Comedy tips for use in business
by Gerry Thompson/Positive Comedy
www.positivecomedy.com
01273 463611
Here are a few universal principles of comedy as used by professional comedians,
followed by a multi-purpose example of how most of them might be incorporated into
a very brief example of business humour
* Connect with your audience – find something you have in common with them, and
work from that
* Use exaggeration of a situation that already exists, and carry it further till it becomes
funny
* Incorporate a twist – most comedy depends on an element of surprise, or on putting
something familiar into an unusual context
* Good comedy also contains an element of truth about reality, and brings a sense of
recognition for the audience
* For some reason, things in threes tend to be funny. Nobody knows why.
* Place a punchline or punch-word at the end of an item rather than following it with
extra words that would diminish the effect
* And keep things succinct – don’t ramble or waffle
So let’s say you’re at a big gala dinner for your company, and you’ve been picked to
introduce the main speaker from your organisation. It’s an informal occasion, and
everyone is longing to be put at ease; you need to release communal tension with a
laugh. So you could come in with something like this:
“Good evening, ladies and gentleman. It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for,
and I’d really like now to introduce the one individual who has made this company
what it is today - the person who pulls all the strings - the real power behind Acme
Buttons plc! Unfortunately however, Maisy Stiffley couldn’t be here tonight, so let’s
welcome instead her husband, our CEO, Bill Stiffley…”(followed by some genuine
appreciation, because deprecatory humour needs balancing and you want to keep
your job.)