Is there anyone that doesn’t like to laugh? That just squeezes their face all day long and says “hey, I hate to laugh” I’m sure there is no such person. Even villains in movies with all the evil they plan to carry out (before heroes come to ruin the plan) laugh a little too loud and I don’t ever get it, lol. I guess the propensity for evil gives them a certain fulfillment that they just can’t help but burst out into frenzied laughter.
The point is, humor is a must-have and a necessity in today’s overworked, under-appreciated, stress-filled, sleep-deprived culture. Whether you’re the creator, distributor or consumer of humor, the ability to laugh and make people laugh is priceless. Have you noticed there’s a surge in the number of social accounts that do comedy skits?. In fact, one of the fastest ways to grow a social media account now is to use humor in any form, dance, jokes, short play, etc.
Humor should be seen as a tool that you can wield to achieve what you want. In business, in the workplace, in a relationship, even in seemingly negative situations, humor can still be used to liven things up and make everybody feel better about the situation. Here are some of the reasons why we must use humor in our everyday lives;
WHY HUMOUR?
- Gets people to listen
- Increases long-term memory retention
- Improves understanding
- Aids learning
- Helps communicate messages
- Improves group cohesiveness
- Reduces status differentials
- Diffuses conflict
- Build trust
- Brings people closer
- Boosts overall brain power
- Increases objectivity
- Improves focus
- Triggers new connections
- Enhances problem-solving skills
- Improves likability
- Increases attractiveness
- Prevents long term burnout
- Provides a boost of energy
- Improves productivity
- Lowers blood pressure
- Improves the immune system
- Reduces the risk of heart disease
- Burns calories
- Increases happiness
- Increases perceived leadership skills
- Creates more opportunities
- Improves personal ratings
- Build confidence in abilities
- Increases size of paycheck
I can break everything down by explaining it, but that will be assuming that you’re not smart enough, but I know you are, so let’s save time on that, lol. As you can see, it doesn’t matter your age, income, perspective, personality, or celebrity status and doppelganger anyone can learn to be funnier and it all starts with a CHOICE to try to find ways to use humor to look at the world around you and share your point of view by heightening and exploring that view using humor.
Humor is not just comedy; it’s not about being funny, but rather making things fun. Humor is a mindset, it’s not that funny things happen to funny people, it’s just that funny people see the world or things in a funny way. Also, humor is a skill and as such, it can be learned, as an individual or as a corporation.
HUMOR ‘PAM
PAM is an acronym for Purpose, Audience, and Medium. We could also flip it and call it ‘MAP’, which will be easy to relate to and remember. Let’s jump on these a bit.
PURPOSE – this is the ‘why’ are you using humor? Humor for the sake of just humor is fine but this is a skill that can be used to your advantage for these reasons:
- To get people to pay attention; the average person sends or receives 112 messages every day and spends about 80% of their time in some form of active communication and if we need them to care about what we’re saying we have to do things a little bit differently.
- Improve understanding; helps people to learn better, remember MR NIGER D in elementary biology it’s an acronym as well as a mnemonic for the memory to retain a piece of information. You can communicate the relevance of your product offering or other information by connecting it to pop culture and things people can relate to. The keyword is relevance and relatability.
- To increase likability; not only as an individual but as a brand or business. Remember that time that Coca-cola did a promo that people’s names were printed on a bottle of coke, we all loved it, made many people feel special, and guess what? Sales jumped up! If you have 2 messages in your inbox and you know one will be traditionally boring or one will make laugh, which one are you likely to open?. You may not want the product right away but you’re ok with the experience.
AUDIENCE – the ‘who’ is going to be receiving your humor material. Whether it’s someone you have romantic intentions for, a potential client, a superior or colleague at work, a group of people, online customers, etc. You want to know what they need, what they know, and what they expect. You also need to be conversant of the nature of our relationship with them. What you say to a close friend will obviously be different from what you’ll say to a superior. You want to make sure you speak their language and they understand it.
MEDIUM – the ‘how’ are you going to execute your humor material, is it through text, pictures, memes, song, gestures, physical meeting, etc. Some humor work better when they’re presented in a certain form than another form. Puns are better with text, but you can’t text a dance to someone. You feel me?
HUMOR FAQS
What if I’m not funny?
But the thing is if you have ever made someone laugh even unintendedly like tripping on the stairs, I remember a that we sing to people that fell or tripped when growing up, it’s in Yoruba language “aluwe, oja si kota, e wa wo, ko to lo”, sorry if you don’t understand Yoruba, I won’t interpret it, ask a Yoruba friend, lol.
My point is you could still use humor even if you don’t want to create humor, you can still curate and share on your social media or with your loved ones. Better still, just smile because others can mirror that action with the mirror neurons in them and it’s contagious and we create a human connection as a result.
What if no one laughs?
It becomes awkward because you really care about the outcome…the juice is you do humor and not care about it. You must have noticed some comedians that make people roll on the floor by laughing and they’re not even smiling while doing it. Point is, no one has ever been fired because of a bad joke, maybe an inappropriate one that is off subject, target, and time (we’ll get to this), but not for cracking a dry joke. Remember, your goal is to bring good vibes only.
What if no one takes me seriously, what if people think of me as a jester or clown?
Humor doesn’t replace the work. It’s like salt to food. You only chip it in as you go along the way. If you’re doing it right, nobody will think of you in such a manner. Your content should still be solid, and your use of humor should be relevant and relatable to the topic at hand. Remember, humor isn’t about being funny, it’s about making things fun.
WHEN NOT TO USE HUMOR
As much as we have highlighted the benefits of the use of humor there are times when its use is inappropriate and can have a boomerang effect on the user in these 3 forms;
Subject: Humor can be off when used for certain sensitive subjects. E.g, rape, drugs tragedies like natural disasters or genocides as well as in some ethnoreligious settings. Don’t let someone go and break your head o because of a joke, lol.
Target: Humor can be off when you direct it at the wrong audience or recipient. E.g, your boss, an uptight elderly, an aggressive crowd, a grieving person or family, etc.
Time and place: Good humor or comic material can be off in timing. E.g, A religious person fasting may find sex jokes offensive.
LAUGH OUT LOUD
Don’t know about you o, but this life is hard already, bills to pay, children to raise, work to do, commuting, responsibilities to fulfill. We can’t run away from all of these, but we can enjoy it and relax while doing it. You are responsible for your happiness, doesn’t it mean you’re in control of it, but you’re responsible for it. So, it’s on you how you choose to enjoy the ride in life, complaining or stressed out all the time, or using humor to relax and bring good vibes to people around you and yourself… make your choice fam.
Trust you enjoyed reading this piece, please do well to share it with a friend. Remember, positive vibes only. Till next time, stay jiggy, stay manly,…and oh, laugh out loud!
Tolulope
