Work is serious business – but a serious attitude is entirely optional. A sense of humor is one of the most effective and underappreciated communication tools you can have. It can break the ice, diffuse a tense situation and can provide a mental break for customers and employees alike.

Good humor works because it connects with people on an emotional level. Used properly it’s a great way to come across as engaging and more human. But there are risks to using humor; it has to be approached just right. Here are some tips to keep in mind while tickling customer’s funny bones.

Use humor at unexpected times – such as when describing complex subjects or tedious paperwork. For instance while asking customers to fill out multiple pages of paperwork you could say with a smile ‘Don’t worry, if there is more that you would like to tell us we have LOTS of paper’.

Keep it work appropriate – Workplace humor isn’t about doing a whole comedy routine or a good place for story jokes that lead up to a punch-line.  Stick with a quick, clever remark or goofy quote that relates to the situation. (Yogi Berra’s got some good ones) If it suits your personality slightly corny can work for you.

Pick your targets carefully – It’s ok to poke fun at yourself, the weather and other safe subjects. Steer clear of your competition, politics, religion, sexual subjects and don’t target race, gender or groups like senior citizens.

Be selective – Humor can backfire and get you into some major trouble if misused.  This is particularly true of sarcasm or in writing. Take for example this ill-advised tweet sent by a Ketchum PR agent following a flight to Memphis to meet with FedEx a major account of theirs: ‘True confession, but I’m in one of those towns where I scratch my head and say I would die if I had to live here.’ Needless to say…FedEx was not amused.  You can only imagine what happened.