Seeking new opportunities is a serious matter. But that doesn’t mean you can’t inject a little fun into the process. The art of humorbragging — mixing self-confidence with humor — is a great way to set yourself apart and show potential investors or employers your more personable side. So what does that look like in practice?
Nir Halevy is the Jagdeep and Roshni Singh Professor of Organizational Behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business. He also teaches in several Executive Education programs. Together with coauthors Jieun Pai from Imperial College London and Eileen Chou from the University of Virginia, Halevy explored how humorbragging can help job seekers or entrepreneurs achieve their goals.
Show Off Your Good Nature
In one experiment, two similar job seekers sent out resumes with a slight variation: One added a line about their talent for turning caffeine into productivity. That applicant’s personal website got three times more traffic, and recruiters contacted them almost 1.5 times more often.
In another experiment, test subjects read transcripts from a job interview at a bakery, where one candidate boasted about a recent success — a customer loved a soccer ball cake they had recently made — while a different candidate described the same event with humor: Thank goodness they only had to bake a soccer ball cake, not kick an actual soccer ball. Study participants judged the second applicant to be more likable and competent than the first baker, who was self-promoting but humorless.
Not All Humor Is Created Equal
The team examined footage from ABC’s Shark Tank reality TV series to determine whether the type of humor contestants used in combination with self-promotion mattered. When entrepreneurs coupled self-promotion with self-deprecating or ingratiating humor, their odds of getting an investment offer weren’t significantly affected. The researchers found that only self-promotion coupled with self-enhancing humor increased a contestant’s chance of success.
Based on the two experiments with job seekers and their observations of the Shark Tank contestants, Halevy and the team concluded that humorbragging allows people to showcase two sometimes-competing qualities: they’re confident and qualified and they’re agreeable and pleasant to work with.
Proceed with Caution
Halevy notes that this study didn’t test other factors that might change the effectiveness of humorbragging, such as the user’s race or gender or the cultural context of the situation. He considers humorbragging one of many tools in your communication toolbox and suggests trying it in low-risk situations. That said, the rewards could be great. “If you could just add one line to your CV and improve your chances, you should do it,” Halevy says. “It’s just a small effort, but the payoff could be huge.”
Putting Insights into Action
While Halevy’s research focuses on humorbragging for those looking for a new job or new investors, the concept can apply to any work-related pitch you might make. Here are some best practices to keep in mind:
- Don’t overdo it. You’re not doing a stand-up routine, you’re briefly showcasing your lighter side while promoting your ideas or accomplishments.
- Know your audience. If you think cultural or other differences could cause your humor to miss the mark, keep it to yourself.
- Humorbragging isn’t humblebragging. The anecdote or joke you’re relating should present you as funny and confident, not modest and self-promoting.
- Get feedback from trusted colleagues before you send off a humorbragging resume or make a light-hearted pitch to the VP.
- Try it out! Start with a low-risk, low-stakes environment, such as a networking event or a meeting with a coworker, and take it from there.
