When coaching executives who have to deliver presentations to large audiences, I always begin by asking them what performance skills they would most like to learn or improve. They often say, “I want to be funny.”
My response is always, “That’s funny. (Beat, two, three…) Why would you want to be funny?” Most of us struggle in life to be taken seriously. So, I think it’s funny that so many executives and managers want to make people laugh when they stand up in front of large groups of fellow managers.
