A joke as an opening of your presentation or pitch can help to break the tension. If you want to get a message across, you better really connect with your audience. To do that, you shouldn’t be funny, but be funny. Just be yourself. Be real and authentic. Then people will like you, instead of your jokes. Then you really make an impression and impact with humor. Then the audience will laugh at you.
What do you think if you were allowed to review a book entitled ‘Making an impact with humor‘ (affiliate), which has the subtitle: ‘How to make the audience crazy?’ Then I would expect a book full of tips and tricks to turn a presentation into a kind of cabaret performance, where people laugh and scream about series of jokes and pranks. Especially because the author Malinca Verwiel is a renowned director of cabaret artists including Arjen Lubach. That (fortunately) turned out differently.
Humor from a theatre perspective
It teaches the reader above all how important it is to show your own personality. To stay close to yourself. Not to imagine it, but just to have the courage to name things as they are. So make it a performance or jokes, but make sure you have an original approach that can include a little (more) of yourself. People also come to listen to you and your story.
Based on her background and experience, Verwiel explains that the audience will laugh at you:
- if they like you: by telling your story positively, with energy. Your tone and facial expressions are more important than the joke itself.
- if they believe you: by ensuring that the content of your story is real and credible. And congruent with your attitude or ‘stand’.
- and if they understand you: the audience has to understand it. They have to be able to follow your thoughts. Only then will there be laughter.
So when using humor, you have to keep that in mind.
Of course, ‘Impact maken met humor’ also provides the necessary inspiration to build up the story well and to execute it in a light-hearted way. Below are some examples of this. The wise lessons come mainly in the last part of the book, in which the focus is on personality and authenticity. So read on.
Humortools
But first, a selection from the 16 humor tools that Malinca describes in the book:
1. Impactopening
Start with a challenging statement, a provocative sentence or question. For example: “Just something crazy. . But imagine! That working in an office would be fun!” With this you want to arouse interest, shake up the audience or break a taboo. You can be unqualified in doing so.
2. Metaphor
Describe what you mean using a metaphor and few words in a way that the audience can understand. For example: “I have the ball-feeling of a sea cucumber.” This way you quickly give the audience maximum understanding of something complex. As a result, they feel what you mean and remember it better.
3. New word
This is a creative way to express your opinion about something. For example: “Rubber tile children; moving blues, keyboard terrorism.” You make the audience curious about the meaning, which makes them guess and think automatically. This makes it unforgettable.
Humor is a form of emotional intelligence…
4. Visual surprise
Do something unexpected during your presentation to create a contrast with your text. Take a megaphone, a chainsaw or a boiled egg from your bag. The Show, don’t tell effect makes it tangible and provides an unforgettable hilarious intermezzo.
5. Creative seduction
With humor you can disarm, reduce resistance and connect people, if you change the tone from ‘must’ to ‘want’. By enticing the audience, they become intrinsically motivated and are more likely to voluntarily follow your vision.
Multimedia
In the book you will find a complete set of eleven humor tools which, just like the 5 above, are explained in much more detail and provided with many more light-hearted examples and anecdotes.
What also makes ‘Impact maken met humor’ a great fun book is that it is not only a reading book, but also a viewing and listening book. Through dozens of QR codes with which the texts are interspersed, it links to all kinds of fun (short) videos that illustrate the argument. For that reason alone, the book is recommended. In the video clips you see and hear beautiful examples of how different speakers tell their story. And yes, there are also some stand-uppers and comedians among them, so the humor is on top.
Authentic humor
So, an open curtain for this great little book. It is a pleasant read and provides practical tools for those who regularly have to or are allowed to stand on the soapbox. But now back to the most important part of the book in my opinion: that about authenticity. What is that actually? And how does it relate to the phenomenon of humor?
Let’s start with the book’s explanation of the concept of authenticity. It’s simply about being yourself; staying close to yourself. Not weak, but honest, vulnerable and strong. You can be open about your doubts, emotions and imperfections and embrace them. Taking yourself a little less seriously also provides relaxation. That often leads to more fun and provides material for jokes. If you go in search of more authenticity, you will automatically come up against limits – just like with humor. As Verwiel puts it: “Authenticity is going for the greater good. People with humor are heroes.”
It is important to understand that as a presenter you should not play a role or want to be the center of attention. You should be yourself and above all pay attention to your audience. If you show the audience that you love them, the audience will immediately love you back.
If you take on a role, you run the risk of overacting to do. Then it automatically becomes less real and therefore less credible. So just bring your personality on stage. A personal story ensures a better connection with the audience than a cramped joke.
Making an impact with humor – how do you drive the audience crazy?
I have often been asked to review books on the subject of presenting, such as those on presenting without preparation, on overcoming fear of presenting or on presenting as a performer. The compact, airy but super rich book ‘Making an impact with humor’ (affiliate) by Malinca Verwiel comes in at number 1 in my personal ranking. Highly recommended.
Source: www.frankwatching.com
