Using humor in business communications
Why use humor in business communications? Done correctly, humor can add personality and life to an otherwise dull or routine project.
Anecdotes, humorous quotations or clever observations can help to win over a reader and make them more receptive to your message. In fact, many business books contain cartoons scattered throughout them designed to reinforce the text or garner a knowing chuckle from a reader who has “been there and done that.” (Indeed, that’s the entire basis of cartoons like “Dilbert” or television shows like “The Office.”)
However, if not handled with tact, comedy can backfire and ruin an otherwise fine piece of writing. Writer Suzan St. Maur penned an article a few years ago on using humor in business that makes several good points. She writes that it’s easy to get humor wrong, especially when communicating over the Internet, which is often devoid of context. Sometimes, it’s the body language or the inflection that turns a tasteless joke into a tasteful one. When that human element is missing, all bets are off as to how the recipient of the message will take it.
Still, humor can be used successfully if the proper precautions are taken. St. Maur advises writers to use jokes about situations, not people. All of us can relate to certain situations—a plumbing emergency, a toothache or a speeding ticket, for example—but we may take offense at jokes aimed at ethnic groups, minorities or public figures. St. Maur goes on to say that humor is best used like a spicy condiment in business communications: sparingly, and avoided altogether if one doesn’t know the tastes of one’s audience.
There are other ways in addition to those mentioned by St. Maur to inject a little levity into one’s writing. One is to be self-deprecating. 
While readers may be quick to condemn an author if that author pokes fun at someone else, they may be inclined to laugh along with the author if they’re poking fun at themselves. And the ability to laugh at one’s self and point out one’s own foibles can be viewed as a sign of wisdom, humility, confidence and a certain level of comfort in one’s own skin.
Another way is quote famous and respected humorists, whose work has gained a measure of respect and acceptance in general society. For example, Mark Twain once said, “Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.” A comment like that might offend if an unknown author made it, but coming from Twain, it is likely to make others smile.
Whatever approach an author uses, it’s always best to have respected co-workers (or two or three) review the piece before it goes to print. If it causes raised eyebrows in the office, it’s likely to do a lot more damage with a wider audience. As Shakespeare, himself no stranger to satire and the clever use of humor, wrote in Henry IV, “The better part of valour is discretion.” When in doubt, don’t.
What is good writing?
How do you know if you’re a good writer or if what you’re reading represents good writing?
Most people believe that good writing is subjective. They think it is an art, not a science, which is to say that it’s imprecise, follows loose guidelines and is open to interpretation. This approach is in direct contrast to a field such as civil engineering, where there are complex and rigid rules of physics and unbreakable laws of nature that determine success or failure. The levee breaks, or it does not. The bridge stands, or it falls. You succeed, or you fail.
With writing there’s often a different perspective. Some journalists, writers, authors and creative services professionals contend these iron clad standards or formal litmus tests for their output do not exist. They say that good writing just is. Like the crusading politician said when asked what pornography is, “I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it.”
As screenplay writer Josh Olson wrote in the Village Voice in September 2009, “It rarely takes more than a page to recognize that you’re in the presence of someone who can write, but it only takes a sentence to know you’re dealing with someone who can’t.” But even that criterion can be inadequate when it comes to judging the written word. It’s one point to identify a thing’s qualities—this tastes good, that smells bad, this looks great—but it’s another altogether to be able to say why and to apply those same standards to another example.
In an attempt to be more discerning, perhaps in business in particular, it’s best to judge writing not as an art, but as a science. That sounds counter-intuitive, but we have to look at the purpose of the writing and whether that purpose is achieved. What is the goal of business writing? To communicate an idea or to relay information. Business writing is clear, precise, organized and logical. That’s not to say it should be boring, but, on the other hand, it’s not Hemingway or Steinbeck and isn’t meant to be.
Using this criteria (clear, precise, organized and logical), we have a standard by which we can judge the effectiveness of business writing: Does it achieve its purpose? If the goal is to explain a new management strategy, does it adequately do so? If a memo is intended to define a company policy, does it achieve that purpose? Does the reader understand the information? Is the information easy to retain? If the answers are “yes,” then the written output is a success.