By Dianna Booher

In our presentation skills workshops, a frequent question our consultants receive is this: "When is it okay to use humor in a business or technical presentation?" Answer: Almost always.

The follow-up question: "How do you define humor? And where do you position the humor so that it works best?"

Humor, whether in a presentation or a conversation, doesn't necessarily mean a joke or one-liner. In fact, jokes rarely work. If you've already heard them, assume that others have as well. Having a sense of humor simply means the ability to see life in a light-hearted way. Those who see everything as a matter of life-and-death wear a permanent frown and make those around them ill at ease.

Personal anecdotes, humorous quotations, or witty comments overheard on the street, a cartoon quip, a visual, a prop, a facial expression or gesture added at the appropriate moment--these are the humorous touches that work best after you've established rapport with your colleagues.

Your willingness and ability to "lighten up" can be invaluable in positioning yourself as a confident person, comfortable in unscripted situations.

"Which" Hunts

Which of the following two sentences is correct?

People do not buy products which seem overpriced
and shabbily packaged.

People do not buy products that seem overpriced
and shabbily packaged.

If you can remove the clause in question and not change the meaning of the sentence, use a comma and which to set it off from the rest of the sentence. If you can't, use that without a comma. Simple enough, right?

MEMORY TIP: Think of which clauses as "switch" clauses. The which signals the reader that you're switching off track briefly to provide additional, nonessential information Use a comma to set off this side note.

(Answer: The second sentence is correct.)

Test your grammar skills with our free quiz or hone your skills with a copy of Booher's Rules of Business Grammar.