Research Shows That Cracking Jokes Could Make You Seem More Competent

Telling a joke is always a risk, especially when you're facing an unfamiliar audience in a business setting, such as an interview. However, taking a stab at humor might be the best decision you can make. Researchers from the Harvard Business School found that telling a joke successfully can make your audience view you as more competent, more confident and even higher in status.

Study author Alison Wood Brooks, alongside co-authors Maurice Schweitzer and T. Bradford Bitterly, hypothesized that telling a joke would make a person appear more confident. The team also believed a failed joke would lead to lower perceived competence, while a successful joke would lead to higher perceived competence and status.

To find out whether they were on the right track, the team conducted several studies. For the first study, participants listened to testimonials for a fake company. The first presenter always gave a serious testimonial, while the second switched between a serious testimonial and one that involved telling a joke.

Study participants rated the second participant as more confident, competent and high-status when he gave the testimonial with the joke. In another study, which was conducted to replicate these initial findings, participants were more likely to choose a joke teller a group leader. These results suggest that a well-executed joke can have a positive impact on how people perceive you.

Executing a successful joke may be a good move, but what if a joke falls flat? Fortunately, it's probably not a big deal. Despite the original hypothesis, failed joke tellers were perceived as no less competent than their successful counterparts. When more than 270 participants read the transcript of an interview in which the interviewee told a joke and the interviewer didn't laugh, the interviewee wasn't rated any worse on competency and actually still scored high for confidence.

Are you thinking of telling a joke but are unsure whether it might be inappropriate or offensive? While telling a bad joke is harmless, telling an inappropriate joke can have negative consequences. Wood Brooks and her team found that respondents perceived interviewees who told an inappropriate joke as less competent and lower in status than other joke tellers. This remained true whether or not the joke was not well received or perceived as funny.

If you're not sure whether a joke may be viewed as inappropriate, tell it to coworkers or colleagues you trust, and ask for their honest opinion. Avoid sensitive subjects such as politics and religion, and steer clear of jokes that may be more appropriate for the bar than the boardroom. Keep in mind that even a dull or over-told joke is better than an inappropriate one.

If you want others to view you as confident, competent and high-status, telling a joke might be a good idea. Avoid inappropriate topics when crafting some good, clean jokes to tell at your next interview or networking event.

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