Humor is a funny thing. It can endear people to one another. It can build trust and likability. But it can also offend. That’s why humor must be used with caution, but it should never be overlooked as a potential strategy.

Self-deprecating humor isn’t a new strategy, but it may be an underrated one. In a debate, President Abraham Lincoln was once accused of being two-faced. The famously homely man replied, "If I had two faces, would I be wearing this one?" How could you not like someone who was humble enough to laugh at himself?

More recently, President Barack Obama appeared on The Colbert Report. After barging on stage early, he took the host’s chair and read Stephen Colbert’s lines criticizing him and Obamacare. The audience roared with delight at the sound of him delivering self-criticism.

And just a couple months ago, then-presidential candidate Nikki Haley appeared on Saturday Night Live to molify the fallout of a New Hampshsire town hall in which she seemed to dance around the word "slavery" as a cause of the Civil War. Guest host Ayo Edebiri, playing a reporter, asked Haley, "What would you say was the main cause of the Civil War, and do you think it starts with an 's' and ends with 'lavery'?" With a smile, Haley replied, "Yep, I probably should have said that the first time."

Recent research suggests that the ability to laugh at oneself is correlated with higher psychological well-being. Perhaps that’s why self-deprecating people are more magnetic than their thin-skinned counterparts — they convey humility, approachability and relatability.

According to Stanford Graduate School of Business Naomi Bagdonas, when we laugh, our brains release the hormone oxytocin, which cues us to form an emotional bond with that person. “And oxytocin, by the way, is the same hormone that’s released during sex and childbirth — fun fact — both moments when, from an evolutionary perspective, we benefit from feelings of closeness and trust.”

Bagondas points to the 2012 State of the Union address, when President Obama delivered a small joke about government bureaucracy. "Then there's my favorite example: The Interior Department is in charge of salmon while they're in fresh water, but the Commerce Department handles them when they're in saltwater. (Laughter.) I hear it gets even more complicated once they're smoked. (Laughter and applause.)"

The next day, National Public Radio conducted a poll asking people what words they remembered from the address and the No. 1 word was “salmon.” According to Bagdonas, the poll results were the same across political affiliation: “Humor helps with engagement in part because laughter, when we laugh, the reward center of our brains is flooded with the neurotransmitter, dopamine. So, this engenders deeper focus and better long-term retention.”

The amount of peer reviewed literature is no joke. There’s weighty evidence of the power and effectiveness of humor with the public — and at the office. According to Canadian researchers, when leaders use humor at work, those who report to them show a higher level of feedback seeking behavior. Humor breaks down barriers and increases trust.

In 2011, we received a call at the Meat Institute asking us to appear on “The Daily Show” to talk about a campaign by an animal rights group that compared eating hot dogs to smoking cigarettes. We didn’t take the request lightly — there were upsides to such an appearance, and major downsides. But after much deliberation, I agreed to do an interview with Aasif Mandvi in my office. Although the experience was very funny, anticipating the air date was anxiety-provoking and I went to sleep rather than stay up and watch the final result. The reaction was overwhelmingly positive. By playing along, we proved the absurdity of the allegation that hot dogs were unsafe.

Clearly, “The Daily Show” and other opportunities like it could have gone wrong, but they also can go wrong if you are silent. That’s why humor shouldn’t be dismissed as a communications strategy. Whether you want to build connections with your team, increase the trust that people place in you or make your message popular and memorable, consider making them laugh. No strategy is without risk, but the reward of a good, shared laugh.

By the way, have you heard the one about the priest, the rabbi and the meat packer who walk into a bar?

Make 'em laugh

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