The Psychology of Laughter in Business

People often ask me what my greatest strength is as a Funny Motivational Business Speaker. The answer of course is my ability to engage the audience with laughter.

No matter what group I’m speaking to or what program I’m giving, I always start off with 5 to 10 minutes of non-stop comedy.  Why?  Because nothing can captivate an audience and hold their attention more than “The Power of Laughter.”  As soon as the laughter starts I can actually feel the tension in the room dissipate.  Their energy level is cranked and everyone is primed for a good time and a great learning experience.

We are living in an age where the attention span of the average audience is about 15 minutes out of a 60 minute span.  To make matters more challenging, audience members are tweeting, texting, e-mailing and even answering their cell phones during a presentation.

Unless a speaker has some kind of entertaining value to offer, they run the risk of losing their personal connection with the audience. Laughter isn’t the only way to engage and captivate an audience, but I believe it happens to be the most powerful way.

A physiological and mental reaction takes place when you laugh.  Laughter charges your inner battery and helps you cope with tough times.  It has a soothing quality that can lift your spirits and instantly break down barriers that can otherwise stand between a speaker and the audience.

Let’s face it, people love to laugh and they love people who can make them laugh.  This is where “the-likeability-factor and “the-trust-factor” come into play.   In other words, if they like me they will trust me.  This gives me the opportunity to gradually weave my message in and around the laughter.

Through the guise of humor I teach people the skills they need to get to a better place at work and in life.  Here’s the big pay off.  My ability to make the audience laugh not only helps me to hold their attention, but also aides in them enjoying the entire process.  Studies have shown if you are having fun as you learn, you will absorb more information.  As one of my clients said, “Never has my group laughed so hard and learned so much in one sitting!  Thanks for the ride!”

 

Please feel free to share your thoughts and insights. I welcome all comments.