Of course the important thing to keep in mind is that any of these jobs could be amazingly fun… or they could suck terribly. Whether or not a job is fun is more about you, your attitude and what you do about your work environment than what the job responsibilities are. Sure the role itself can help–a clown is naturally going to have more laughter in his job, but that doesn’t mean the person behind the red nose can’t be miserable.
So whether you’re a project manager or a stunt person, it’s up to you to make your work more enjoyable. To get started, check out the How-To Humor for ways to incorporate more humor at work.
Improv was one of my first forays into comedy and remains one of the most valuable things I’ve ever done. The tips, tricks, techniques and skills I’ve learned from studying improv have infiltrated my everyday life, making me a better communicator, presenter, employee, friend, son and member of society.
You improvise everyday, you might as well be better at it.
It’s fun.
You’ll learn how to better communicate.
You’ll meet new people.
It will make you laugh. A lot.
Ready to take the hilarious plunge? Search Google for improv classes in your area, or hire me or one of my friends to teach an improv workshop at your work, school, or organization.
One of the things that has always stuck with me from the stand-up comedy world was always having something to write with. You never know when inspiration will strike, and when your job relies heavily on creativity, you want to capture every idea you can.
Even though I now do most of writing and note-taking on my phone, I still always carry a pen with me, and here are 5 reasons you should do the same:
1. To Capture that Great Idea
I already gave this one away, but the number one reason to always carry a pen is to be able to take note of anything at a moment’s notice. And don’t think that this doesn’t apply to you if you aren’t a comedian–the solution to the budget crisis at work could come to you while standing in line at the grocery store, and you’ll want to make sure you’re able to remember it.
It also helps to have a notepad with you, but it’s much easier to find something to write on (such as a receipt, napkin or your forearm) than it is to find something to write with.
2. To Speed Things Along
While having a pen isn’t always required, there are instances it can speed things up. How many times have you been at a diner paying for your grilled cheese and chocolate milk only to have to wait 10 minutes as the cashier searches for a pen that works? When you have one in your pocket, there’s no wait.
This may not happen every day, but when you consider all the things that require your handwriting (credit card receipts, deposit slips, autographs for adoring fans), carrying a pen is easily justified.
3. To Highlight the Important Stuff
A recent revelation I had was that I could just as easily highlight key passages in a book or magazine using a pen as I could using a highlighter. Now instead of needing an additional utencil in my bag or at my desk, I’ve always got one in my pocket to take note of that life lesson from Watchmen.
4. To Improve Motor Skills
Before the days of iPhones and other gizmos, you had to find more creative ways to stay awake in class or meetings. With a pen, you can not only entertain yourself but also improve your motor skills and impress the one girl in your computer engineering class with your pen-flipping skills.
With the gradual decline of snail mail, a full-fledged letter opener seems a bit overkill. But when the mail fairy does bring you that special handwritten letter from a friend or loved one, you’ll want to be able to open it without destroying the letter inside. With a pen, it’s easy to do. Using the pen cap and a little finesse, you’ll have yourself a pen /letter opener in no time.
Got a utencil you love or a unique use for a pen? Share it in the comments.
A tired audience is an impatient and distracted audience. To help ensure your presentation is actually heard, it’s important to energize the audience.
Here are 5 ways to energize the audience before your next presentation:
photo by jpsdg
1. Warm up the crowd by conducting a symphony.
Conducting an audience symphony is one of the easiest ways to get an audience engaged and energized at the beginning of a presentation. To do so, have separate sections of the audience say different syllables that, when combined, sound out the title of your presentation.
2. Have everyone stand-up and do the thumbs exercise.
The thumbs exercise (demonstrated in the video below) can be a great way to warm-up the audience. It’s something unique that they have likely never done before and gets both the left and the right side of the brain warmed-up.
photo by gakiku
3. Throw on some music and encourage dancing.
Dancing can be a fun way to energize a room and get people moving. At the start of the presentation, put on some music and just start dancing. The courageous will join you, the others will at least be entertained by your mirthful movements.
Of course you could take dancing to the next level and dance to shorten meetings–it’ll certainly encourage shorter meetings and give you a chance to explore different types of music.
photo by bilywifta
4. Get the audience to applaud 3 times.
One of the things I learned from a few stand-up veterans is the importance of the MC to bring the audience together, transforming them from strangers at a comedy show to a collective audience, laughing together.
One way to do that is to get the audience to applaud at least 3 times together. The act of doing it all together helps them settle in as a group and get focused on what’s about to happen on stage. This is way many comedians will start with statements like “You ready for a good show?”, “Give it up for your headliner,” and “Applaud if you like breathing.”
photo by thrasher
5. Do the Wave
The simple act of standing up can wake the body up. Standing burns twice as many calories as sitting and raises your heart rate. Doing it multiple times to create a wave in the audience not only increases the energy of the room, but also gets the audience to do something together.
Have a favorite energizer? Share it in the comments.
George Carlin was one of the best comedians of our time. In between his bits that made some people cringe at his use of language, he educated a world of people with insight and wisdom in a colorful way. His “Modern Man” routine is the greatest bit on wordplay I’ve ever seen: Here are 10 [...]
With all of the benefits to having humor in the workplace, every office could stand to have a little more fun. But how do you incorporate humor into the corporate world? It’s easier than you might think. From individual activities such as reading office jokes, to team-building games using improv, to community-wide fun at work [...]
Bill Cosby is one of the great comedians of our time and has passed down some great wisdom over the years. Any time I have to go to the dentist, I think of his legendary take on the experience: Here are 10 Great Bill Cosby Quotes, the sit-down comic himself: “A word to the wise [...]
Note: This is part 2 of an interview with Bernie DeKoven. For the audio of the interview, check out The Mind of a Funsmith, an Interview with Bernie DeKoven. For part 1, check out The Mind of a Funsmith, Part 1. Drew: You mentioned something interesting there about inviting them to change the rules. One [...]
Note: This is part 1 of an interview with Bernie DeKoven. For the audio of the interview, check out The Mind of a Funsmith, an Interview with Bernie DeKoven. Drew: Welcome to another interview with Humor That Works. Today we are talking to Bernie DeKoven, the funsmith, author of a number of websites that deal [...]
Bernie DeKoven, Master Funsmith and author of DeepFun.com, JunkyardSports.com, and MajorFun.com, has over 40 years of experience with games and play for both kids and adults. I sat down with Bernie to talk about the value of play, not only in the workplace, but in life in general. You can listen to the interview below: [...]
