Use humor to talk about sensitive issues

 

Does your nonprofit deal with a sensitive issue such as child hunger, cancer, or human rights? Sometimes using humor can help open the door to these tough conversations. Use light-hearted banter in order to turn a controversial, and potentially scary, idea into an approachable and relatable topic. 

Laughter is the best medicine

Laughter can help ease the conflicted mind and helps you and your supporters open up to new perspectives. Humor helps convert difficult ideas to more related ones. For example, MamaHope broke the tension of an stereotype by using this tongue-in-cheek video.

MamaHope’s stereotype breaking video

MamaHope’s hilarious “African Men, Hollywood Stereotypes” uses humor to break the stereotype of African men in Hollywood movies by making us laugh. Poking fun at the idea that African men are “obsessed with violence” and that they “hate smiling (because), smiling is stupid.” That their main philosophy states, “… a day without war is a day not worth living.” How silly does the stereotype seem now?

Use humor to open up tough conversation

Does your nonprofit need a way to discuss a difficult topic? Consider making a comical video to fight any stereotypes that may be linked to your organization’s mission. Once things have settled, more actionable and serious conversations can take place. Sometimes you just need to break the ice.

 

Want to learn how you can create a video like MamaHope’s? Watch our webinar on How you can Inspire Action and Social Change through Video Storytelling.