How to use humor and wit in a presentation

How to find your sense of humor in your subject

Mark Twain once said, “Explaining humor is a lot like dissecting a frog: you learn a lot in the process, but in the end, you kill it.”

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The legendary humorist would have known a thing or two himself about what makes people laugh. His point, perhaps, is that humor is subjective: you have your own sense about what makes you laugh, and compared to your friends and loved ones, it may differ by levels of raunchiness, dry wit, irony, or sarcasm.

That said, you will need to tailor any humor you insert into your presentation to your audience. Bawdy jokes won’t make sense in front of an academic setting, of course. And inside jokes won’t make sense to anyone who don’t share it.

Don’t overdo it

You’re not doing a standup comedy routine, so you shouldn’t inundate every slide with jokes. Use humor like an exotic spice: Sprinkle it in every once in a while, and it’ll be more appreciated.

How to use humor in a presentation

Here are some ideas on how to use humor in various types of presentations:

• In a more formal presentation, tongue-in-cheek humor can be effective in breaking the mold of a staid topic.
• In a highly scientific presentation, highly specific jokes can reach your audience. If you’re giving a chemistry presentation and no one laughs at your jokes, keep telling them until you get a reaction. (Hey, they can’t all be winners.)
• Like in all forms of comedy, delivery is everything. Whether you’re going for a deadpan sense of humor or acting over-the-top, this is a time to consider your audience when you’re presenting.
• Wordplay is a double-edged sword: it can be clever, or it can be groan-worthy. A bad pun can always be used as a form of ironic humor, especially if it matches your own personality.

Use visual aids

Funny images and GIFs can go a long way to injecting humor as a welcome break for your audience—especially if they’re relevant to your presentation. You can differentiate topics and structures in your presentation through an image or meme (that you can easily create on Teams), and it’s easy to insert multimedia in PowerPoint.

Don’t talk down or tease anyone

Humor is a way to relieve tension, especially if delivering less than pleasant news (such as business earnings). But punctuating negative topics with a joke can backfire. Ill-advised humor can make people feel bad, especially if you single one person out—you’re not here to roast anyone, and an ill-conceived joke can raise the attention of those around you.

When you choose to inject humor into your presentation, you are on a stage, of sorts, and you have a captive audience. This is a lot of power that can define your personality in front of peers and higher-ups.

Because humor is so subjective and you cannot please everyone with your personal tastes, it helps to play it safe. That’s why humor takes an additional level of planning on top of structuring your presentation, alleviating public speaking anxiety, and telling an argumentative or persuasive narrative. It can be done, and when done right, it can create a truly memorable experience for your audience that will reinforce your presentation. For more tips on how to drive your point home to your audience, check out Microsoft 365’s presentation tips and tricks.