Estilo Communications

By Philip Jones and Roberto Pena

Confidence is an essential element of a strong business image. In a number of social settings, there is no better way to show your confidence than by telling a good joke or two. When applied to public relations, humor can help you secure and maintain clients, conduct more effective outreach, and improve your visibility online.

When using humor, remember that every successful joke depends on a shared bit of knowledge, and so — as with public relations in general — always keep in mind your audience, the assumptions it brings along, and the way they’ll receive your words.

Here are various situations in which peppering your speech with humor can serve you well:

• Humor with clients – While getting clients, a sense of humor strengthens your pitch and shows you as an eager, confident service provider. Within established business relationships, it is a normal part of contact housekeeping.
• Humor in outreach – This is where humor can achieve the most immediately visible results. When approaching people one-on-one, some clean, non-deprecating humor can show a warm side to you, make you trustworthy, and generate more interest in your product.
• Humor in Internet publicity – Campaigns in social media, social bookmarking, and viral marketing almost demand humorous content to stand out. The Internet’s younger demographic appreciates a witty site, video, or song — and passes it along.
• Humor in regular media – Although much less prominent than in other vectors, humor has its place in old media. Yes, press releases should always focus on swift information delivery, but for the sake of strengthening your client’s image (unless your client is a funeral home or similar), you can mix a healthy dose of laughter into things like feature stories and interviews.

These strategies are a handy primer on effective PR. If you’re looking for more in-depth guidance, we at Estilo will be happy to talk to you, so give us a call at (512) 477-1018.