Should you begin a speech or presentation with a joke? No-unless you're very good at telling jokes. And most people, myself included, aren't good at this.
Starting with humor is almost always a good idea, but I strongly recommend an alternative: Observational Humor, which I define as developing and delivering funny lines about what's going on around you.
You must understand two humor principles.
The first is that humor is always about connections. This involves connections between ideas or words: How are they similar? How are they different?
The other principle is that humor is always about surprise. We're moving in one direction, and then we surprise everyone by going off in another direction.
You find ideas for observational humor in at least three areas.
One is what other people say and do. Someone says or does something that isn't in itself funny, but you make it funny by connecting it to something else. Sometimes it's something
Another is current events. Back in 2012, if you forgot to say or do something, you could get a laugh by saying, "I'm having a Rick Perry moment," referring to the Republican presidential candidate whose mind went totally blank during a debate.
A third area is the environment-the room is too cold, or too hot, or noisy. Someone's cell phone keeps going off. The lights go out, the projector breaks down. All of these can be sources for funny lines.
The process is pretty simple. At the meeting where you're presenting, you simply observe and take notes about what's going on before your presentation. Then look for connections, and come up with a few funny lines.
When you get up to give your presentation, you make an observation or 2 about what you've seen or heard.
You can even practice this skill if you're not giving a presentation. Start doing the observing and writing at meetings to get a feel of the process. Then gradually start delivering a line or two. You'll get the hang of writing funny lines.
Here's an example: I was doing a keynote at 9:00 a.m. for a group of international sales people at a hotel in Las Vegas. The CEO of the group was on before me, doing some PowerPoint, and he was having trouble getting the focus right on his projector. Several times, he said, as he fiddled with the projector, "I know that's a little blurry... "
After he introduced me, I simply said, "I do a lot of these conventions, and sometimes seeing things blurry has NOTHING to do with the projector." I was implying that the blurriness can come from being hungover. It got a decent laugh, because the group was pretty good-natured.
So, if using humor in a presentation makes you anxious, stay away from telling jokes, and try a little observational humor.
For more information on public speaking/presentation skills, check out my next free webinar. The Killer Presentation Skills Webinar will definitely improve your skills, with immediate improvement through 10 action items.
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