One-Minute Communications Tips Archive
July 2009

Using Humor in Presentations

Humor helps your presentation stick. It creates a bond between you and your audience, because by sharing a laugh, both sides confirm they share the same view of a situation.

You can make your humor effective by following these tips:

Tell a joke or anecdote that involves you. A little self-deprecation helps, but not at the expense of your authority on the subject.

Transition smoothly from the anecdote to your speech. An unrelated joke will have the audience scratching their heads.

Insider humor works well, but use it only if you know your audience will get it.

If a joke bombs, do what Leno does — laugh at yourself. This releases the tension in the room.

Limit the amount of humor. The audience should remember your content, not how funny you were.

Finally, be comfortable with the setting and your audience. Carrying off a joke requires a certain amount of self-confidence.
 

© Arun Sinha, Access Communications. Access Communications is a marketing communications and technical writing firm based in Stamford, Connecticut, USA. Sign up for Access Communications's One-Minute Communication Tip at http://www.AccessConsultingInc.com. Once a month, you'll receive an actionable idea or technique on an aspect of business communications, distilled into about 150 words.

Warning: include() [function.include]: URL file-access is disabled in the server configuration in /homepages/15/d391948431/htdocs/communication-tip-archive/2009/humor-presentations.html on line 59

Warning: include(http://www.accessconsultinginc.com/communication-tip-archive/communication-tips-archive.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: no suitable wrapper could be found in /homepages/15/d391948431/htdocs/communication-tip-archive/2009/humor-presentations.html on line 59

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening 'http://www.accessconsultinginc.com/communication-tip-archive/communication-tips-archive.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/lib/php5') in /homepages/15/d391948431/htdocs/communication-tip-archive/2009/humor-presentations.html on line 59