Make the world funnier

I’ve always believed that the world should be funnier. All of it. I have always rejected the notion that there are things that can't be laughed about, and situations where laughter is not appropriate. Laughter breaks down the pain of awful situations; destroys arrogance and threat; it builds trust between us as humans. My 96-year-old grandmother was dying after an enormous stroke, and on her deathbed she handed me a leaflet and asked me to read it to her as the doctor had recommended she read it: As I looked at it, it was a leaflet entitled: "Reinvigorating your sex life after a stroke". It was the perfect response to a horrendous situation, and the glint in her eye will stay with me forever - she knew it was hilarious and she had the last laugh on me. We all know that we want to do business with people we like, and we like people with whom we "have a laugh"... So why are websites, social media, and print marketing materials always so scared of trying to be funny?

Where it began

My father was a Baptist minister, and he had a gift for making his message stick somehow. I would argue that selling faith is the hardest of all (even harder than recruitment services), but he did a damn good job, building churches from a dozen to around 100 in a matter of years. He was a huge fan of Max Boyce, a Welsh comedian who would tell funny stories and write silly songs that people could join in and remember. I remember my father once writing a sketch for church, where I had to be the kid with the 5 loaves and 2 fishes, and he’d pretended to be Jesus talking to the 5000 saying he was about to feed them all, only for me to interrupt and say, "Ah, sorry, I've eaten it all..." only for me and him to pretend to argue about what he was going to do with all these hungry people! "This was meant to be one of my famous miracles, like, a proper headline in the Bible and stuff!" The church roared with laughter of course. Another time he wrote another sketch of someone doing the performance appraisal of the Roman guards who had been at Jesus' tomb the day he rose from the dead - “How do you feel your performance has been recently? Attendance and punctuality is strong sure, but that one dead person who escaped is a bit of an issue. Are you aware you've accidentally started the largest religion in history?”?

I've always been “the joker” myself too - in school, university, work… I started doing stand-up comedy when working on cruise ships aged 22, as a friend of mine encouraged me to give it a try. Even when I became a teacher and even a Deputy Head, I not only loved to be able to make kids laugh in the classroom, but found it deeply powerful and meaningful. Kids listened while I taught because the humour had engaged them; plus when things were bad (children not understanding nor behaving) humour was the way through. So I'm delighted now run Funny Business - our comedy networking nights to raise funds for charity. In fact, my new venture in FOMO specialises in helping people tell their story and showcase who they are - personality, ideally with some humour and fun.

Why try to be funny??

All things being equal, people want to do business with their friends.

All things NOT being equal - people still want to do business with their friends.

The first instinct for human beings when they meet is to smile and either laugh themselves, or try to make the other laugh - it’s a sign of humility, and helps build trust. People who don’t smile or laugh subconsciously give you the creeps.

When I was a child, there were 4 TV channels - 2 sets of 2 - 2 BBC channels, then ITV and Channel 4. The big deal was that two of them had no adverts, which was amazing! No time wasted, just entertainment and no one trying to sell to you - but every now and then one advert would be awesome. You'd unmute the telly to see if and laugh! There were even TV shows about the best and funniest adverts: Tarrant on TV, amongst others. The idea of trying to promote yourself but by being funny is not a new idea - it’s just bloody hard…

Some tips for being funny in your social media

Self-deprecation

• Talk about the time you tried making coffee and the mug was upside down. Tell people about that stupid story when you went to hug someone and they went to shake your hand and ended up hitting you in the groin. Explain how you daily end up walking into a cupboard instead of leaving the building because the doors are next to each other.
• By putting yourself down (a very British tendency) you indicate to your followers that you are not arrogant - you should immediately be filed in the "not a dickhead" category for them. You no longer pose a threat to them.
• I have often opened my "elevator pitch" moments with an apology for looking like Andy Murray, but possessing less than a fraction of his talent. Immediately it's me saying to everyone, "I don't take myself too seriously", and people are more willing to actually find out what I do for work.

Observations

• Joke about issues in the office, or common mistakes about you and your industry... laugh at the problem, rather than the people. Trust me when I say that you are probably funnier than you think, and people will relate to your open and honest reflections on the daily grind of life.

Wordplay -

• The easiest way to get "into" comedy - Google search puns about your line of work and start using them as the hooks in your posts... Everyone knows puns are crap so make a joke about the fact that you are using a pun! Apologise for telling a dad joke (even though you may not be a dad!). I have said before now that I only really had kids to justify my rubbish dad jokes... It works and combines well with the self-deprecating attitude... And you'll probably find people willing to comment and join in the conversation with their own bad puns!

Conclusion

Basically, be funnier in your content marketing! You are probably absolutely stark raving hilarious in real life... when I tell people I do stand-up the most common response is to tell me that they really couldn't do it. Not everyone can do stand-up, but everyone is funny in their own way. Don't hide behind slick and polished sales posts: Who would watch telly which was only adverts all day? You would if they were funny, but otherwise LinkedIn (or whatever platform) becomes dreary as soon as you "just sell" in all your content.

Do the virtual equivalent of smiling when you meet someone, and be funny in your digital marketing. People will warm to it, I guarantee it. And if you think you can't, talk to me - I bet I can prove you wrong.