What Do Comedy and Nonprofit Communications Have in Common? More Than You Think!

Every day, I get up and go to work where I write blogs, op-eds, and articles for a public interest constitutional law firm. And every night, I am scattered around Washington, D.C. performing stand up comedy. 

At first glance, my two lives don’t appear to have much in common with each other. But as the years have gone by, I’ve noticed how my career in communications and comedy have more crossover than I have thought.

Everyone Loves A Good Storyteller

Human beings learn through storytelling. It is woven in the very fabric of our psyche. That is as true in economics as it is in comedy.

My professional comms career has focused primarily on taking complex economic and legal concepts and making them digestible to any audience. The only way to do this properly is through storytelling. 

It is not enough to define or explain an economic principle to someone to help them understand. You have to humanize it. Raising the minimum wage, for example, might seem like a good idea, until you hear about the entrepreneur who lost his business after couldn’t afford to keep up with the rising cost of wages, and the single mother who he had to let go as a result. 

Impactful communication tells unique stories that touch on universal human truths. Everyone can empathize with the pain of losing a business, job, or home. In the political realm, this may lead people to act. In comedy, it will (hopefully) lead people to laugh.

Every good comedian is a storyteller. They take a relatable scenario, like dating, crazy families, or annoying office situations, to draw in their audience. And just when you think you know where the joke is going, they end it with something so unexpected and hilarious, you find yourself involuntarily cracking up. 

The skill may be used to different ends, and have slightly different formulas but the point remains: To get people to not only listen to what you have to say, but to understand it, you have to master the art of storytelling.

Comms Is A Conversation, Not A Performance

Unlike plays, comedy isn’t a performance–it’s a conversation between you and your audience. 

Telling a joke is all about the give and take between you and the crowd. If you are delivering a bit and you can feel the audience pulling away, you have to change courses, change the delivery, and do whatever needs to be done to get them back with you.

And there is no greater feeling than hearing laughter filling the room and knowing you have succeeded.

In written communication the dialogue between you and your audience doesn’t happen in real time, but the principles are the same.

To have truly effective communications skills you have to know your audience and understand how to reach them. Without a clear direction of who you are talking to, you are just throwing a bunch of ideas at the wall and hoping they stick. 

Sometimes, this means cutting a sentence you thought profoundly witty for one that is better suited to the crowd who will be reading the finished product.

I may have a joke about dating apps that kills with a Millennial and GenZ audience, but in a room full of married Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, most of whom have never and will never have to use that kind of technology, that same bit will bomb. 

Whether you’re working on the stage or on the page, you have to make sure you are creating content that allows you to reach your audience where they are and bring them to where you want them to be.

Economy of Words

Another mark of a good communicator is knowing when less is more. This is true no matter what the medium may be.

While you may think your words are exquisite and the prose brilliant, no one wants to read a 3,500 word article about the broken window fallacy … believe me, I speak from experience.

No matter how passionately you may feel about your subject matter, using more words than is needed to make your point loses your audience—and quickly.  Nothing will teach you this lesson quite like standing on stage in front of a crowd silently begging you to “get to the point.” And that silence is deafening. 

If a comedian spends too much time trying to set up a bit they risk burying the punchline in a tangled web of unnecessary words. Every single word must be intentional and contribute to the bottom line. Sometimes that means the communicator must perform the ultimate sacrifice and “kill their darlings.”

As professional communicators we are not here to impress everyone with extensive vocabulary. Our primary purpose is to communicate a point in the most succinct way possible, which means implementing an economy of words at all times. 

Different Roles, Same Skills

I could ramble on about the similarities between my two passions, but I would be contradicting my previous point.

Suffice it to say that being a comic has helped me become a better writer at work, and being a better writer at work has helped me be a better comedian. At the end of the day, both roles come down to one thing: being a professional communicator.