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Being funny can be difficult, but being witty is even more challenging. To be witty, you have to be sharp, and smart and intelligent in addition. Your witty sense of humor is capable of making people laugh or chuckle to themselves. Whether you're already witty and hoping to hone your skills, or want to learn how to develop a witty sense of humor, just follow these easy tips and you're on your way.

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1. Learn from witty people. The easiest way to increase your wit is to study other people with an admirable sense of humor. There are many places to watch, from movies to your best and funniest friends. Here's how you can learn from others to be a striker:
   • Spend more time with people you find particularly quirky, be they family, close friends, or acquaintances you want to get to know. Pay attention to what they say when they make people laugh. Study their facial expressions, the way they convey it, and their timing.
   • Read literature written by witty people like Shakespeare, the Sherlock Holmes series by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, or even comic books like Garfield or Dilbert. You can learn a lot from quirky people (or animals) of every generation.
   • Watch television shows or movies about witty people. Woody Allen movies are almost always about witty protagonists.
2. Be self-aware. Before you can start impressing people with your wit, you need to radiate a sense of self to show people that you are comfortable with yourself and the jokes you tell. If you are confident, people are more likely to believe in your ability, including your ability to charm people with your wit. Here's how:
   • Show positive body language when you joke. While you don't have to put on a show if you have an audience, just standing up, speaking clearly, and making eye contact when giving the punch line will help your cause.
   • Be sure of who you are. If you love who you are and what you do, people are more likely to appreciate you - and your sense of humor.
   • Show confidence in your jokes. Tell your jokes with clarity and show that you think what you are saying is funny. If you show that you believe your sense of humor is good, people are more likely to agree. This doesn't mean you should laugh at your own jokes, but you should tell them in a way that makes it clear that you don't care if people like it, because you already know you're funny.
3. Be an original thinker. Part of being witty is being able to think outside the box and not see the world the same way everyone else sees it. Being a thoughtful and intelligent person will increase your chances of seeing the world in a unique way. Here's how you can be original:
   • Read as much as you can. The more you know about the world, the more likely you are to have an unbiased and unique view of the things around you.
   • Don't be afraid to be silly. Being free and open with your sense of humor will make people laugh. For example, if your girlfriend asks you to get a new supply of wood, you can say "I wood it in mind."
   • Create new words of your own. For example, if you and your friends are always gossiping about a girl named Emily and you get sick of hearing about her, you can say "I'm setting up an Emily bargo!" Although people will roll their eyes, they will appreciate your silly combination of words.
   • Find new ways to use traditional pronunciations. For example, if you are exiting a public restroom and a person of the opposite sex approaches you and asks "is this restroom for men or for women?"
     • For example, the question "How would you spend a million dollars?" invites all kinds of creative thinking. A reaction such as “with pleasure” humorously undermines this.
4. Understand your audience. Understanding your audience is key to your success. While you should work on developing your own style of humor, you should also always be aware of the types of people around you and the specific things they find funny or offensive. Here's how:
   • Never forget to listen. Listening to the people around you can help you understand what they find funny, what they find definitely offensive because it is a sensitive topic, or you can catch a comment that you can use later in a joke.
   • Be sensitive. For example, if you are among a group of people who are very sensitive about religion, try to avoid jokes on the subject. Not only will they not appreciate your wit, but they may also stop wanting to interact with you at all.
   • Tailor your jokes to your audience. Try rougher jokes for a hipper, younger crowd, and stick to safer and cornier jokes when you're out with your grandparents, unless they can really laugh about anything.
   • Understand when people are not in the mood for humor. While wittyness should always be appreciated, if you're with someone who is very upset or sick, telling a joke can improve the mood, but also make that person disturb you. Proceed with caution when doing this.
5. Make sure you bring it the right way. Even the best joke can fail if you don't present it correctly. Presentation is something you can practice in front of the mirror, or even by recording it, before trying your joke on a real audience. But even if your jokes are spontaneous, there are a few tips that can help perfect your presentation:
   • Speak clear. Present your jokes clearly and with confidence. If you mumble your jokes, people may ask you to repeat it and the humor will be gone.
   • Remember timing is everything. Part of being clever is being sharp and quick, so don't hesitate too long or people won't understand how your funny comments relate to the ongoing conversation.
   • Try a presentation with a straight face. If you're really confident, tell your joke flat and wait for people to laugh. You should avoid telling your joke in a way that shows you think what you're saying is funny. Part of being smart is developing a "I don't care if you smile" role.
   • Don't talk through anyone. This should go without saying, but many great jokes have been lost because the person tells them while someone else is speaking. Wait for a quiet moment in the conversation before you step in.
6. Do not exaggerate. Following as many steps as you can to get smarter will improve your chances of getting funny. However, you should avoid trying too hard to make people laugh or they will feel sorry for you instead of liking you. Here's how to avoid overdoing it:
   • Relax. Even while trying out a new witty comment, be relaxed. Keep calm when telling your jokes. Do not raise your voice unnaturally, or look around to check the response.
   • Don't tell too many jokes at once. Being funny through a few well-timed moments a day is much more effective than trying to tell a joke every five minutes and being a turnoff nine times out of ten.
   • When your jokes fail, be calm. If no one laughs at your jokes, just shake it off and say "I'll get them next time" or "Oops --- wrong audience." If you seem visibly upset, hurt, or slammed for the rest of the night, people will see that you care too much whether they laugh or not.
   • Take a break. If you've already told a few jokes, take it easy for the rest of the evening and study the funny people around you. If you're so focused on being funny, you can miss out on something important that can help you be funny in the future.

Tips

• Being witty is one thing, but if you're constantly being sarcastic, it can be wise to cut back, or people will never be able to take you seriously again.
• Repetition is the death knell for humor. Don't kick a dead horse by endlessly calling on "That's what she said!"
• Remember, you can make a mistake, or be wrong every now and then, and still gain the reputation of being witty. Even the best of comedians can't always make people laugh with their jokes.
• It really pays to study witty and charming persons first. A few examples are Edmund Blackadder, John Cleese and Alan Partridge. British comedies are often very strong with their sarcastic humor.
• Base yourself on one type and know that you have a sense of humor very similar to theirs.
• Don't overthink jokes. If you have anything funny that relates to a situation, say so! But don't try to find anything related to it, just wait for the next topic.