Laughter is the human species’ primal act and experience. It re-members and reinforces memories of shared experiences and is an incredibly powerful bonding agent.
It’s also a great way to connect with your audience. It puts them in a receptive mood and makes them more likely to listen to what you have to say.
Laughing at Yourself
Using humor in your presentation can be a great way to connect with your audience. It relaxes them and puts them in a receptive mood. It also enlivens potentially dry or dull material.
However, be careful when using self-deprecating humor in your presentation. You don’t want to come across as fishy or putting yourself down, and you definitely don’t want to embarrass your audience.
In a study published in Psychological Science, Ursula Beermann and Willibald Ruch asked 67 participants to rate how well they laugh at themselves and find humor in difficult situations. They also asked them to choose one or two friends who rated similarly on these traits.
The researchers discovered that those who claimed to be able to laugh at themselves and whose friends rated them the same genuinely laughed and smiled at themselves when they saw distorted photos of their faces. This suggests that people who have a good sense of humor are often genuinely comfortable with themselves, which may be the key to their positive moods and overall mental health.
Laughing at Others
Whether in front of a group or on stage, humor is an important element of your presentation. It helps to break the ice, keep your listeners interested, and makes your message more memorable.
It’s also been shown to make audiences more emotionally connected to the content you’re delivering. That means you’ll have a much easier time making your audience want to follow your message long after you’ve finished.
Humor can even be a powerful tool for promoting your brand. It can help to create a positive brand perception that leads to greater sales and loyalty.
In addition to its ability to improve your mood and control your responses to stress, laughter also has been linked to a number of health benefits. It can reduce your blood pressure, strengthen your immune system, and boost your energy levels.
Laughing at the Situation
Laughter is an essential part of a comedian’s craft. It connects the audience to the comedian and helps them remember what the comedian has to say later.
While 80% of laughter isn’t a joke, neuroscientist Robert Provine says it’s “primarily a social vocalization that binds people together.” That said, there are times when laughter might be inappropriate.
For example, someone who witnesses a person falling may uncontrollably howl with laughter. It’s not because they’re being a bad person or showing poor manners, but rather, it might be a response to an incongruity that they’ve never seen before.
Laughing nervously is also a way for people to cope with stress. It’s a natural reaction, but it can be tricky to manage. It’s a good idea to pay attention to the moments when you’re feeling nervous and then identify which situations cause you to laugh this way.
Laughing at the Audience
The goal of a comedian is to connect with the audience, and laughter is one of the best ways they accomplish that. Whether they’re performing stand-up comedy or selling their product on the web, they use humor to build trust and engagement with their audience.
They point up the punch line and use speech rate, pausing, and emphasis to ensure their audience is ready to laugh when they arrive. It’s called finding ‘the beat’ and it’s a skill they have to practice for years.
When a comedy show isn’t getting the reaction it wants from its live studio audience, producers often resort to canned laughter. This type of laugh track (often called fake laughter) was invented in the 1950s by American sound engineer Charles Douglass, who used live audience responses to fill in gaps on television shows.