An Alternative to Telling Jokes

Should you begin a speech or presentation with a joke?  No--unless you're very good at telling jokes.  And most people, myself included, aren't good at this.

Starting with humor is almost always a good idea, but I strongly recommend an alternative:  Observational Humor, which I define as developing and delivering funny lines about what's going on around you.

You must understand two humor principles.  The first is that humor is aways about connections.  This involves connections between ideas or words:  How are they similar?  How are they different?

The other principle is that humor is always about surprise.  We're moving in one direction, and then we surprise everyone by going off in another direction.

You find ideas for observational humor in at least three areas.  One is what other people say and do  Someone says or does something that isn't in itself funny, but you make it funny by connecting it to something else. 

Another is current events.  A few months ago, if you forgot to say or do something, you could get a laugh by saying, "I'm having a Rick Perry moment," referring to the presidential candidate whose mind went totally blank during a debate.

A third area is the environment--the room is too cold, or too hot, or noisy.  Someone's cell phone keeps going off.  The lights go out, the projector breaks down.  All of these can be sources for funny lines.

The process is pretty simple.  At the meeting where you're presenting, you simply observe and take notes about what's going on before your presentation.  Then look for connections, and come up with a few funny lines.

Observational humor is a great alternative to telling jokes.  A great observational humor resource:  Humor Power Newsletter by John Kinde at http://www.humorpower.com/