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Financial Advisors! You Don’t Have to be Funny to be Funny

Published May 18, 2026
How to Add Humor to your Speech and Presentation Speaker

Your Author: Conor CunneenIrishmanSpeaks - Conor Cunneen

Conor Cunneen is a professional keynote speaker, author, and former VP marketing with Unilever. Known as IrishmanSpeaks, he helps organizations improve people, performance, and productivity through practical frameworks such as the Gift of GAB and L.A.U.G.H. Conor speaks internationally on leadership, employee engagement, sales effectiveness, and the neuroscience of humor in business.Humorous Business Speaker | Cancer Survivor | Purveyor of Smiles

Note: The Core Benefit of Adding relevant Humor (Not comedy) to your presentation is to build connection, trust and likeability with your audience or client. This is not BS from an Irishman but grounded in solid neuroscience research.

Many financial advisors hear the word “humor” and immediately panic.
“I’m not funny.”
Good news.
You do not have to be funny to be funny.
That line always gets a reaction when I speak to advisors, insurance professionals, and sales teams.
Because people assume humor means telling jokes.
It doesn’t.
In business communication, humor is usually:

And those moments build connection.

Humor Builds Trust for Financial Advisors
There’s fascinating neuroscience behind this.
When people smile or laugh, the brain releases feel-good neurochemicals like dopamine and endorphins.
That emotional lift helps people – your clients and prospects:
And trust is everything in financial services.
Clients are not simply buying products.
They are buying confidence in YOU.
 

The LAUGH Framework™ for Financial Advisors

 
On a recent podcast interview with the insurance industry community, I shared The LAUGH Framework™ for adding relevant humor to presentations and conversations.
 
L = Listen
Pay attention to humorous moments around you.
A funny comment.
A client quip.
A situation that made people smile.
Capture it.
Record it.
You may use it again later.
Most humor is not invented.
It is observed.
 
A = Anecdote
 
Stories are powerful.
Especially stories where something went slightly wrong.
Perfect stories are rarely funny.
Human stories are memorable.
 
U = Uncomfortable
 
The funniest stories often contain:
Not humiliation. Just simple life events that at the time might have caused some slight unease but when we are now recounting the story, you realize people are laughing.
 
A simple example.
My wife, Pat, went to collect our darling 3 year old grand daughter from playschool. She was greeted by a new attendant who brought Pat to Louise’s classroom.
The conscientious attendant said “Louise, is this your grandmother?” Louise looks up and says “No!”
To say Pat was taken aback is putting it mildly. The question was asked and answered again in the same way.
Then Louise responds – “She’s my grammy!”  (audible sigh from my perspiring wife!)
I now tell that “uncomfortable” anecdote in many of my presentations when talking about the importance of addressing people by name – especially the correct name.
But did I create that humor? Nope. I simply captured and recorded and asked how might I use it sometime.
People laugh because they recognize the human truth in the moment.
 
G = Google (or “Google on the Bing!”)
 
You do not need to create humor from scratch.
Search for:
related to your expertise, location, industry. Even a single relevant visual in a presentation can dramatically improve audience engagement.
 
H = Hee-Hee-Hee to Ho-Ho-Ho
 
If a line gets a small laugh…
pay attention.
Could you tighten the wording?
Pause differently?
Exaggerate slightly?
Humor improves through repetition and refinement.
Humor Makes You More Memorable
One of the podcast’s biggest themes was this:
Years later, people often remember:
Not the spreadsheet.
Not the bullet points.
Not slide 37.
Strategic humor makes your message more memorable.
And in financial services, memorability leads to referrals, relationships, and trust.

About Communication Strategy for Financial Advisors

Financial advisors operate in one of the highest-trust professions in business.

Clients make decisions that affect retirement, family security, and generational wealth — often under conditions of uncertainty.

Advisors who understand communication psychology, trust signals, and emotional regulation create stronger client relationships and better decision outcomes.

Conor Cunneen (IrishmanSpeaks) is a keynote speaker and communication strategist who helps financial advisors use storytelling, humor, and neuroscience-informed communication techniques to build client trust, strengthen relationships, and make complex financial concepts easier to understand. He helps make your clients more comfortable.

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