Tag: humor

Using Humor During a Pitch

custom powerpoint

humor

Humor During Presentation

pitch

pitch deck

presentation

presentation tips

Rick Enrico

SlideGenius

May 08, 2017

Using humor during a pitch can be an effective way to engage your audience, lighten the mood, and make your presentation memorable. However, humor must be used carefully—it needs to be relevant, appropriate, and well-timed to avoid detracting from the professionalism of your pitch. When used correctly, humor can build rapport, ease tension, and make your message more relatable.

Here’s how to use humor effectively during a pitch:

1. Break the Ice and Build Rapport

Humor can be a great way to start your pitch by breaking the ice and creating an immediate connection with your audience. A light, non-controversial joke or humorous observation can set the tone and make your audience more receptive.

How It Helps:

  • Eases Tension: A little humor at the beginning of your pitch helps calm nerves (yours and the audience’s) and makes the environment more relaxed.
  • Builds a Connection: A well-placed joke or witty comment can establish a connection with the audience and make you appear more relatable.

Example: Starting a sales pitch with a humorous comment like, “I promise I’ll keep this short—shorter than my grocery list, anyway,” can set a friendly tone and make the audience more comfortable.

2. Use Humor to Illustrate a Point

Humor can be used to highlight an important point or concept, making it more memorable. A funny story or metaphor can simplify complex ideas and help your audience better understand your message.

How It Helps:

  • Makes Points Memorable: Humor sticks in people’s minds. If you tie a joke to a key message, your audience is more likely to remember that point.
  • Simplifies Complex Ideas: Humor can turn a complicated idea into something more digestible by using relatable, funny examples or analogies.

Example: If you’re explaining a technical solution, you could use a humorous analogy like, “Our software is like a GPS for your data—it tells you where you’re going, and it never asks for directions.”

3. Keep It Relevant and Audience-Appropriate

When using humor in a pitch, it’s important that it aligns with your message and is appropriate for your audience. Misjudging the audience’s humor preferences or making inappropriate jokes can backfire, damaging your credibility.

How to Do It:

  • Know Your Audience: Consider the demographics, background, and context of your audience. Tailor your humor to suit their sensibilities.
  • Keep It Professional: Avoid controversial, inappropriate, or offensive humor. Keep your jokes light, non-political, and non-offensive.

Example: In a business pitch, stick to industry-related humor, like, “This is the kind of solution that even your IT guy will love—and they never love anything.”

4. Time Your Humor Wisely

Humor is most effective when it’s well-timed and delivered naturally. Don’t force it into your presentation at random moments—use humor strategically to add emphasis or lighten the mood when necessary.

How to Do It:

  • Use Humor as a Break: After presenting a series of complex or dense points, a well-placed joke can give your audience a mental break and re-engage their attention.
  • Practice Delivery: Practice your timing and delivery to make the humor feel natural. The more naturally it flows, the more effective it will be.

Example: If your pitch covers a complex financial model, you could insert a light-hearted comment afterward like, “I know that’s a lot of numbers—don’t worry, there’s no pop quiz at the end.”

5. Use Self-Deprecating Humor Sparingly

Self-deprecating humor can make you appear humble and approachable, but it needs to be used sparingly and strategically. It’s important not to undermine your own expertise or the seriousness of your pitch.

How to Do It:

  • Keep It Light: If using self-deprecating humor, focus on small, harmless jokes that make you seem relatable without damaging your credibility.
  • Balance with Confidence: Make sure your humor doesn’t overshadow your message or make you seem unprepared.

Example: A gentle self-deprecating joke, such as “I’m no mathematician, but I promise these numbers add up,” can make you seem more approachable without undermining your competence.

Final Thoughts

Humor can be a valuable tool during a pitch, helping to break the ice, engage your audience, and make your message more memorable. When used effectively, humor can ease tension, simplify complex ideas, and build rapport with your audience. Just remember to keep your humor appropriate, relevant, and well-timed to ensure it enhances your pitch rather than distracts from it.

Dr. Seuss’s Five Rules for Fantastic Presentations

audience

Custom Designed Presentations

Dartmouth College

Dr. Seuss

humor

PowerPoint Agency

PowerPoint Design

PowerPoint design experts

PowerPoint specialist

presentation

Presentation Agency

Presentation Company

Presentation Consultation

Presentation Designers

Presentation Firm

Presentations

Theodor Seuss Geisel

Theophrastus Seuss

Aug 28, 2013

At some point in his senior year at Dartmouth College, Theodor Seuss Geisel and nine of his friends were caught drinking gin in his room. This was in 1925, during the era of the Prohibition and because of this, the dean put them all on probation.

He was also removed Geisel of his editorship of Jack-O-Lantern, the college’s humor magazine where Geisel published his cartoons. To escape punishment, Geisel began publishing cartoons under pseudonyms including: L. Pasteur, D.G. Rossetti ’25, and Seuss.

Those cartoons were the first time he signed his work under the name, “Seuss.” A couple of years later, Geisel began signing his work under the mock-scholarly title of “Dr. Theophrastus Seuss.”He soon shortened that to  Dr. Seuss. In acquiring his professional pseudonym, he also gained a new pronunciation. Most Americans pronounce the name “Soose,” and not “Zoice” (as it is supposed to be pronounced) and that is how Dr. Seuss came to life.

Arguably, one the most celebrated American author of children’s books, Dr. Seuss published 46 children’s books each with lessons still applicable to working adults today. This is also prevalent in the world of professional PowerPoint presentations. Here are my five favorite Seussian lessons for anyone working on their next professional PowerPoint design:

“Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.” >

In short, be yourself. Your presentation should be where you identify and represent yourself in your truest and simplest form. Know what your company does, how it does it, and why. If a child can’t understand your explanation of what you do then you don’t know yourself well enough. Even Einstein agrees with this by saying, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”

“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?”

Your presentation is where you need to highlight your particular uniqueness and diversity- show how you stand out!  What do you do that is different or better than your competition? Why should I hire or buy from you? These questions are what your audience will be asking themselves as you present. It is better to anticipate them and have them answered in your presentation instead of having them come up as questions. This will show your audience how confident and prepared you are as a presenter.

“Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.”

After reading just one of Seuss’s books, one will find that simplicity plays a huge role in a majority of his writing. Given his audience did consist of mostly children, Seuss had to match his stories to a lower reading level, but this did not take away from the fact that he managed to engage, inspire, and educate his readers. With only 236 different words, Seuss managed to make his most famous and influential piece of literature, The Cat in the Hat (1957).

“I meant what I said and I said what I meant.”

It is crucial to be direct in what you say while presenting, chose your words and phrases wisely. Being vague or ambiguous will inevitably hurt you in the long run. Being clear with your audience is the best route to getting long-term and recurring customers and partners.

“Today I shall behave as if this is the day I will be remembered.”

Working by this motto led Seuss to disregard anything but perfection in his writing. He would sometimes spend up to a year on a book, even though they consisted of less than 1000 words. It was common for him to throw out 95% of his material until he settled on a permanent theme. For a writer, he was unusual in that he preferred to only be paid after he finished his work rather than in advance. He did this to motivate himself to work towards perfection—which has has become Seuss’ legacy. Think of what and how you want to be remembered, and let that come across in your presentation.

Incorporating Humor into a Presentation

audience

comedy

Custom Designed Presentations

humor

PowerPoint Agency

PowerPoint Design

PowerPoint design experts

PowerPoint specialist

presentation

Presentation Agency

Presentation Company

Presentation Consultation

Presentation Designers

Presentation Firm

presenting

public speaking

Aug 15, 2013

Humor is a surprisingly effective tool in public speaking. No matter what level of professionalism you find yourself presenting at, a bit of comedic relief is almost always refreshing.

Sometimes the gravest, driest, or most technical speeches can often be the most in need of humor. Dense, heavy speeches can be very demanding, even exhausting for an audience, and eventually listeners may get weary and lose focus. Injecting a little humor into your PowerPoint presentation is helpful in relieving some built up tension.

Humor might not be for you

A joke or two–maybe a witty comment here or there–can really brighten up a speech, engage your audience, and help make a lasting impression, but when done poorly, it can not only create a cringe-worthy situation, it can take all credibility from your speech.

If you’re very uncomfortable using humor in casual conversation or in your personal life, it may not be worth the risk in an important presentation, because a flubbed joke can have a devastating impact on a speech.

Practice!

You might be one of those effortlessly hilarious people that’s constantly making your friends laugh, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t expect to make an audience laugh so easily, or so spontaneously.

Man in the mirror
While you may feel a bit foolish telling jokes to yourself in the mirror, the practice will pay off when it counts.

Good joke telling is about timing and delivery, and that requires rehearsal. Don’t risk fumbling over your words or forgetting a key part of the joke. As lame as it sounds, practice your jokes privately or work them into conversations to test the waters of how people react.

Don’t shy away from self-effacing humor

This may sound counter intuitive, but self-effacing, or self deprecating humor can show your audience you possess confidence in who you are, because you’re comfortable enough to laugh at yourself. An embarrassing story from the past can help establish trust between you and your audience by showing a human side to yourself.

And remember, never make jokes at others’ expense. While you may get a few laughs out of it, nobody’s going to respect you any more for it.

Most Importantly…

Have a point! So many people make the innocent mistake of injecting humor in their presentations just for humor’s sake. It’s important to remember that we aren’t stand-up comedians, we’re giving a presentation, which means we’re there to convey information in a direct, yet interesting way. If humor helps us further this goal and present in a more effective manner, then all the better. However, if you’re just telling jokes purely to make the audience laugh, sure, they might have more fun, but they’ll retain less of the information you’re their to present.

So tread lightly, consider your audience carefully, and be extremely conscious of being tasteful and good-spirited, but most importantly, have fun! It’ll be much easier for your audience to enjoy your presentation if you do as well.