How to use humor successfully in your business communicationsWritten by Suzan St Maur
For generations people have been saying that laughter is good medicine. And now scientists have taken an interest it turns out great-grandma was right. The boffins have discovered that laughter releases helpful goodies in body which boost your immune system. In fact therapeutic benefits of laughter are now being harnessed by academia and business community into laughter workshops and other formalized chuckle sessions. Get workers laughing and you raise productivity, so it seems. However it is extremely easy to get humor wrong. And a joke that’s sent to someone who doesn’t see funny side will create more ill health through raised blood pressure than a few laughs could ever cure. So what’s answer? How do we harness humor and make it work for us, not against us? People often say that internet’s international nature makes it an unsuitable environment for humor for fear of it not translating across national boundaries – and inadvertently causing offense. But there are a couple of simple rules which – although not universal panaceas that always work – can help you use humor without risk. Use humor about situations, not people. If you think about it, butt of many jokes and other humor is a person or group of people, so it’s hardly surprising that offense is caused. The more extreme types are obvious - mother-in-law jokes, blonde jokes, women jokes, men jokes – but there are many more subtle ones too. Then there are nationality gags. I remember in one year hearing exactly same joke (in three different languages) told by an American about Polish, by a Canadian about Newfoundlanders, by a French person about Belgians, by a French-speaking Belgian about Flemish, and by a Flemish person about Dutch. Obviously most humor is going to involve people in one way or another. But as long as butt of joke is a situation or set of circumstances, not people, you’re far less likely to upset anyone. And there is an added advantage here.
| | Lucrative & Relaxed Living With Passive Profits Written by NIcholas Drake
Lucrative & Relaxed Living With Passive ProfitsOf all ways people have invented in which to make money, I can’t help thinking that those who can make money while sleeping or being on holiday takes some beating. In pre-internet age, lucky one’s would have been famous film or pop stars, successful writers and inventors and some who were just born into super rich families. This group of people having made their films, sung their songs and written their books could afford to sit back and enjoy their repeat fees however they wished. But what opportunities were there for rest of us, not blessed with super good looks, angelic voices or effortless talents? The great majority had to go out to work, many with added privilege of spending hours in traffic jams, on overcrowded trains and buses or struggling in all weathers. Many with boring jobs they hated, overbearing bosses they couldn’t stand and nothing to look forward to except small respite at weekend and perhaps a couple of weeks abroad each year if they were lucky. Okay, it’s not really as black and white as that as we know. Many of us have it better than that but I bet not one of you readers have not at some time thought, ‘What if?’ Well that ‘What if?’ arrived some years ago with invention of internet. The opportunity is right here, right now, for pretty much any sane person with a bit of get up and go and vision to make it happen. It’s here, right now, in front of your eyes and you don’t even have to move an inch, you can just sit there, and let your fingers do tapping! Okay, we have all heard of so called, ‘Internet Millionaires’ but what did they actually do? Well, many got on band wagon early and set up their Dot Com travel sites, search engines and so forth but what do we know about travel, search engines or even so forths, (what is a so forth?) Well, not necessarily very much, but it doesn’t matter because there are literally millions of savvy people, quietly tapping away at home right now, building themselves millionaire lifestyles without owning travel sites, search engines and with not a so forth in sight! How do they do it?
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