need to get a laugh as soon as humanly possible without being in a hurry.

The sooner you can get the very first laugh, the sooner the audience is at ease, likes you and wants to hear more of what you have to say.

If you want to disconnect from an audience rapidly, just make a stand-up comedy audience wait a minute or more for a laugh.

It’s not difficult to become a comedian who commands the stage and can connect with an audience very quickly. It just takes some work and some practice.

By: Steve Roye

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Steve Roye is a globally recognized expert in stand-up comedy material development and performance improvement. For more stand-up comedy techniques, tips and secrets, check out Steve's blog for those who want to become a comedian.