On 14 January 2012, when a female hostess started the second event of Mera Passion Pakistan at Royal Rodale Club, Karachi, the audience, which comprised mainly our youth, thought it was just another presentation.  But they were mistaken.

When Mr. Irfan Mustafa , the man behind Mera Passion Pakistan, took the stage, immediately  he went in for a kill and jolts up the jam packed auditorium into laughter. Throughout the 2 to 3 hour session, the audience fully enjoyed the show.

How come he hypnotized the youth so successfully?

Was it his power point presentation? No, it can’t be. Because it had only one slide, the title slide.

Here is the secret. Irfan, skillfully managed to establish a rapport with us by effectively using humor throughout the presentation. Though the event started late, but his humor eased the tension and helped in reducing the barrier between him and his audience right in the beginning.

Irfan kept interacting with us by leaving the stage and asking direct questions. During the show he maintained the dialogue backed by utilizing humor, sharing jokes and telling useful information about positive sides of Pakistan.

Irfan is not a comedian but his sense of humor kept the audience on toes. The audience not only shared their view points but enjoyed his filling up the empty glass with water just to prove that the “glass is half full and not half empty”. His humor was understandable and relevant to the audience and to the topic.

In the end, one of his team member showed videos and introduced 3 heroes of our country who have achieved personal glory single handedly in the remote and far flung areas of Pakistan. You can read and see the videos by clicking here.

I personally have seen very few of such performances where the speaker has effectively utilized humor while delivering a presentation.

Moral: It is not the technical side (power point slides, hi-tech animations, serious information, handouts, videos) of the presentation that makes it successful, but it’s effectively using your sense of humor in liaison that will make it a hit.

Asma Inayat (@DonDonu) has written an excellent summary of the event, click here to read it.