How to Write Humor

Laughing makes you lose weight! What?? Yeah, Diane Sawyer had a doctor on her show who said 15 minutes of laughing equals 30 minutes on the treadmill! Isn't that great! There's real science behind that statement, but if you're trying to get people's attention with humor, you don't have to have a statement backed by science.

The Saturday edition of Finding the Funny, which means I'll be giving you a tip to find the funny yourself! I've written for everyone from the Tonight Show to radio, syndicated cartoon strips, CEO's, companies like wart removal cream makers, and even guests on the Jerry Springer show. I now travel the country showing people how to use humor in business.

So here's your 60 second tip to find humor . . . make a counterintuitive statement, like laughing will make you lose weight, and then come up with funny reasons why laughing will do that. Statements that go against what we normally believe grab people's attention and get them to listen to you. It's sort of like Jay Lenos funny headlines he did on his show. He'd read actual headlines, that weren't meant to be funny, but they were because of the way they were written.

you can also come up with a dozen other, fun reasons why laughing helps you lose weight.

You can't eat while you're laughing

You may actually spit food out of your mouth while you're laughing

Running to the bathroom because you're about to wet your pants from laughing

And that's my November tip. If you want to get people's attention quickly, then say something counterintuitive and then "prove" it with a little humor.

Attending our safety meeting will make you rich!

Attending our safety meeting will help you lose weight!

Attending the safety meeting will make you popular!

Have some fun and use your imagination, be outrageous. Send me an email if you want some ideas to these, or other, counterintuitive lines . . .I'm happy to help you out!

Remember, when using humor in business, your goal is to grab people's attention, give them a chuckle, and take an action (like attend your safety meeting). Using humor helps you do all of that!