How to Use Humor in Business Communications: Understanding What Makes Us Laugh
Humor isn’t just for the breakroom.
Let’s explore what makes something funny and how understanding the science of humor can help us communicate more effectively at work.
Humor and workplace communication might not seem like an obvious pair, but they should be.
In this expert blog series, philosopher and author Mike Cundall, explores how humor works, why it matters, and how we can use it more effectively in emails, presentations, and everyday business communication. This first post dives into the research behind what humor is, and how recognizing incongruity and play can bring lightness, and effectiveness, to our most serious spaces.
What Humor Is
Did you know there was a town in Arkansas called Flippin? And to top it all off, there is the Flippin Church of Christ. Look it up. The Flippin Church of Christ is located not too far from the Flippin Town Hall. If I were a comedy writer, I doubt I’d ever be that creative. Some things are just too funny to be made up.
They say that the truth is stranger than fiction, well, the same could be said of humor. Real life can be a whole lot funnier than our best jokes. Seriously, if I could be so creative as to come up with Flippin, I might be writing for Saturday Night Live right now.
The Flippin Church of Christ is a great example of how researchers think humor works. For instance, some people say, “It’s funny cause it’s true.” This is an article you’re reading. That isn’t funny, and it happens to be true. Mostly, it’s just annoying.
So what does make a funny thing funny, humorous, or worthy of a laugh?
Now bear with me a moment because I am going to get all academic for a few paragraphs. I am a philosopher, after all.
Incongruity: When Things Don’t Quite Fit
There is broad agreement in the research that there are a couple of necessary things for humor to occur. First of all, humor is a cognitive act. Whatever else humor may be, there is some sort of recognition by the person who finds something funny that something doesn’t quite fit. The Flippin example highlights this quite well. As many know, ‘flippin’ is often used as a euphemism for a more notorious four-letter word that begins with ‘f’ and rhymes with ‘pluck’.
To have the Flippin Church of Christ just has us associate a place of worship with a rather ungodly sort of word. The general term researchers use to describe this lack of fit is ‘incongruity.’ The basic idea is that humor works when there is some perceived sort of incongruity, something unexpected, or an interpretation of words or actions in ways atypical or outside the normal way in which one might normally understand things.
The Role of Play
Another necessary part of humor seems to be play or being in a playful setting. As you likely already know, being in a relaxed environment, free from demands, deliverables, to-do lists, is one that is far better for humor than times when we’re on a schedule, when we’re supposed to be accomplishing important tasks. This is one of the reasons humor and work tend to seem to be opposites.
Researchers from fields as diverse as psychology, philosophy (yours truly, and yes, that’s a shameless plug), biology, and linguistics all note how it’s often the case that humor is more likely found in situations when we’re not being serious: when we’re engaging in behavior that isn’t goal oriented.
I know, now you’re thinking, but this is an article about how to use humor in communications for business. Business is serious business. Serious business is not fun or playful. Being seen as goofing off or not being serious at the office can signal a certain lack of regard for the proper behavior at work and a possible first step in no longer having that particular job.
As my first boss in the restaurants said, “If there’s time to lean, there’s time to clean.” It was pretty obvious that I needed to have my rear in gear and anything that looked like I wasn’t working, laughing, joking, having fun (odd, that last one), was not helpful.
Work and Play Aren’t Opposites
Work environments are very different than the playground or the comedy club. In the latter, there are very few restrictions other than come ready to play. The former is restricted in that you best come ready to work.
So there seems a bit of a conundrum here. If work is serious, and serious is the opposite of fun, and fun is needed for humor, ergo, and some other Latin words, we ain’t gonna be having humor and fun at work.
This is, of course, false.
We joke, kid, tease, and have fun at work. We don’t do it an entire shift, but we do laugh and joke at the office. The real question for us is to understand how humor works, see where we find it in places like working environments, and then see what we can do to encourage more humor in the workplace.
You’re not going to change your office into the next Laugh Factory, and no sitcoms will be born from your office. However, if you think that’s the case, contact me so I can apply to your company.
What is more important to recognize is that humor is deemed an important social quality to be valued in the workplace. Employees often lament the lack of humor at the office, and employers also wish to see more humor in the office. In both cases, the effects can be good.
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