Want To Be Funnier At Work?
According to this article shared by #linkedin, “Workplaces that embedded humor in their culture said employees were 16% more likely to stay at their jobs, feel engaged and experience satisfaction.”
Being a humorist myself, I have found that making co-workers and customers laugh is the fastest way to build rapport and trust. Not to get too much into the neuroscience weeds, but laughter is always a release of tension. We all need a release of tension. It feels good to laugh, really good! Too much tension or too little tension, the joke doesn’t land. The secret is finding the Goldilocks amount of tension to maximize the laughter.
It is not easy to have a high ‘hit rate’, but I will teach you one of my secrets for being successful 95% of the time. The secret is simple and has two parts:
- Actively listen and catalogue everything that piques people’s attention in a conversation. For example, when a group is together, they may discuss the fog in SF and that the fog is named Karl (a reference to the 2003 film Big Fish), that Susan in accounting is really fast with numbers, and that the middle elevator always breaks down. Just random things that might come up naturally in conversation.
- Now part two takes a little practice, but before long you can do it effortlessly. Connect those piques from earlier to what is currently happening in the conversation. It is called a callback or a re-incorporation. If the quality of the zoom call is pixelated, blame Karl. ‘I guess Karl is in charge of the internet today.’ If the team has an off-site in Las Vegas, announce, ‘I would never play poker against Susan, she is too fast.’ When a shipment of LaCroix sparkling water shows up and Susan says it is fancy, you say, ‘I guess that means we are never going to fix that middle elevator.’ Who knows, Susan may top your joke by simply saying, ‘priorities’. You can top Susan’s joke with, ‘funny for you, you are so fast that you don’t even need the elevator.’
They are not well crafted jokes, but they land really well because they are truly special and unique for this group. You can only achieve big laughter from this type of humor if you are truly present and listening. People will definitely appreciate that you don’t multitask and let your mind wander when you are invited to their meetings.
Listen + Connect = Laughter ;-)
#laughter #culture #employeeengagement #virtualevents
Robert Strong is a comedy magician who adapted to the virtual world of entertainment.
Robert Strong
The Comedy Magician — Specializing in Corporate Entertainment
Twice voted San Francisco`s ‘Best Magician’ by the Bay Guardian!
StrongEntertainment.com
If you are looking for some virtual entertainment, here are some useful Links:
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Robert Strong Speaks at TEDx San Francisco 2017
Robert Strong Speaks at TEDx San Francisco 2019
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