But No One Laughed

“I thought it was funny, but nobody laughed.” That’s what my brother said to me after he had to do a big training program and his opening line fell flat. I asked him what he’d said, and it was so funny I snorted. (Not very lady-like, but that’s what really happened.)

“Well, it wasn’t your words, because they were great. Do you think that you might have said it too fast or too quietly for them to have heard you clearly?”

“Now that you mention it…”

Moral of the story: Make sure that your audience can HEAR your funny lines. They have to hear it, to understand it, to appreciate it and to laugh at it.