Its is definitely best to do what slpntrx5 mentions - break your bud up into small chunks and load those. A cheap herb grinder will take a bud and do this quickest. One of the things you always want to avoid is losing the glands. Grinders may massacre a bud but at least the glands and resin stay in the grinder, only to rub off on the next bud you put in, so I like them for that reason.

If you have really high quality stuff, using a pair of scissors to cut very small pieces off is also recommended by some people. This way you're not getting the glands/resin all over your hands. In theory, only a very small cross-section of the bud will be lost on the scissors doing it this way.

Putting a whole chunk of bud in preserves the most glands/resin, but it also doesn't burn very well, and the smoke winds up accumulating on the bowl and on the underside of the bud.

All things consider, scissors or a grinder to make very small bits works best. Try not to touch the bud or touch it as little as possible.