There are few things in life more painful, more disturbing, than being forced to listen to someone who is trying to be funny. As one obscure comedian put it, “You can pretend to be serious, but you can’t pretend to be humorous.”
Does this mean that the best course is to leave out humor as an ingredient in your safety meetings or presentations? No. Since “safety” is such a vital subject, I encourage you to spice up your meetings with laughter. Why?–because it helps an audience to remember and enjoy the meeting. In turn, this makes it more likely that the session will have a positive impact. It’s only when the presenter ignores his or her limitations and forces the comic effect that things become messy.
Whether conducting a safety meeting, giving a short speech at an awards dinner, or pitching a new program to a board of directors, you won’t have to hear any groans if you obey these ten comical rules:
Rule #1–Don’t tell your audience you are going to say something funny.
Rule #2–If you’re not good at telling jokes when only one person must listen, you will only cause more suffering by telling a joke to several people. Don’t tell jokes.
Rule #3–Even if you are good at telling jokes, unless it is a stand-up routine or a retirement roast, do not begin your presentation with a joke. Start with a short story instead, intriguing question or surprising statement or some other attention-catching tactic.
Rule #4–Use real-life examples whenever possible. A true story, which you hoped would fill the room with hysterical laughter, won’t cause any embarrassment if nobody laughs.
Rule #5–Never tell jokes or use a story that might offend women, men, any race, any religion, cat lovers, naturalists, engineers, etc. That doesn’t mean you should never use stories or jokes about one of the categories listed. It just means that the story or joke should not offend anyone who belongs to the group who happens to hear it.
Rule #6–Your humorous story should make or prove a point.
Rule #7–If you plan to tell a joke, it should be short and simple. No more than three different animals in the bar at one time.
Rule #8–Season your presentation with humor, don’t drown it in jokes.
Rule #9–Unless you’re Don Rickles, make fun of yourself before (and more often than) your audience.
Rule #10–Don’t try too hard to be humorous. So what if nobody laughs–an interesting, thought provoking meeting is much more enjoyable than a painful one.
’till next time.
Richard Hawk
