How many blondes does it take to change a light bulb?
Tell that joke during your next business presentation and you'll either win your audience or lose them. Maybe forever. Most jokes are suitable for some occasions and unsuitable for others. Few things are as painful as listening to a speaker tell a bad or tasteless joke. The speaker suffers, and so does the audience.
And yet nothing is better than humour for grabbing the attention of an audience and winning them to your point of view. A good laugh relaxes an audience. That's why so many experienced speakers open their talks with a funny story or humourous line. And salt their remarks with witticisms or funny anecdotes.
The secret to succeeding with humour in the boardroom is to be funny and appropriate at the same time.
Some topics are always off limits, of course. Jokes about race and ethnicity are always wrong. So are sexist jokes, and jokes about people with disabilities. Other themes to avoid are sarcasm and irony, two boomerangs that tend to sail over the audience and return to the stage to hit the speaker in the temple.
The safest kind of humour to use in a business presentation is a joke about you. If you're like me, you have plenty of material to draw upon. Self-deprecating humour is effective for two good reasons. It doesn't make fun of anyone important. And it helps you make a point without pointing the finger at anyone.
The best kind of humour comes from your own well. Stories from your childhood, your marriage, your family life and your career are sure to get a laugh if they are original and well told. Here are some tips on delivery to make your jokes winners.
Keep your jokes short
A one-liner gets just as loud a laugh as a long story but requires less of the speaker (and the audience) to work well. When telling a story, keep it relevant to your topic by including relevant details only (time and place, names, sequence of events and so on).
Don't apologize
Don't apologize for not being a comedian before you deliver a joke, and don't apologize for a joke that falls flat.
Don't talk over laughter
The better your humour, the harder and longer your audience will laugh. So pause after you've delivered the punchline, and pause while the audience laughs. Look about your audience with a smile (or a smirk). Let them enjoy the joke. Don't sabotage the effect you created. Start speaking again only when the room is quiet enough to continue.
If you aren't hilarious, at least be witty
If you lack confidence in recounting humourous stories or telling funny jokes, try to express yourself in a funny way a few times during your presentation. Even mundane topics become entertaining when you discuss them with some wit. Did you know, for example, that the IRS has the perfect gift for the man who has everything? An audit.
Humour relaxes your audience and helps them connect with you. Audiences want to laugh. They want to have fun and be entertained. So take courage and use original humour that's appropriate for your audience and your topic.
By the way, have you guessed yet how many blondes it takes to change a light bulb?
One.
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About the author
Alan Sharpe is an executive speech coach and business writing trainer. On-site, online and over the phone, Alan teaches executives and managers how to express themselves clearly, concisely and convincingly using the written and spoken word. Receive a free tip like this each week by subscribing to his public speaking [http://www.alansharpeconsulting.com] and business writing [http://www.alansharpeconsulting.com] column, The Confident Communicator.
© 2007 Alan Sharpe. You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the "About the author" message).
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