Find your Funny - Unlocking your Sense of Humor at Work
Andrew Tarvin
This one works well as a lunch and learn: accessible from the first minute, nothing to prepare, and easy to join for one hour of the day.
As the world settles back into some form of this new normal, you may have noticed something is missing. Amidst all the Zoom calls, reply-to-all emails, and attempts at hybrid work environments, many workers have lost their sense of humor and the workplace has lost its sense of humanity.
Humor is a vital skill for thriving in today's work environment and when it comes to learning the skill of humor, the question isn’t, “Are you funny?” The question is “What kind of funny are you?” In this mindset-shifting session, you will discover the secret to the skill of humor and why it’s so valuable in the workplace, identify ways to unlock your personal humor style at work and learn the key steps in creating humor that anyone can learn (even if you're "not funny.”). All of this helps to create and maintain a positive perspective (and culture) even in difficult situations, to build confidence beyond presentation skills but also in how you show up every day and to apply humor in specific situations for improving work.
During the expert session, Andrew Tarvin engages the audience through a Q&A session using the Mentimeter app and live demonstrations of humor techniques, and he encourages participants to share their thoughts and experiences on humor in the workplace. These activities help the audience understand the importance and benefits of using humor effectively in various professional contexts while addressing concerns about cultural differences and appropriateness.
Understanding that humor is a multifaceted skill essential for effective communication and leadership in the workplace.
Learning how to adapt your humor style based on cultural differences, organizational contexts, and individual preferences to foster a positive work environment.
Incorporating humor into daily tasks, meetings, and presentations to reduce stress, increase focus, and improve overall job satisfaction.
In this expert session, Andrew Tarvin, an engineer turned international trainer and speaker, shares his unique perspective on the skill of humor in the workplace. Andrew introduces himself as an engineer with a lifelong obsession with efficiency but a realization of the importance of being effective with people rather than just machines.
Andrew's journey to humor began during his time at Procter & Gamble, where he discovered the power of humor in the workplace. He later found that humor and productivity intersected when he pursued improv and stand-up comedy.
In the session, Andrew invites participants to share their location, mood, and feelings for the day to foster a connected environment.
The agenda for the session includes discussing why humor is essential in the workplace, deconstructing the skill of humor, and applying it to improve communication and leadership skills. Throughout the discussion, Andrew emphasizes the importance of understanding cultural differences when using humor professionally, as everyone may have varying reactions based on their regional or cultural backgrounds.
Using data from studies, Andrew highlights the benefits of incorporating humor in the workplace, such as stress reduction, building stronger relationships, and increased productivity. He acknowledges that humor is not the only method but encourages participants to consider its unique advantages.
Andrew then dives deeper into understanding the elements of humor: sense of humor, ability to humor, and agency with humor. Sense of humor refers to what makes us laugh or smile, while ability to humor is how we use our sense of humor to make others laugh.
Lastly, agency with humor is what we do with our humor, whether it's easing stress, managing emotions, or bringing people closer together through inside jokes.
Throughout the session, Andrew uses practical examples and interactive tools like the Mentimeter app to engage participants in exploring their beliefs about humor in the workplace. He also shares personal anecdotes of his experiences and transformation from someone who was not considered funny to a professional comedian, improviser, and storyteller.
Andrew emphasizes the importance of practicing humor in a safe environment when starting out and encourages individuals to explore various forms of public speaking like standup comedy or improv classes to enhance their humor skills. He also shares practical tips on using humor effectively in professional settings while avoiding offense, such as focusing on positive, inclusive humor and considering the "newspaper rule."
Throughout the session, Andrew encourages participants to share their thoughts, experiences, and insights, creating an engaging environment for learning and growth. By the end of the session, Andrew leaves participants with the takeaway that humor in the workplace can help create a more enjoyable work environment, ultimately increasing productivity and reducing stress while fostering connections between colleagues.
From the survey every participant gets when the session ends, in their own words.
Absolutely amazing! So good to have a laugh and see someone passionate about what they do.
Thank you for providing these opportunities.
Thanks for the nice session.
It was a fun and interactive session with also some very practical tips on how to use it on a daily basis.
Excellent! Great knowledge sharing / great involvement of the audience / great examples. Easy to fully focus on this lecture without being distracted. I found myself laughing in front of the computer several times during this lecture!
Provide examples of great workplace humors. How to do it correctly or what type of jokes to avoid.
Great session with useful and practical tips on how to incorporate humour into the workday.
How to use humor to have more engaging meeting and presentation
It is interactive, and the block above says exactly how for this session. Nobody has to speak up who does not want to: the chat and the polls carry most of it, and the questions can come in anonymously.
As the world settles back into some form of this new normal, you may have noticed something is missing. Amidst all the Zoom calls, reply-to-all emails, and attempts at hybrid work environments, many workers have lost their sense of humor and the workplace has lost its sense of humanity. It is built for a general working audience: no prior knowledge is assumed, and people who already know the subject get the research and the practical side rather than an introduction.
Yes, and it is one of the sessions we would suggest for it. There is nothing to prepare, it is accessible from the first minute, and an hour over lunch is enough to do it justice.
Andrew Tarvin is one of the experts we auditioned ourselves, and we produce every session so we see how each one lands. Participants rate this session 4.0 out of 5, across 93 responses, and rate Andrew personally 4.2 out of 5.
It runs 45 min / 15 min: the talk, then live questions. All you do is pick a date. We brief Andrew, produce the session, host and moderate it, run the Q&A, and send you the report within an hour of the end.
A team, a department, an employee network or every single employee at once, with no cap and no per-seat price. It runs inside your own Microsoft Teams, Zoom or Google Meet, or on a branded page we build. No integration, no login, no company device or e-mail.
The session is delivered in English. You can add high accuracy live subtitles in 8, 16 or 24 languages, so everyone follows in their own. That is a paid option, priced by the number of languages you need.
No, and that is by design. There is nothing to install, nothing to integrate and no connection to your systems, so there is nothing for IT to validate: we join your own Teams, Zoom or Meet as a guest speaker, or we host a page and your people open a link. No software, no accounts, and no data of yours that we can reach. It is why hundreds of companies, among them some of the largest technology and financial firms in the world, were able to start within a day.
We never receive or hold personal data about your employees. Because the session runs in your own environment, attendance and identity stay with you, and what we report back is aggregated: numbers, ratings and survey answers, not people. That is also why IT approval usually takes minutes rather than weeks.
You keep the recording and can share it internally. You also get attendance over time, participant ratings for the content and the speaker, the survey answers, and the topics your people asked for next.
"People will forget what you said... but people will never forget how you made them feel," - Maya Angelou This hands-on workshop…
In a few interactive, playful exercises Rod shows people how to switch from ‘Yes, but’ to ‘Yes, and’.
In this 60 minute interactive session, Rod makes the case that the success or failure of everything we do depends on only one…
(Dutch Only) Irene shows how creativity and choosing a different perspective can have a huge impact.
We say we want creativity but we build systems for speed, predictability, and control.
Creativity is often misunderstood as a rare talent reserved for artists, while in reality it is a practical and learnable skill…