While humour can be planned, it should come naturally and not appear to be forced. Humour is, in part, the result of the presentation of an absurdity. Humour is useful to:

• Indicate a transition,
• To lighten the atmosphere after a lengthy technical discussion, or
• To make a point by presenting an absurd counterpoint.

However, a technical presentation is not meant to be a platform for stand-up comedy and too much humour will frustrate the audience. Depending on the personality and experience of the speaker, one injection of humour per quarter hour would be plentiful.

One useful means of combining images and humour are cartoons; however be sure to keep them short. The audience should not have to spend ten seconds reading the cartoon. Cartoons of choice for technical audiences include Calvin and Hobbes, the Far Side, Foxtrot, and xkcd, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. An appropriately short xkcd comic.

In some cases, humorous anecdotes can even help convey the message of the presentation.