Probably not — at least not as your primary strategy. Here's why: humor is the highest-wire act in public speaking. When a joke lands with the right audience, it builds instant rapport. When it doesn't, you've spent your opening — your most valuable real estate — creating distance instead of connection. And unlike most presentation mistakes, a failed joke is hard to recover from in the first 60 seconds.

iSpeak's CABA model identifies five proven techniques for opening with attention-grabbing impact: a startling fact or statement, a quotation, a story, an illustration or metaphor, or a question. Notice that "joke" isn't on the list — not because humor is off-limits, but because humor that actually works in a presentation almost always shows up within one of these formats. A story with a funny moment. A startling statement with a self-deprecating twist. A metaphor that's inherently amusing. The humor is embedded in substance, not dropped in cold at the top.

The bigger risk with opening jokes is that they're often disconnected from the message. If the audience laughs but can't see the link to what you're about to present, you've entertained them — but you haven't earned their focused attention. And if the joke falls flat or offends even one person, you're fighting that energy for the rest of the talk.

Why it matters: Your opening sets the tone for everything that follows. Audiences make snap judgments about you and your message in the first few seconds. A strong, purposeful opening builds credibility and trust — a risky joke gambles with both.