Laughs Per Minute (LPM)

Measure and optimize talk effectiveness through humor frequency

Dharmesh Shah
Zigging vs. zagging: How HubSpot built a $30B company

Laughs Per Minute (LPM)

"I have custom software that I've written that will say, 'Okay, here are the points at which the audience laughed.' And it comes down to this metric that standup comedians use called LPM—laughs per minute. There's actually a benchmark: the most popular TED talks have a strong correlation with high LPM." - Dharmesh Shah

What It Is

Laughs Per Minute (LPM) is a quantitative approach to measuring and improving talk effectiveness through humor. Borrowed from standup comedy, it provides a concrete metric for something most people consider intangible—audience engagement.

Dharmesh Shah uses custom software to analyze his practice talks, identifying where audiences laugh and where attention might be flagging. For business talks, the target is 1-1.25+ LPM to be in the top decile of non-professional speakers.

How It Works

The Measurement System

  1. Give practice talks to increasingly larger audiences
  2. Record every practice talk
  3. Transcribe the talks
  4. Use software to identify moments when the audience audibly laughed
  5. Calculate laughs per minute across the talk
  6. Visualize problem areas (segments with low LPM)

The Optimization Levers

Two ways to improve the ratio:

  • Add more laughs - Inject humor into sections that go too long without
  • Remove words - Shorten the content between laughs

The software creates a visual map: "Here's the entire talk broken down with a little square per minute, and here's what they liked. Here I went one minute and 17 seconds and nobody laughed."

Benchmark Targets

Speaker Type LPM Target
Standup comedians Very high (5-8+)
Popular TED talks 2-3+
Top decile business talks 1-1.25+
Solid business talk 1+

Standup comedians can hit higher LPM because they're solving only for entertainment. Business talks have additional agendas (messages, promotion, education).

How to Apply It

Tactical Humor Tips

  1. Punchline placement - The funny bit must be the last words of the segment. Stop talking after delivery. "The audience needs about a half a second to react, and they want permission to laugh. If you're continuing to say words, it makes them feel awkward."

  2. Leverage story investment - Once you've set up context, squeeze multiple laughs from it. "You've already made the investment. Say 75 words to set up context, say something funny, then say something else that's funny. A laugh is a laugh."

  3. Multiple punchlines per setup - Standup comedians do this constantly—one story, several laugh moments.

The Skill-Building Approach

Dharmesh treats public speaking as a decomposable skill:

  • Base skill: Stand on stage without passing out
  • Sub-skill: Slide design
  • Sub-skill: Story structure
  • Sub-skill: Humor writing
  • Sub-skill: Humor delivery

Pick one sub-skill to focus on each year. Measure. Improve.

When to Use It

  • High-stakes keynotes and conference talks
  • Any recurring speaking engagement you want to improve
  • When audience attention is critical to your message landing
  • As a skill-building framework for public speaking

The framework is valuable because it:

  • Makes the intangible (engagement) tangible
  • Provides clear optimization targets
  • Demonstrates that humor is a learnable skill, not just talent
  • Gives permission to treat speaking like product—measure and iterate

Source

  • Guest: Dharmesh Shah
  • Episode: "Zigging vs. zagging: How HubSpot built a $30B company"
  • Key Discussion: (00:06:52) - Full explanation of LPM measurement system and humor tactics
  • YouTube: Watch on YouTube

Related Frameworks

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