Poke Fun At Yourself – Dave…The Irish-Texan
Poke Fun at Yourself – “Safe” Humor that Audiences Love
Self-deprecating humor, witticisms, and contrary points of view to get your audience laughing. Self-deprecation, or poking fun at yourself, is one of the easiest ways to get your audience to laugh! Why? It makes your audience more comfortable!
Some conservative audiences may wait until others laugh before they join in (no one wants to be the focus of attention if the humor turns out to be inappropriate or inadvertently risqué). Poking fun at yourself is often safe for audiences, making it easier for you to get the audience laughing immediately!
You might choose to poke fun at yourself by talking about your:
- Physical appearance or other characteristics
- Personality traits
- Weaknesses
Self-deprecation helps you connect with the audience in an authentic way and makes you more vulnerable. Why does it work? People who can laugh at themselves and reveal their weaknesses are looked at as a secure, confident, and likable.
Key Success Strategies:
- Call out things we all have in common to be more relatable and better connect to your audience.
- Make it obvious to the audience when making fun of your physical appearance or a characteristic.
- Avoid anything that erodes your credibility. Remember, as a presenter you need to have credibility on a subject. Don’t downplay your expertise!
There are many advantages to using self-deprecation. There are also many opportunities! Here are just a few:
- It lightens the mood in everyday life. (In the elevator, at the water cooler, while having lunch etc.)
- It builds rapport. Remember, making fun of yourself helps build likeability and is helpful in building relationships.
- It illuminates key points and lowers the chance of getting a hostile response in presentations and meetings.
- It keeps people engaged when speaking on technical or other serious subjects because people often aren’t expecting humor.
Before I use humor or witticisms, I ask myself two questions.
- Is this a suitable place and time to incorporate levity?
- Is it appropriate for the occasion and the audience?
Why are these important? It is critical that you do not inadvertently “step over the line” when using humor. As part of the humor development process I do several phone interviews with people who will attend. I also have discussions with the meeting planner and others to get a “flavor” for the event, the theme, the audience, the people who are hiring me. I ask what is going on in their world and what is on their minds, identify areas where I can use humor, and make sure I don’t enter any sensitive “minefields.” I also try to find out if they laugh easily or if they are conservative.
Now that you know the basics, let’s look at an example from when I was an engineer. Picture me in a conference room with a group of project engineers with a tough negotiation meeting in front of us. We start off with introductions. When I introduce myself, I state, “my name is Dave Hill, and for those of you have spoken to me on the phone but have never met me in person, I know what you are thinking, “Dave Hill sounds much taller on the phone.” The group of project engineers laughed, and the tension dropped down a notch. I came to this meeting knowing that there would be tough negotiations and potential conflict. I came prepared with my engineering options, my listening skills, and my sense of humor. One of the best compliments I received as an engineer was not the big salary or the juicy bonus. It was the kind words my boss documented in an annual performance review. Here is the exact wording:
“David is a master at using his sense of humor to ease tension. When he is around, the atmosphere becomes friendlier and more cooperative. He always sees the humor in things, helping to avoid or defuse difficult situations.”
The following is a simple process I use to identify quips where I can poke fun at myself:
- Identify aspects such as physical appearance, traits, weaknesses, etc.
- Brainstorm to identify anecdotes, witticisms and contrary points of view
- Work on making the quips as short and “punchy” as possible.
Before we go too much further let’s discuss the process of identifying witticisms and contrary points of view:
You might wonder how I identified so many witticisms and a few contrary points of view on my brainstorming table below. It is important to understand that I did not sit down and uncover all of these at once. I accumulated these over a period of several years. Some just “came to mind,” others appeared through quips made by others, and occasionally they came from a focused analysis. Once the humor is uncovered, I immediately make note of the humor on my phone notes or on a small Post-It-Note for future filing.
A way to explore this in a more focused manner is to identify and list the generic characteristics, adjectives, or things that relate to “short” such as: elf, vertically challenged, hobbit, In-laws playfully mocking me, reach-ability, high heels, clogs, kids clothing store, booster seat, etc. Then brainstorm to see if you can find a funny link between “short” and any of the listed items. This takes a bit of work but it’s sure way to identify ways to poke fun at yourself. See the table below to see how I have applied this technique.
Finally, let’s explore poking fun at yourself using a contrary point of view. This additional technique involves identifying the most embarrassing or quirky things that people might be say about you behind your back. You find humor by identifying the advantages of this defect. The items listed in CAPITALS/BOLD in the third column below are examples of using a contrary point of view.
| 1) Dave Hill – Appearance, Personality Traits, Weaknesses etc. |
2) Identify and list the generic characteristics, adjectives, or things that relate to this. | 3) Try and Find a “Bridge” or “Link” Between 1) & 2) to Turn it into a Witticism or find a CONTRARY POINT OF VIEW. |
| Irish (living in Texas) |
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| Bald |
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| Short |
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| Overweight |
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| Hearing |
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| Twisted sense of humor |
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| Color Blind |
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| Glasses |
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| Frugal family |
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| Storyteller |
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| Tough |
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| Bad listener |
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| Caffeine deficiency is risky for me |
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| Emotional |
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| Personable |
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| Helpful |
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| Beer drinker |
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| I make mistakes |
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| I pack for business trips at the last moment |
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| Mischief |
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| Terrible at buying gifts for my wife |
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| Minimal personal goals |
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| Not always a good engineer at home |
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| My ears stick out |
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This is a series of blog articles and brief videos on “Finding the Funny – Learn the Step-By-Step-Process to Develop and Deliver Humor & Funny Stories & Incorporate into Serious Content.” The blogs are excerpts from my e-learning course (see link on right) which includes:
- Over 16 lessons
- Over 8 hours of video instruction
- Activities and quizzes to complement each lesson
- Downloadable worksheets and templates
- 12 month access to course updates and additions
Please feel free to share with professional speakers, public speakers, trainers…anyone who stands in front of audiences who wants to make them laugh or bring some lightheartedness into serious content. Help me out by “liking,” “subscribing.” and “sharing” on the various social media platforms. To help me out, please make sure you “subscribe” (right-hand column) so you do not miss any of these weekly blog articles. Please feel free to comment on this blog-site and on social-media sites, and share with those who will benefit from them.
Copyright © MMXX by David R. Hill
