The Lost Art of Heckling: How to Heckle and Not Sound Like an Idiot

I've been writing about heckling. Heckling can be a great way to keep speakers on their toes. Heckling is often awful, but can be sharp and helpful. But, as I wrote earlier, good heckling differs from the bad heckling that infests our public speaking venues. Do you want to heckle well? Do you want your heckles to be sharp and effective? Here are some heckling rules:

First, a heckle should be quick. The heckler’s job is to give feedback, not to disrupt the speech. Let’s top heckling out at three seconds. Two seconds would be better. Just a few words. Consider the boorish heckling that interrupted Governor Mike DeWine’s speech a few days ago: the hecklers chanted “Do something!” for more than two minutes. That heckling, which interfered with the communication, was inexcusable.  The hecklers only needed to shout, “Do something!” once. If they didn’t get their point across, they could wait a couple minutes and shout, “Do something!” again, but, again, just once. No chanting. They would have had a better emotional effect and would not have made themselves look so rude. There were people who wanted to listen to DeWine speak and the hecklers should not have prevented them from doing so.

Second, a heckler can use standard formulas: “hear, hear,” “shame,” “no.” There are several ways to do this. If somebody on your own side says something you like, you can shout, “hear, hear.” Can't go wrong. Sometimes you can shout approval to a random bit of what the other side says: the speaker says, “the other party wants to take away our assault rifles,” and you, wanting to get rid of assault rifles, can immediately shout, “hear, hear,” probably getting a quick chuckle.

Third, if a speaker wants to vary from the standard heckles, it’s great to think of something witty. When President Ronald Reagan made the mistake of speaking to the Canadian Parliament in 1987, the Honorable Svend Robinson heckled him: “Stop Star Wars now!” Star Wars was the popular name for Reagan’s proposed anti-missile defense. You had to think twice about that one, did you? That was the whole point! Maybe the United States could have saved a lot of money if someone in Congress had ridiculed Reagan’s ill-conceived idea right on the spot.

Fourth, a heckler should never, ever attack the speaker’s gender, sexual preference, race or ethnicity, personal life, manner of dress, or physical appearance. Heckling should strike to the issues and only the issues. 

Fifth, respect the occasion. Don't heckle at a prayer service, funeral, or other somber occasion. Also, don't waste your breath on a heckle if the audience and speaker are acting as if they are dead or asleep. You can't help anybody in that situation. Heckling Commerce Secretary Wilbur Smith, whose speeches are the very definition of boring, would be a waste of oxygen.

Sixth, when a speaker responds to hecklers, one might remember this ancient principle: when people attack you with humor, make a serious response.

Most heckling is awful. But believe it or not, good heckling can improve our communication.