Injecting humor into a safety presentation is a great way to engage your audience. But what makes something funny? Here are some tips to help sprinkle your safety presentation with comedic elements that are guaranteed to get laughs.
1. By the book is not funny.
If you research the history of humor, you’ll find it’s no laughing matter. Seriously, grab a glass of water, it’s dry. There are a few different theories on what makes something funny. One that continues to come up—and is applicable to safety training—is a theory that humor arises from incongruity. You’re surprised by what happens because it goes against what you expected to happen.
That’s a big part of why humor works in safety training—most people are expecting a dull presentation.
2. Make sure they get it.
Unfortunately, things aren’t funny just because you want them to be. What might be funny for some is not funny to others. So, before you attempt humor, it’s important to know your audience, especially the things that make them laugh and what turns them off.
A Safety + Health article helps demonstrate this point. Safety trainer Regina McMichael observed a safety training session and the audience included several professionals who had attended her session a couple of days prior. The audience was asked if a safety trainer had ever done anything to turn them off as a learner. She recalled one of the attendees saying, “I can’t stand it when people do that fake shoot-themselves-in-the-head thing with their finger. I lost someone to suicide recently.” And this was something McMichael had done in her presentations for years. If you’re unsure whether a joke or gesture might upset an audience member, you’re better off playing it safe. There’s nothing funny about disengagement.
The funniest joke in the world
In 2001, psychologist Richard Wiseman teamed up with the British Science Association to carry out LaughLab—the scientific search for the world’s funniest joke. Through an online experiment, they had people from around the world vote on their favourite routines. The findings determined that this was the funniest joke in the world:
“Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn’t seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps, ‘My friend is dead! What can I do?’ The operator says, ‘Calm down. I can help. First, let’s make sure he’s dead.’ There is a silence, then a shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says, ‘OK, now what?’”
Did you find that joke funny? As previously stated, not everyone will. Humor is subjective.
3. Don’t just tell a joke.
Should you start your safety training with the funniest joke in the world? Of course not. A joke is a performance piece with the sole purpose of getting a laugh. When it comes to inserting humor into a training presentation, jokes aren’t always the right approach. Even if the joke is funny, with an audience full of people waiting to be trained on safety, this will not inspire them to learn more. The humor needs to be relevant to the training.
4. Start a laugh mob.
Laughter is often infectious. It’s easier to get laughs from a group of people than to elicit a laugh from an individual because it’s a social expectation. We are 30 times more likely to laugh in the presence of others. Take a look at old sitcoms. They used to film them in front of a live studio audience in order to share the laughter with those watching at home. Prerecorded laugh tracks were also used for the same effect. Laughter inspires laughter.
5. Laugh at your own jokes.
Have you ever noticed when you’re watching Saturday Night Live that you’re more inclined to laugh at the comedian smirking or laughing during their sketch than the ones who are deadpan? As a presenter, it’s important to know that it’s OK to laugh at your own attempts at humor. Laughter is a trick that some comedians use to prompt a laugh or save a joke. So don’t be afraid to smile and let your audience know you’re having fun too.
6. Bring back show and tell.
Instead of trying to get the laugh on your own, why not share something you found funny so that you can laugh together? Keeping your audience’s tastes in mind, there’s a good chance that if you found it funny, your audience will find it funny too (unless, of course, it’s something that would expressly turn them off). Laughing together creates a bond that helps the reception of your training message. When people feel in on the joke, they get comfortable in group settings, and that’s the perfect situation for safety training.
Back in the days of vaudeville, there was a famous punchline to the question: “Do you know how to get to Carnegie Hall?” The answer: “Practice, practice, practice.” Obviously, you won’t find those directions on a map of New York, but they’re great advice, especially if you want to inject humor into your safety presentations. The only way to get people laughing and engaged is to try. So next time you have the opportunity, incorporate some of these tips into your preparation and start keeping people safe and smiling.
This blog post is an excerpt that was adapted from Seriously Funny: How to Use Humor in Safety, which reviews the what, where, why and how to do humor in safety presentations in an easy-to-digest guide. Download it for tips, tricks and useful advice to add humor to workplace safety presentations.