Smiling relieves muscle tension, enhances immunity and increases pain tolerance. It
also attracts positive responses from the people who are important to you.
So, whenever you catch yourself without a smile, put one on immediately and hold it for as
long as you can - even if you have to fake it.
Humor How To's
Although joke-telling is one way to
transmit humor, it's not the only way. In fact, there are literally thousands of ways to
invite smiles and laughter in addition to joke-telling. So, if joke-telling is not your
forte or if it is inappropriate for you to become the stand-up comic on-the-job, then
there are alternatives. Here are four tips to get you going:
Put humor into the physical environment by
osmosis, it may filter into people's awareness. This could be accomplished by having
posters with such light-hearted sayings as "The brain is a wonderful organ. It starts
the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get to the office."
(Robert Frost)
Use humor as a tool rather than as a weapon
Laughing with others builds confidence, brings
people together, and pokes fun at our common dilemmas. Laughing at others destroys
confidence, ruptures teamwork, and singles out individuals or groups as the
"butt". In the words of one fifth grade teacher, "You don't have to blow
out my candle to make yours glow brighter." Humor is laughter made from pain, not
pain inflicted by laughter.
Build humor into the corporate culture
There are a growing number of bottom-line-successful
corporations that have been practicing humor in the workplace. For example, Southwest
Airlines' President Herb Kelleher is well-known for his creative shenanigans and modeling
of humor from the top down. Ben & Jerry's has established a "Joy Committee."
They offer "Joy Grants" to their employees who have an idea that will bring more
joy into the workplace.
Humor's Bottom Line :
"The number one premise of business is
that it need not be boring or dull. It ought to be fun. If it's not fun, you're wasting
your life." Tom Peters
Set the tone by modeling your ability to laugh at
yourself. One of the simplest and most powerful ways of doing this is to "tell
stories on yourself" whenever appropriate. When Rose Cellino-Reynolds attended our
annual conference, she passed along a great example of this:
Rose was attending a very serious convention of
salespeople. She was feeling out-of-place, because it seemed that everyone in attendance
had on a beeper. Rose was beeperless and feeling very unimportant. So, she went home that
night, and came back to the conference the next day with a smile on her face... wearing
her garage door opener.
Today is "Smile Day"
Click here to buy
goofy stuff for your workspace. 
"A smile is a whisper of a laugh."