Develop Your Presentation Skills, 5th Edition

06

Using humour

Being funny can be the best way of making a terrific presentation. I say ‘can be’ because humour is like dynamite – fantastic if it explodes in a spectacular display of fireworks, less good if it goes off in your face. This chapter follows on from those on writing and storytelling as the subjects are interrelated. It can be that humour is truly spontaneous, a reaction to something that happens on the day, but more of that later; for now, some guidance on how to amuse your audience.

Appropriateness

The first rule of humour is to question whether it is appropriate. All the things we have so far considered about audiences, the type of presentation you have been asked to give, the prevailing mood at the time and the circumstances ...