In my class sessions this week, there was a lot of laughter. Surely that helps students wanting to attend. But online and offline, I have tried not to use sarcasm. With humor, we can easily confuse and hurt. Self-deprecating humor (about mistakes I've made) is usually safe.
But as a professor or as a pastor or as a leader of a meeting, you are NOT a comedian. The point is not to get laughs. If you start trying for that, you waste people's time and skew the focus.
But sincerely saying how you learned a lesson in the past is useful (and sometimes🤣).
See:
For example, I told stories about how I was a pastor and seminary student but was told I needed to develop relationships with non-Christians so I tried with the barber but it did not really work (and now I'm bald!) and talking to women at the gym who thought I was creepy.
I also told about how when I was a pastor and we had lots of homeless people visit our church for handouts and we worked hard on comprehensive solutions. But also I found the people especially loved cookies and lemonade.
Originally tweeted by Andy Rowell (@AndyRowell) on January 15, 2021.