“Don't be funny, be human” - five tips for using humour in business
Humour isn’t always the first thing you think of when it comes to the corporate world - but try telling that to seven-time Emmy-winning comedy writer Beth Sherman.
A writer on some of the biggest shows in US comedy including The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and Ellen, Sherman has had huge success since she started supplementing her entertainment work with speechwriting, editing and executive presentation coaching 10 years ago.
“Clients started inviting me to speak to teams and conferences about how to use humour in the way they’d experienced it with me— by which I mean not simply for laughs, but for connection, persuasion, and impact,” she explains.
Now Sherman is set to share her experiences at The Meetings Show, where she will deliver a session, Humorising Business: Laughter As A Tool For Leadership.
Here, as an exclusive warm-up to her appearance at The Meetings Show, Beth Sherman shares her top tips for event professionals on how to inject humour into business events.
Beth Sherman
Beth Sherman
Use humour for connection
“I often frame humour as a love language, by which I mean a way to say things you couldn’t or wouldn’t say directly; a way to say things between the lines. In a high-stress industry like events, it’s a particularly useful way to tell clients and colleagues, ‘Even when things are bonkers, I keep my cool and I’m easy to work with.’ (I’ve found that standing up and declaring, ‘I’m easy to work with’ in the middle of a crisis tends not to communicate the right message.)”
Be human - ask about the snacks!
“Humour that resonates isn’t about jokes. It’s about truth. All we do as comedians is observe and report the truth. The reason it works so well is because we attach that truth to the element of surprise.
“At a conference or networking event, when everyone’s having the same conversation over and over again, any deviation from, ‘Who do you work with?’ or ’Where are you based?’ will have the element of surprise. Genuinely asking, ‘Have you done any recon on the snacks?’ or shouting over too-loud music: ‘This is the perfect volume for conversation’, not only breaks the ice, it makes you human and encourages the other party to lower their guard a bit and be human as well.”
It's all about balance
“I like to think of humour as seasoning. If you think of it like salt, sometimes it’s appropriate to use a lot – like movie theatre popcorn. But sometimes just a tiny bit is plenty. A few flakes of sea salt on chocolate is amazing. Too much is just weird. It’s all about balance. So, I would say that it’s not about right and wrong times, it’s about understanding why you’re using it and how much to use.
Comedy devices like understatement, gently used, can be great for relieving tension.”
Know when to move on - or apologise
“If no-one laughs at your joke, what do you do? If it's an innocuous joke in a presentation, and didn’t offend, it just fell flat, I’d say keep moving and don’t bother acknowledging it. It’s not a big deal. Don’t make it one. But if you’ve said something that hurt people, own it and apologise. We all make mistakes. It’s how we handle them that matters.”
Break the ice with an unusual question
“One question that I love asking in workshops and masterclasses is ‘What’s the dumbest way you’ve injured yourself?’ Those stories are true, human, usually hilarious and always telling.
The other day, a woman volunteered that her husband’s dumbest injury happened when he jokingly tried to saw a frozen pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in half because he didn’t trust her to keep her spoon out of his half. His effort resulted in twelve stitches and a very awkward drive to the hospital.”
Sherman appears on Stage Two at The Meetings Show on Thursday 26 June at 10:40am
She will also be available to ‘borrow’ as a member of the Human Library, a line-up of thought leaders, innovators and specialists who will hold 15 minute 1:1 conversations during the show, and hold a Hosted Buyer Masterclass for hosted buyers on 24 June.
The Meetings Show 2025 will be co-located with Business Travel Show Europe and TravelTech Show. To find out more and register as a buyer, hosted buyer, or visitor, visit: themeetingsshow.com/register. Free online registration for visitor buyers will close on 24 June. All onsite registrations will be charged at the ticket price of £999.
