I’m a recent convert to your podcast, a productivity addict looking for the good stuff. I work for a major trade publisher and edit several business authors. As a thanks to the value you add to my workday, I thought the least I could is give my educated opinion.

Humor is a part of your brand and should definitely pepper the book. The question “how much?” should be tweaked to “how frequently?” In your podcast, your trademark blast at meetings or your zany examples to end a serial list are entertainment. Entertainment that helps the medicine go down, say, if I’m not so good at zeroing out my inbox (I’m not). But you obviously can’t trump that meeting line over and over. Readers will get tired of it.

I just read a book that I think could be a great informant and influencer to your brand of communicating: The Word of Mouth Manual, Vol. II by Dave Balter. There was a blog blitz about it one month ago, and a free download is available. Balter’s is a truly funny book; I laughed out loud a lot. But he’s also a trustworthy authority on the topic. He does a great job of mixing humor and information. Another thing you could consider from him is the brevity of his chapters and the overall book. It gave a great pace, and I never felt like I was getting too much or too little.

Because your podcast is so brief, readers might get a little miffed if your chapters are thirty pages long. You’ve trained them to want small, strong doses. Just something to think about.

I hope it sells gazillions.

Best,
Bryan

In written form, 50% humor might be too high. I think that you struck the right balance in your piece on “Tips for Mastering E-mail Overload” for Harvard Business School Working Knowledge (http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/4438.html — great piece, by the way!) Your voice and personality shone through, yet did not distract from the wealth of information and tips that the piece conveyed.

Can’t wait to read the book! Keep up the terrific work!

You might want to consider having particular pieces which are clearly identified as serious or not. If something was called a “bizarre tangent”, I’d expect it to be informal and funny. If something was called “key points”, I’d expect them to be serious and to the point. Mixing up these different elements will also help to make each chapter more attractive.

I’ve also found that many times it’s easier to have a cartoon of a funny point than of a serious one. And the cartoon can have just as much serious impact!

I have never read any of the transcripts of your podcasts. I’ll read some and see how your podcast humor works when I read it. I’ll repost if it changes my opinion.

So please don’t filter out too much of it

However, I’d want to see less humor in the book than in the podcast. Yes, you want to keep people engaged and entertained. But it’s also very likely readers will jump in and out of the book as they look for specific tips, try things out, etc. I think if you sat and read the book cover to cover, your head would explode with all the information. So with shorter reading periods, you’ll want digestable bites. Too much humor might get in the way of that. Maybe a 3:2 content:humor ratio?

But as Matthew said, don’t worry too much while you’re writing. It’s easier to cut (esp. with a good editor to guide you) than go back and add.