Warning: Don't Use Humor The Wrong Way In Your Relationships

According to change agent Bethany Butzer, humor can be used in three ways in our romantic relationships:

1. Positively, to make you and your partner feel closer as a couple or to ease the tension of a situation.
2. As an Avoidance tactic, to avoid letting your partner know what's really on your mind or to simply change the subject.
3. Negatively, to put your partner down, highlight your partner's weaknesses, blunders or faults.

In may seem a obvious, but her research conclusion found that relationships with the highest degree of satisfaction use Positive humor the most, helping to increase bonding in couples.

Take a few moments to reflect on your own relationship. Are the two of you really using humor to strengthen your bonds? If not, you should at least do your best to shelve the Negative humor. Then schedule a date night out at a comedy club, or a comedy movie. From there you could find your relationship moving back onto a strong path.

Using humor in copywriting can be very risky and difficult to pull off successfully. Imagine, though, that you have a "relationship" between the voice of the letter-writer and the prospect. It doesn't need to be romantic, but there's still a bond you're trying to create. Perhaps it is worthwhile experimenting with Positive humor in your copy. And in cases where you've used a "common enemy" in your lead, try poking fun at the enemy using Negative humor. It may work to further build the bond between the voice of the letter-writer and the prospect.

by Kevin Rokosh