10 Commandments of Humor Part 3

by Bill Stainton
5. Thou shalt craft thy humor effectivelyAlthough I’m a huge fan of using real, personal stories on the platform, I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes reality needs a helping hand. For example, reality doesn’t always provide the perfect punchline with which to end your stories. So you make one up! Listen, you’re not Tom Brokaw. You’re not reporting the news. You’re trying to get a larger message across to your audience in the most effective way possible, and sometimes that may mean stretching the truth, eliminating details, or adding characters. In short, you need to think of reality as the starting point for your story, and embellish accordingly. Now, some people get caught up on this point. I’ve had clients say to me, “But that’s not the way it happened!” To which I reply, “Your audience doesn’t know, and they don’t care. And your audience is who you’re there for!” What I’m saying is that your job, your obligation, is to get your message across to your audience in a way that has as much meaning for them as possible. And if one version of your story stretches the truth a bit, but adds more meaning (or memorability, or significance), then that’s the way you’ve got to go. Otherwise, you’re just serving yourself.

6. Thou shalt let the audience laughThis can be a particularly tough commandment for people who are just starting out using humor in front of an audience. But I’ve also seen pros who should know better abuse this one. Here’s the trap. You’re not sure of a particular piece of humor; maybe it’s something you’ve just added, maybe it received a less-than-stellar response last time, maybe you’re just not used to using humor in your presentations. For whatever reason, though, you’re not positive this “bit” will get a laugh. So what do you do? You get to the end of the bit (the punchline), and immediately go on to your next sentence. In other words, you’re assuming there is going to be an awkward silence instead of a laugh, and you make a pre-emptive strike by covering up the anticipated silence with your own voice! The audience doesn’t have an opportunity to laugh, even if they want to! This, as you may have surmised, is a no-no! Instead, you’ve got to trust your material enough to give it a chance at success. This means getting to the end of the bit—and then stopping! Let the audience laugh! You’ll be surprised how often they actually will laugh, once you give them the opportunity! And if you’re following Commandment #2, and using your humor to make a point (rather than solely to get a laugh), it’s not going to matter if the laugh doesn’t occur. In that case, you are simply pausing to let the story (and message) sink in, and then continuing with your presentation. The audience will never know that they muffed their line! But I think you’ll find that, given the chance, they’ll come through for you nine times out of ten! Okay, maybe eight, but those are still pretty good odds!