Humor and Communication

Humor is one of the most powerful tools of persuasion. Like all powerful things, it should be used with care. 

The most common speechwriting mistake is to think about how to entertain an audience. Virtuosos think about how to move an audience from one point of view to another. 

A great communicator expresses ideas the way a composer arranges notes, in deliberate sequence. But if the point of music is to stir emotion, then the point of communication is to inspire action. 

Humor should be used the same way all communication is used: to convey an idea that can’t be misunderstood. This is one of the hardest elements of speechwriting and should be mastered last, not first. 

Perhaps the hardest communication challenge of all is using humor to make a point about a serious subject in front of a diverse and international audience. That’s why comedy writers are among the most impressive communicators and thinkers out there.