A humorous technique anyone can use

--> even me

It’s been a while…

Today’s bit of humour you can add to your emails and newsletters is…self-deprecation.

Self-deprecation is, of course, where you poke fun at yourself in an amusing way. For example:

Self-deprecation is a handy technique. When you write emails with tips and ideas there’s a risk you can come across as a bit full of yourself. A bit over-confident (and frankly, a lot of people who write marketing newsletters really are overconfident - at least the ones I seem to end up reading).

A bit of self-deprecation here and there takes the edge off that. It says you don’t take yourself too seriously. You’re just a normal person who happens to have some great ideas.

Now you have to be careful with self-deprecation. Constant self-deprecation can come across as a bit nervous, needy or even rather manipulative (see my newly discovered “first rule of humour in business writing” next time).

And you don’t want to be constantly undercutting your own expertise.

But if done right, self-deprecation can actually boost perception of your expertise.

A while back I heard Drayton Bird use the line “I'm an absolute duffer at everything else in life, but what I am good at is marketing”.

I’m pretty sure Drayton isn’t really a complete duffer at everything else (I can attest to his drinking abilities). But that line allows him to show off about his marketing expertise without it feeling like he’s showing off.

In fact it makes his marketing expertise sound like a superpower because all his talents are concentrated in that one area.

Another way of using self-deprecation to enhance the perception of your abilities is to make fun of your own obsessiveness or interest in the obscure.

If you’re an expert in your field the chances are you’re pretty obsessive about it. And you’ll most likely know a lot about some weird and wonderful little areas: that’s what makes your expertise unusual and valuable.

By making fun of that you subtly highlight it.

For example, an SEO expert could say something like:

I spent a happy 9 hours yesterday researching the latest tweaks Google have made to the RankBrain algorithm.

Yikes…that sounds a teensy bit obsessive! Mea Culpa.

Being super obsessive about your area of expertise is quite funny, but also rather reassuring for clients to hear. I’d rather have some numbers-obsessed robo-nerd advising me on conversion optimisation than a well-adjusted person who’s more interested in sports and their social life. Which is perhaps why Flint McGlaughlin of Meclabs talks like he does.

Calling out your own obsessiveness is easy to do.

When you’re going to explain a new idea or advanced technique, just mention how you came across it and highlight the extraordinary lengths you went to. Then use an aside to reflect on how weird that level of obsession must sound.

Then resume with your explanation.

Easy,

- Ian