Three Reasons You Should Add Humour to Your Next Presentation

Humour is one of the most powerful tools you have in your persuasive toolkit. When people laugh, especially in a group, a wonderful atmosphere is created for the exchange of thoughts and ideas. People are more open to discussion and more willing to consider new perspectives. And you don't even need hysterical laughter to achieve this. A few chuckles and even some smiles will achieve the effect.

Then why are most presentations and speeches given in our organizations dry, witless and downright snooze-inducing? I think it is because most speakers do not realize the power that intentional humor provides. I mean, when was the last time you laughed during a presentation? Or even chuckled?

More speakers need to appreciate the power of humour and so in this article, I am going to provide three reasons why you should be taking laughter and humour very seriously and why you should be incorporating them into your presentations. Let us begin.

1. Humour creates connections

Not only does humour break the ice, it warms up the room. It does this by creating connections in two powerful ways:

Connects you to your audience

Few things will warm you up to an audience quicker and more effectively than humour and laughter. This is especially true if you are addressing an unfamiliar group. But it is also true if these are colleagues you see on a daily basis.

If it is appropriate, throw in some humour early on in your presentation. If you can get a laugh early, you will have a better chance at success in your goals whether that be to educate, persuade or entertain.

Connects your audience members to each other

In his intriguing book – Laughter: A Scientific Investigation, world-renowned behavioural psychologist and expert on laughter Robert Provine points to laughter as a powerful “social glue” that draws members of a group together.

But you did not need an expert to tell you that. You have more than likely experienced the strong social effects of laughter when you have found yourself laughing in a group. Perhaps at a friend’s party or at a comedy show.

Researchers have shown that we tend to laugh louder in groups than alone and Oxford University’s evolutionary psychologist Dr. Robin Dunbar suggests that laughter creates euphoric states in groups that strengthen social bonding.

Not only does laughter break the ice, it warms up the room.

When you provide an opportunity for your audience to laugh, not only do they feel a connection to you, they feel a connection to each other. They can relax and engage with you and each other within a friendlier frame of context. What a wonderful gift to give to your audience – and one worthy of your time and effort in developing.

2. Humour helps learning and memory

We laugh at things that are interesting and quirky. And we remember things that are interesting and quirky. See where I am going here? Humour can be an effective way to reinforce information we want the audience to remember.

Often when I am invited back to speak at the same organization or association conference, an audience member will come up to me at some point. Let us call the person Ravi. Here is how the conversation typically goes.

Ravi: Hello Anthony. I’m Ravi. I was at your presentation last year. You did a great job!

Me: Hi Ravi. Nice of you to come over and say hello and thanks for the compliment. Really glad you enjoyed the presentation.

Ravi: I did indeed! Very well done!

Me: Thanks again. If you don’t mind my asking, what part of the presentation made the biggest impact on you?

Ravi: Oh that has to be the funny story about________

...people remember humour long after they forget charts, facts and tables.

See what I mean? If you already use humour and speak often, perhaps you have also experienced this - people remember humour long after they forget charts, facts, and tables. So, by using humour to emphasize and connect important points, you increase the chances of your audience remembering the key points you want them to remember or act on.

3. Humour provides relief

In my free e-book, I talk about the concept of cognitive load and how it affects the effectiveness of your presentation.

In brief, cognitive load in the context of public-speaking, refers to the mental effort your audience needs to exert to be able to “keep-up” with you in your presentation.

I find that when I am delivering very content-rich presentations, strategically placed humour provides relief and respite for otherwise tiring brains. The actual mechanism of how laughter does this has been linked to the release of endorphins (feel-good hormones) that puts our bodies in a state of relaxation and well being.

It would appear there is scientific truth to the phrase “comic relief”. In my experience, Laughter is like a refresh button for the brain. It helps the brain store away floating information making a clear path for fresh content to flow through.

Laughter is like a refresh button for the brain.

 Therefore, whether you are a professor delivering a lecture or presenting a paper; a sales rep presenting sales data to your company or a sales presentation to prospects; or a CEO or business owner sharing your vision with your employees, do provide some comic relief with humour. Your audience, and their brains will thank you for it.

There you have it! Three high pay-off reasons you should be incorporating humour into your presentations.

To see a very good example of these uses of humour, see this excellent TED talk by Tim Urban. As you watch it, see if you can spot his applications of humour in the ways I describe above.

If you would like expert help crafting and delivering a powerful and effective presentation, contact me. I would be happy to hear from you.

In the meantime, you can read this article that shows you one easy and low-risk method to begin adding humour to your presentations.

Till the next article, speak with skill.