I recently led a group of employees to read the book Talk Like TED. It’s a summary of the nine best practices of the top TED Talk presenters. I’d highly recommend the book to anyone who speaks in front of groups. It will help you in the workplace, and it will help you as you lead your Bible study group.

One of the common characteristics of the best presenters is their use of humor (chapter #6). But they aren’t acting like stand-up comics. In fact, just the opposite. They’ve learned that telling jokes often backfires.

So if laughter is good, how is a presenter supposed to create a bond between himself and his audience without taking the chance that a joke falls short? There’s nothing worse than telling a joke you think is funny, only to hear the “cricket-cricket” when you pause after telling the punchline.

It’s important that you use some humor, because people warm up to you and your ideas faster than without it. The human brain loves laughter and humor. How can you make your presentations more engaging without being too “canned”?

Here are 6 ways to include humor in your Bible studies without taking a big risk personally:

1. Show a cartoon
2. Tell a short story
3. Read a quote (Mark Twain is great to quote!)
4. Display a photo
5. Show a short video clip
6. Make an observation

Remember, if something makes you laugh, it will probably make others laugh, too.

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