Aziz Ansari: Comedian. Author. Sociologist?

How to make any topic interesting. And funny.

In August of 2013, Eric Klineberg, the eminent NYU sociologist, took a last minute meeting at the office of Penguin Press.

He had just finished a four-day sociology convention in Manhattan and was eager to get back to his family upstate. Exhausted and standing in Penn Station waiting for the train out of the city, his phone rang. It was an editor at Penguin, the publisher behind Klineberg’s last book “Going Solo,” a study of how and why there are more single people than ever in the world before.

The editor was calling about a new book the publisher had just signed a contract for. These calls were nothing new to Klineberg, but this conversation started in an unusual way. The editor said, “I have a funny question for you. Have you heard of the comedian Aziz Ansari?”

“I have a funny question for you. Have you heard of the comedian Aziz Ansari?”

It turns out the the author that had signed the new book contract was Mr. Ansari himself, and it only got stranger from there: Aziz wanted to write a book on modern romance, and he wanted to work with a social scientist to make it.

Making it Interesting. And Funny

Taking a serious turn is an unexpected move for Aziz, especially in a period where dozens of comedians are making quick and easy money by writing comedic novels, memoirs, or even children’s books (Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, B.J. Novak to name a few). But it was clear to Klineberg from their first meeting that Aziz didn’t just want to be funny. He wanted to really explore the underlying social issues and understand the subject in a serious and rigorous way.

As I’ve seen Aziz make his rounds of late night talk shows in the past two weeks promoting the book, I was struck by how similar this book, and the process of making it, was to the work content marketers are doing every day.

Aziz took a topic we are all interested in, or at least curious about (come on, who hasn’t agonized over some part of dating in a smartphone world), and made it accessible, interesting, and of course, funny. This was not an easy task given the dense nature of the topic. No matter how interested in the subject an audience is, they’ll never wade through the jargon and methodologies of a scientific paper to learn more.

Content marketers face this same challenge every day. Unless you are lucky enough to work for a sexy and in-demand B2C company, the odds are pretty high that your product or service is not the easiest thing to create compelling content about. How do you get people excited to read and learn about your industry or products? Trust me I’ve been there and I know it’s tough. So how did Aziz manage to pull off this balancing act? Here are three thoughts on how he made this serious turn work for him and his audience:

Showcase Your Personality

At it’s core, the book is a scientific, research driven book. However, it begins not with an scholarly treatise, but rather with these words:

“Oh, shit! Thanks for buying my book. That money is MINE.”

It’s clear from the very first page that although the book is a serious work of scientific study, it’s written in Aziz’s voice and with his unique personality.

Opening the book with those lines is perfect. It sets the tone for the chapters to come and lets the reader know upfront that this book will unapologetically be shedding some of the overly serious trappings that are part and parcel of serious scientific works.

When you are creating content of your own, you should be equally fearless in bucking the norms of your industry. Forget traditional formatting options. Find the easiest and most relatable way to make your points. And for the love of god, leave the meaningless jargon at the door. Your readers are more interested in reading something they can easily understand or something that makes them laugh or smile than they are in reading something that is trying to sound smart.

Tap Into Expertise

I shudder to think of how many times I’ve been guilty of this myself, but never try to sound like an expert when you’re not. It’s all but impossible to engage your audience without some from of credibility, and trying to write with a sense of authority when you have none can come off condescending to your audience.

If you’ve listened to any of his recent standup, it’s clear that Aziz has a special kind of intelligence and insight about the world. He also has a fascination with the modern relationships and the underlying social science that drives them, but he is by no means an expert. If he had tried to write this book by himself it would carry only a fraction of the weight it caries with a well know socialogist and professor attached to the byline. By adding a real expert to the roster, Ansari makes the book more interesting, more meaningful, and more impactful to the audience.

This doesn’t mean that you need to seek out guest posts from experts every time you write about a topic you aren’t 100% on. But you should put some research behind your content. Cite reputable studies and statistics. Quote thought leaders and subject matter experts. The more research you put behind your content, the more legitimate the final product will ultimately be. The more legitimate the content, the more your audience will trust and engage with it.

Make it Personal

The thing Aziz has accomplished with this new book that I admire and respect the most, is he has made it personal to the audience. The overarching topic, “Modern Relationships,” is vaguely interesting, but far too dense or far too nebulous to be approachable and interesting.

Instead of attacking the subject as a whole, the authors have segmented the book into more approachable, bite-sized pieces. While writing the book, Aziz would bring up a conundrum he was thinking about and Klineman would try to reformulate it into a social science question, and then design a research strategy. The result are chapters that are almost impossible to resist reading. Who wouldn’t want to know statistically what the best response to send after a first date is? Or what elements make up the perfect Tinder profile picture? These are topics that are incredibly personal to the target audience of the book and make it an irresistable read.

When tackling content of your own, it’s important to find the most easily digested and most personal issues within your topic of choice. No matter how dense or boring your subject may seem, there is a human element to everything, and that is what you need to tap into. Put it in terms your audience will understand and care about.

While very few of us will have the comedic acumen of Aziz Ansari, his bold choice to take a serious subject and make it a raucous read from start to finish serves as a great example and inspiration for content marketers everywhere that are struggling to cover seemingly unexciting topics in interesting ways.

About the author: Matt Wesson is the content marketing manager at Salesforce. Follow him on Twitter or see more articles on his LinkedIn page.