2026-10-29 –, Main Hall
Humour can be a powerful tool in cybersecurity awareness because it makes messages more memorable and engaging, ultimately supporting real behavior change. In this presentation you'll learn why humour is useful for more effective awareness campaigns. Research shows that humour can enhance understanding and retention when applied thoughtfully. However, it must be used carefully as misunderstanding and different viewpoints on what is considered funny can have the opposite effect of what you want to achieve. The presentation closes with a short summary of do’s and dont’s for using humour in your next awareness campaign.
Cybersecurity awareness is not all fun and games, but adding a bit of fun to the mix could be very beneficial! Humour can be a very effective tool in creating a stronger connection with the people you're trying to reach with your awareness campaigns. Intuitively we understand that humour can help us bring the message across, form allies within the organisation and stand out from corporate communication messages.
But this presentation take you back to why it is effective, especially with the rise of AI. We'll take a short tour to different parts of the world to see what humour looks like in different cultures. Humour that misses the point can also hurt your campaign.
If you believe cybersecurity awareness could benefit from a more lighthearted approach, this presentation gives you a foundation to convince the ney-sayers in your organisation, and help you create more effective awareness campaigns.
Rosanne Pouw is Product Manager Awareness and Training at SURF. She helps Dutch research and education institutions increase security awareness with the Cybersave Yourself Toolkit. Her special talent is infusing cybersecurity awareness with optimism, creativity and a multidisciplinary approach.
Part of her role at SURF is stimulating the awareness community of professionals in higher education , sharing thoughts and ideas and developing materials together.