In this week's episode of Ongoing Mastery: Presenting & Speaking, Kirsten talks with Heather Tolley-Bauer about comedy and connecting with audiences. Find out the first rule of using humor and the difference between telling a joke and creating an atmosphere of levity.Our favorite moments:(01:38) The first rule of comedy is you have to know your audience(02:08) Health benefits of laughter(02:22) Laughter builds trust, likeability, connection(05:27) Humor evolves over time and is tied to culture(07:10) If you’re going to have a good comedy game, you need a good apology game, too(09:50) You have to have a good command of language to be a good comedian   (10:51) Listening is key to Heather’s client research(11:40) Comedy has to elevate something and/or someone(12:35) The difference between telling a joke and creating an atmosphere of levity(13:44) Humor often doesn’t work in business communication because it’s not authentic(15:02) Not knowing your one main idea holds people back from successful communication(16:16) You can’t stay stagnant(16:47) The biggest point: it’s not about you; it’s about what your audience wants and needs to hearIf you enjoyed this conversation about why speakers need to stay current about humor and popular culture, check out Season 2, Episode 15: Do Experienced Speakers Need Ongoing Mastery? The link is in the show notes.Rourke Training’s webpage: https://www.rourketraining.com/Ongoing Mastery: Presenting & Speaking page: https://ongoing-mastery.captivate.fm/RSS feed: https://feeds.captivate.fm/ongoing-mastery/Read a transcript of this episode:  https://share.descript.com/view/0b4kDVBL9y8For the video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/x1nDDOER740S2 Ep25: Ongoing Mastery: Presenting & Speaking - Do Experienced Speakers Need Ongoing Mastery?Venn diagram - WikipediaGroupthink | Psychology TodayKevin Hart - Rotten TomatoesUrban Dictionary: Punching downHeather's LinkedIn profileHyphenUp – Comedy for Women and CouplesHeather on InstagramBlack Hat | HomeLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirstenrourke/Looking for a kick-ass speaking group? Use our affiliate link to join Innovation Women: https://bit.ly/innovationwomen