Ninety-five ways to use humor for more effective teaching and training
We may not all be born comedians, but most people are naturally humorous, says Doni Tamblyn, comic-turned-trainer and president of HumorRules LLC. Tamblyn's humorous techniques have brought serious results to clients such as Chevron, Wells Fargo, AstraZeneca, and other Fortune 500 companies, universities, and government entities. Now she offers these techniques to you in one intriguing, information-packed, and very funny book!
Combining the latest brain studies and humor research with the author's own 23 years of experience in comedy and corporate training, LAUGH AND LEARN is a fascinating look at what makes learners perk up, pay attention, and remember. It's the first book that 1) explains the research that shows how humor can make information more memorable, 2) teaches communicators how to be funny without relying on joke-telling or novelty store items, and 3) gives specific, light-touch techniques that can be used by virtually anyone who seeks to present their message more effectively.
This book will help teaching professionals to:
Attract more learners to their programs
Get and hold learners' attention throughout the learning process
Present curriculum memorably
Positively affect learner attitudes
Go beyond teaching facts, to encourage and model creative thinking (a much-sought ability in today's organizations!)
Improve performance scores both inside and outside of the classroom
Enhance their own reputations as contributors to their organizations' bottom line
Get "buy-in" from organizational decision-makers
Moreover, LAUGH AND LEARN is a true page-turner! Rich in insights, research data, showbiz secrets, and backstage anecdotes, it is a book that will be read and reread. From the very first chapter, readers will begin to see that professional development can actually be fun!
Wouldn't you like your learners to say the same?
Excerpt
A wealthy businessman was vacationing on the Riviera, when one day he got a call from home. It was his butler.
“I am very sorry to inform you of this, Sir,” he said, “but I thought you should know right away. Your beloved cat somehow got onto the roof and fell. I am afraid the animal is deceased.”
Expecting grief at this news, the butler was startled at his employer’s response: “Hey! Hey! Don’t they teach you anything in butler school?” Before his servant could reply the man went on: “You don’t just spring stuff like that on people. You always give bad news by degrees. What you should have done is send me a series of telegrams. The first one says, ‘Your cat is on the roof.’ Then the next one: ‘Cat fallen off roof.’ Then another one: ‘Cat in critical condition; prognosis poor.’ Then, when I’m prepared, you understand, I get: ‘Cat deceased.’ See? That’s how you give someone bad news. Jeez.”
The butler, of course, could only apologize profusely and assure his employer this gaffe would never occur again. The businessman tried to put the whole thing out of his mind and enjoy the rest of his holiday as best he could. A week later, just as he was starting to relax once more, he received a telegram. It said:
“Your mother is on the roof.”
***
The reason I share the above joke with you (besides the fact that it’s my all-time favorite) is that it illustrates the fundamental fact on which this whole book is based: It doesn’t work to know the letter of the law and not the spirit. In other words, you can learn all the right moves, but, like the business man’s butler, you can still get it wrong. Take humor, for instance. People have trouble pinning it down. Indeed, humor seems to be like art—it’s hard to define, but you know what you like. Ever hear someone tell a joke, and then hear a listener say, “That’s not funny, that’s sick”? You just witnessed a clash in definitions. So let’s take an important moment to define our terms: What is humor?
In presenting this topic to thousands of people, I have always started by asking attendees to raise their hands if they think they tell great jokes. In virtually every group (worldwide, by the way), at least 95% of the audience sits in resolute stillness. I then ask them to raise their hands if they like to laugh, like people who don’t take themselves too seriously, sometimes wish the whole world would lighten up a little, and so on. Not surprisingly, virtually every hand goes up. While this hardly constitutes a scientific study, to me it suggests that people instinctively see a difference between humor and joke telling. And there is a difference. Humor is a state or quality. Joke telling is an action—only one of many actions by which you might express humor. In other words (take a deep breath, now):
You can use humor beautifully and expertly without telling a single joke.
That’s right. Joke telling is fine if you like doing it; it is emphatically not necessary for bringing humor into your learning environment or anywhere else. Never tell a joke in your life, and you will still be able to use humor effectively, appropriately, and without fear.
Now, please don’t get me wrong: I adore a good joke. Indeed, as you’ve already seen I use jokes in my own communications. But this is only because I am comfortable doing so. Since I know that most folks aren’t, this book will focus on the many other (and in fact, better) ways that exist to inspire fun. True, here and there in the book you will find a suggestion to tell a joke; there is even a chapter devoted to the art of telling jokes well. This material is included for that minority of readers who enjoy using this technique. If you are not one of them, do not--I repeat do not--bother with it.
Okay, that out of the way, let’s look at the next question: If humor is not joke telling, what is it? It’s a state or quality, but of what?
I say humor is openness, optimism— a sort of yes-saying to life. Humor is creativity. Humor is, above all, play. Humor, creativity, and play are the same thing because they all involve the same act: Finding new connections between things. This is something everyone needs to be good at.
Professional Reviews
Eric Jensen, author, Teaching with the Brain in Mind
Combining learning and laughing is not easy, but Doni does it brilliantly (and with integrity). Highly recommended!
Dr. Joel Goodman, Director, The HUMOR Project, Inc., Saratoga Springs, NY
An entertaining and practical book chock-full of tips, techniques, anecdotes, and exercises that show anyone how to use humor well.
Malcolm Kushner, AFHC, author, Public Speaking for Dummies Malcolm Kushner, AFHC, author, Public Speaking for Dummies
Should be required reading for anyone involved in teaching or training. (I wish some of my teachers had read it.)
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