The Ability to Make Others Feel Good Will Help You in Business.

Bill Clinton was famous for – among other reasons – the ability to make people feel great when he was with them one on one.  (No Monica jokes, please.  I’m making a point.)  Hundreds of people wrote about how the President made them FEEL during their interaction.

Whether or not you like him, it’s hard to argue that a two-term President wasn’t successful in some ways.  One of the reasons for his success was this undisputed ability to make others feel good about him.

Clinton reminds us that personal charm is a piece of the success puzzle.   Good news, sports fans:  I’ve got another piece for you and it will make you laugh.  If you’re lucky, that is.

JoAnne Bachorowski, a psychologist at Vanderbilt University, studies the acoustics of laughter.   Her research tells us that the acoustics of laughter (the actual frequencies and sounds of somebody laughing) makes us feel good.

It seems subtle, so maybe in case you missed it, here it is again:   science proves that the sound of laughter creates a pleasant response in others.  Wow.  You laugh;  your ‘audience’ has a enjoyable experience.

In other words, people who hear us laugh respond with a positive physical response. And making others feel good enables us to shape their behavior towards us.   It pre-disposes them to feel good towards us.

If you can make others feel good they are more likely to feel positive about us.  It’s true.  It’s science.  Just ask Professor Bachorowski.

Wow.

Why Should You Care?   We ALL want to shape other’s behavior towards us.    Whether it is as leaders, as sales people, managers, as employees, as friends, as parents, as customers…. You name it!    And one of the easiest (and coolest) techniques we can use to get what we want is to laugh more.

You’ve heard Fake It Until You Make It?   Yup, it works with laughter.  (Unless you laugh like Santa or a hyena, that is.) But if you have a reasonably good ability to FAKE laughing, that laughter will still serve you.  And if it is real, it will serve you even better.

If you WANT to be a person of influence – and we all do – then you’ll be more effective if you laugh.

Science proves it:  laughter works.

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Book Brad For Your Meeting Or Event. Go to the contact page now.
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Yours,

Brad Montgomery
Motivational Keynote Speaker, Lover of Laughter, Humor Expert

Technorati Tags: laughter, laugh, science of laughter

Don Cooper is a fantastic speaker and wonderfully funny man. He recently was quoted in the National Speakers Association newsletter.

Check out this exerpt about the value of humorists:

“What’s a laugh worth?

Selling a topic like sales, marketing or customer service is relatively easy. Those subjects translate straight to the bottom line, so both corporate and association meeting planners instinctively recognize their value. Likewise topics such as leadership, team-building and time-management are readily valued.

But humor? All too often, it’s an afterthought for most meeting planners. “Why waste time on mindless entertainment when we can give our audience information they can really use?” is the unspoken question in the back of their minds.

Everyone knows that a meeting without humor is like a Twinkie without the cream filling. But meeting planners often don’t understand this. So you have to help them see the value of humor to their event. In other words, what a laugh is really worth. There are three keys to accomplishing this.

First, you need to fully understand and be able to articulate the benefits of a humorous presentation. It’s not merely a matter of entertainment. Humor can:

Lighten the mood of an event
Put people in a receptive state of mind
Reduce stress and tension
Increase attendees’ energy, alertness and enthusiasm
Create camaraderie
Lower the audience’s defenses
Generate goodwill toward the organization
Communicate or reinforce an organization’s message
Bridge gaps between management and employees
Leave the audience with lasting positive memories”

Don… you rock! Thanks for the great info.

Do YOU think humor has a place in business? I sure do. Check out this excerpt form a humor newsletter from Humorist Roz Trieber.

“Research demonstrates there is a significant correlation between humor and leadership effectiveness (Priest and Swain, 2002). Organizational culture, in the military and elsewhere, supports the use of humor by leaders in appropriate ways. The United States Army leadership manual describes, “Having a good sense of humor” as a valuable character trait for leaders (Department of Army, 1983). It was found that cadets at the United States Military Academy who use humor as a coping strategy were less likely to quit or make mistakes. In addition, humor employed by managers and leaders achieve three specific ends: 1) stress reduction in the workplace, 2) helping employees understand management concerns by enhancing communication patterns, and 3) motivating followers (Davis and Kleiner, 1989). Good leaders who use good-natured jest put others at ease. Those who cannot laugh or joke about their imperfections or personal failings are correlated with other characteristics of “bad leaders,” A majority of good leaders are shown to have quick wit, see the point of jokes, maintain group morale through extraverted humor vs. mean spirited humor, have infectious laughs, and tell humorous satires in dialect (Priest and Swain, 2002).

What this really means is that there is improved communication with less misunderstanding, and increased desire to come to work, and an increase in creativity and productivity (Decker and Rotondo, 2001). In summary, humor in the workplace promotes physical and mental health, fosters mental flexibility, and acts as a social lubricant (Morreall, 1983). ”

Thanks Roz. Awesome Work.

This is a note I received from a pal and High School Teacher, Lindsey Pahs….who happens to be a very funny person. I used to think he was an expert at humor by accident. But check out this note that proves him to be way deeper than I thought. And his point is right on. Check it out….

“I have thought a little about it though. Here’s what I think. Being funny (at home or work) isn’t as much about telling the joke or making the wise-crack as it is about the attitude. In order to be funny, you have to have the certain outlook on life. Try to look at things from a different perspective than you normally do. Sometimes that’s funny. Think about what would happen if you took something to the exteme–sometimes the result is funny. You have to be willing to break out of the mold. Flower pots aren’t funny. . . a flower pot on your head is funny. If you do something different or look at things from a different point of view, the results are sometimes funny. I think this is why it’s hard for me to think of funny things–it’s not really the thing that’s funny; it’s the way you approach the thing. ”

How come none of MY teachers were this clued into humor? Thanks Lindsey.

… no…. under the bed.

Often we don’t have to look very far to find humor in action. (At least not at my house.)

My wife Kim and I were putting our little kids to sleep. They are afraid of the monsters that might be around, and as I watched from the doorway asked Kim to close the doors to the closet and the bathroom. (Apparently monsters are unable to operate doornobs.)

“Do you want me to look under the bed?” she asked them?

Of course they did. So she bends down to look under the bed and says, “Ok Frank and Larry: they know you are here and they are scared so just stay where you are or you’re gonna freak them out. Ok? Ok.”

My kids eyes got really big REALLY fast. But I cracked up. I mean cracked up.

The kids … probably prompted by me … cracked up too. It was a great end of the day for them.

I loved it and have told the story several times since… including here.

Wanna know the funniest part? Kim doesn’t think she was particularly funny night… and she thinks the fact that I DO think it was hilarious is (further) evidence that I’m a wacko. Which of course, just made it funnier for me. So be it.

My point? You don’t have to hunt far for humor. Just pay attention and you’ll find very funny people who may (or may not) be trying to be hilarious. Without much of a fuss you should be find plenty of humor anywhere you look for it. (Especially if you look under the bed.)