But maybe they should be? After all, humor isn’t just for fun — it’s also a powerful tool for engagement and retention. Here are some practical strategies to infuse an event with humor that actually lands.

Picture this: The meeting organizer’s CEO walks onstage to kick off the keynote. She tells a joke she found on a coffee mug, waits for laughs that don’t fully materialize, and then pivots to 47 slides of bullet points. Sound familiar? The well-intentioned icebreaker has become something of a ritual in both corporate and association events — and like most rituals, it’s often performed without much thought about whether it actually works.

The good news is that humor, energy and genuine fun can be woven into the fabric of an event before the first speaker hits the podium. The challenge is doing it in a way that feels natural rather than forced — and that brings people together rather than leaving some on the outside looking in.

What the Research Says About Humor in Group Settings

A 2026 study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B offers a revealing window into how humor actually functions at professional gatherings. Researchers attended 531 presentations at 14 international biology conferences and tracked every joke, from its timing and type to how the audience responded.

Perhaps because these were serious scientific meetings, humor was not on most agendas, with more than 40% of speakers using no humor at all. When jokes did land, they tended to work best mid-presentation — yet that’s precisely when most speakers avoided them, clustering their attempts at the beginning and end of talks as if those were the only “safe zones.”

The researchers also found that humor connecting the audience to shared experiences — the relatable awkwardness of fieldwork, the quirks of academic life, the thing everyone in the room had just experienced together — was among the most effective. Contrast that with inside jokes or references that excluded parts of the audience, which tended to fall flat or create distance.

One other finding worth contemplating: Speakers who felt safer due to seniority, gender or native language status were more likely to attempt humor and more likely to get laughs. This matters for event planners, because a room where only certain people feel comfortable being funny is a room where not everyone feels fully included.

The solution isn’t just “add more jokes,” of course, but to think about how to use humor in a way that’s low-risk for participants, connected to shared experience, and doesn’t ask anyone to be the punchline.

Start Before the Session Begins

Planners have more control over the tone of an event than they may realize.

For example, can you infuse some playfulness into agenda titles? Instead of “Afternoon Breakout: Strategy Alignment,” try “The Part Where We Actually Figure Out What We’re Doing.” Humor in the program signals that this won’t be a standard-issue meeting.

The waiting period is another good spot to add some fun and energizing pre-show music, a trivia loop on the screen, or a fun poll for arriving guests sets an upbeat expectation before anyone sits down.

You also can design the room in a way that gives people permission to relax. A few unexpected touches — a playful centerpiece, a prop photo station, a “rate this chair” sticky note wall — invite people to not take things too seriously before the program begins.

Build In Structured Play

Humor that emerges from activity is far more reliable than humor that depends on any one person being funny. When you build play into the structure of the event itself, you’re not crossing your fingers that the right joke lands — you’re creating conditions where people naturally loosen up. Some ways to do that include:

• Short, low-stakes games: Think two truths and a lie, virtual bingo boards or quick trivia rounds that can create shared laughter without asking anyone to perform.

• Gamification with gentle competition: Leaderboards, team challenges and small rewards keep energy high throughout a longer event and give people something to talk about across sessions.

• Movement breaks with personality: Instead of a standard “stretch break,” try a follow-the-leader stretch led by a volunteer, or a brief dance-off challenge. Sure, it’s silly — the silliness is the point.

• Audience participation formats: Small group discussions, live polling with funny answer choices, or “raise your hand if you’ve ever…” moments make participants part of the fun rather than passive observers.

Surprise and Delight: The Strategic Unexpected Moment

One of the most effective tools in a planner’s humor arsenal is the well-placed surprise — something that breaks the expected rhythm of the event in a delightful way.

This doesn’t have to be elaborate. A magician appearing between breakout sessions, a comedian doing a five-minute set framed around the organization’s actual challenges, an improv troupe facilitating a segment on creative problem-solving, or even a karaoke machine that appears after dinner — these moments create shared memories that carry an event far beyond its scheduled end time.

The key is that the surprise should feel connected to the event’s purpose and audience, not like a non sequitur. Humor that lands in a professional context is almost always humor that acknowledges who these people are and what they’re there for.

Give Someone an Official Role

Some of the most durable event humor comes not from performers but from participants who are given permission and a platform. Consider designating:

• A “Meeting Jester”: One attendee empowered to call out overly long tangents, award a golden stapler to the best question of the day, or maintain a live “buzzword bingo” board visible to the room.

• A “Vibe Correspondent”: Someone who documents the day’s funniest moments in real time — via a shared Slack channel, a running whiteboard tally, or a highlight reel slide at the end.

• A rotating “table host”: For meal or breakout segments, a designated host at each table has the mandate to keep conversation light and fun, not just productive.

These roles work because they distribute the responsibility for fun across the room, and they signal to everyone that being playful is not only acceptable — it’s part of the job description for the day.

What to Avoid

A few principles worth keeping front of mind:

Never make someone the punchline. Humor that relies on embarrassment, stereotypes or sarcasm tends to make some people laugh at someone else’s expense — which is the opposite of what you’re going for.

Don’t force it. Scheduled humor that feels mandatory (“Okay everyone, we’re going to do something fun now!”) tends to produce compliance rather than genuine laughter. Build the conditions; let the fun emerge.

Avoid humor that excludes. As the research on conferences shows, jokes that only work for certain audience members — whether due to language, culture, or inside knowledge — create division rather than connection.

Don’t confuse novelty with humor. Adding a slide with a funny GIF isn’t the same as building a genuinely enjoyable experience. Think about the whole arc of the event, not just the moments.

Don’t Overdo  it. You want to give attendees permission to relax without turning the event into something they can’t take seriously. The best way to make this happen is to distribute the “fun” across the full event timeline rather than front-loading it into a single icebreaker moment and then getting down to business. The research backs this up: humor that’s woven into the experience — especially in the middle of the action rather than only at the edges — is more likely to land and more likely to leave people feeling genuinely engaged.

Remember, you don’t have to try to turn your meeting into a comedy show. The idea is to create a meeting or event where people feel comfortable, connected and energized — and where the laughter, when it comes, is real.4