The Rules of People

RULE 57

Have a sense of humour

This is a big part of being liked and respected. It’s easy to like someone with a sense of humour, so getting people to support you is bound to be easier. If you can make someone laugh, you’ve pretty much hooked them.

This doesn’t mean, however, that you should go around the office or wherever asking, ‘Have you heard the one about … ?’ You don’t need to be a joker, or count how many belly laughs you manage to get out of other people each day. I’m not talking about that kind of humour.

And let’s get the other things I’m not talking about out of the way while we’re here. Certain types of humour are off limits to Rules players:

• anything that makes someone else in the group/family/organisation the butt of the joke ...