YaJagoff Media, LLC – How can you use humor in your work life?
Rules for today:
- Relax
- Have Fun
- Don’t Sleep (it’s only 50 minutes)
- When you see a photo of the Pittsburgh icon on the screen, say it out loud!
How can you use humor in your work life? The first question to answer is SHOULD you use humor in your work life?
Of course, we would say, yes, but not always!
Examples of Why to use Humor in Business:
- Anecdotal Evidence:
- Leaders who want to show their vulnerability and approachability.
- Super Bowl commercials – which ones are typically the most memorable?
- Current: Dr. Rick commercials (can anyone name the company?)
- Side note: Dr. Rick commercials identify how your message may get lost because of humor.
- Presenters typically lead off with joke or a humorous meme targeted toward the audience.
- The success of Southwest Airlines
- Published Evidence:
- Stress reliever (increases endorphins) and other physiological changes
- The ability to create humor is associated with both intelligence and creativity, two highly sought after commodities in today’s workplace. Team building – insider humor builds a sense of team.
How we use humor for our blog
- Crosswalk texters: https:/www.yajagoff.com/if-you-want-to-cross-at-the-crosswalk-cross-dont-text/
- Movie-goer pet peeves: https://www.yajagoff.com/new-video-jaggin-around-at-the-movies/
- Mask required at beer store but how about a shirt? https://www.yajagoff.com/mask-and-shirt-required-for-service-but/
How we use humor for some of our clients
- KB Plumbing – short videos re: the lighter side of “wives tales” or urban legends
- Rohrich Honda – short videos of 2 guys in car
- Brad as a character to parody office settings at The Wilson Group
- *Overall gauge on the audience during the winter/height of Covid: Mad libs/trivia etc.
Tips on applying humor:
- Go to your favorite Internet search engine, type in your subject with the word “funny” after or before it
- When creating copy, create it straight, without jokes, then, read through it and determine where you might be bored or where you might be to dry then take an extreme approach to the topic (in a humorous manner)
- Go read greeting cards at the store for motivation – don’t read the sympathy cards!
- Taking Humor in the Workplace Seriously
- Using Humor to Energize the Glob Workspace
- Timing! Timing! Timing!
Is it good to be funny in subject lines?
- Quirky, congenial, fun, yes. Funny, funny? Not in the subject line.
- Rachael comes from the newspaper industry which has notoriously preached the importance of a catchy but to the point subject line with a hook.
- Don’t over try or overdo.
- Leave that to the body of the information.
How do you know where the line is drawn for that? Humor?
- Do your homework! Learn about the company, the people to get an idea of tone
- Read the audience: temperament/amount of engagement or interaction is key
- Dip your toe in humor, it can’t hurt. You can always back off
Should you use emojis in subject lines or in emails to suppliers/event planners?
- No. Not much expansion.
- Emojis are strictly reflections of emotions. They are to be shared as shorthand expression among friends.
Summary
You can follow the following guidelines and present them to their employees in order to best manage the appropriate and productive use of humor in the workplace.
- Always consider the message in your humor. Are you using humor to say something that you would not otherwise say?
- Might your humor be offensive to a person, or for that matter, a certain group of people?
- Avoid controversial or personal topics; especially political or religious beliefs.
- If you’re not sure about your message or your audience, just forget it.
- Personal: Find a few simple items, such as photos, greeting cards or cartoons, that make you chuckle. Then hang them up at home or in your office or on your phone in an album.
- Personal: Keep funny YouTube links, books, websites on hand for when you need an added humor boost.
- Remember: We are not expecting you to be a stand-up comedian in the workplace.
