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hi i'm jennifer rocker i'm a behavioral
scientist who spent my career studying
what actually creates happiness in life
versus what we think i'm naomi bagdonis
i'm a corporate strategist who spent my
career straddling the worlds of business
and improv comedy which was a wide
straddle and i'm connor demon-yeoman a
social entrepreneur and ceo who spent my
career building vibrant productive and
humorous cultures together we teach a
class called humor serious business
about the power of humor and leadership
it turns out humor is a teachable skill
and it's one of the most
underappreciated assets at work laughing
changes the chemistry of our brains
making us more creative bonded and
resilient
humor is an elixir for trust and an
antidote to arrogance especially for
today's leaders but here's the problem
we've fallen off a humor cliff
in a global study over a million people
were asked a really simple question did
you smile or laugh a lot yesterday
now as kids
we laugh all the time and then
right when we enter the workforce
we stop laughing
and we don't start laughing again until
we retire which is why it's time to
start taking humor seriously
here are five key takeaways from our
course to help you climb back up the
humor glyph to have more humor at work
and in your life
our research reveals that there are four
broad humor styles and most people
naturally fall into one or two of them
first is the stand-up stand-ups are bold
natural entertainers unafraid to ruffle
a few feathers for a laugh
next is the sweetheart sweethearts are
earnest understated and tend to use
humor that lightens the mood
snipers are edgy sarcastic nuanced and
masters of the unexpected dig
finally there's the magnet magnets are
expressive charismatic and not afraid to
be silly
once you know your style you can start
applying a few simple techniques from
the world of comedy
to have more humor start by making
simple observations throughout the day
of things you find interesting odd or
amusing like
since working from home i only comb the
front part of my hair
or
i get really excited when people cancel
plans isn't that the best
or
i wish there were a mute button in real
life
now remember that this isn't about
becoming a comedian it's about looking
at the world in a different way
our brains are wired to find what we set
out to look for so start looking for
humor
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at work it's easy to be transactional
but small shifts can move us from
transactional to human as small as
adding a lighthearted line at the end of
your linkedin bio or kicking off a
meeting with your favorite ted lasso
clip or even how you sign off your
emails with best instead try something
like yours heavily caffeinated or let's
never speak of this again
or
sometimes
i'm the best sometimes you just gotta
let people know
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humor can be risky here are a few things
we tell our students about how to
de-risk your humor
first don't ask will this make me sound
funny instead ask how will this make
other people feel
which also means never punching down
that is making fun of someone of lower
status and be sure to check your
distance how close are you personally to
what you're making light of i can make
fun of my mother but not jennifer's
mother who by the way i hear is a saint
she is saved thank you
lovely woman
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it's easy to believe that if you take
your life or your mission seriously the
presence of humor betrays that mission
but leaders of all stripes from
secretary of state madeleine albright to
nba all-star stephen curry to ceo sarah
blakely tell a different story
that we can do serious things without
taking ourselves too seriously
in fact
often we can do them better our hope is
that you start climbing back up the
humor cliff
get to know your humor style
mind your life for truth
make small shifts from transactional to
human
practice safe sets and make the choice
to navigate your life on the precipice
of a smile in other words start taking
humor seriously
seriously
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i got it
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you