Notes from 50th International STC Conference
Dallas, Texas, May 18-21, 2003

Using Humor to Survive in Difficult Times

Karen G. O'Keefe, TYBRIN Corporation and
Mary T. Dysert, Cyber, Inc.

Session Description: This workshop provided tools and techniques for looking at the lighter side of technical communication, focusing on the appropriate use of humor to relieve stress, solve problems, and bond with co-workers.

• "A person will be just about as happy as they make up their minds to be." — Abraham Lincoln
• Work can be stressful... but it can also be fun.
• What are the benefits of using humor on the job?
   
• Creates a positive work environment
• Encourages higher productivity
• Relieves workplace stress
• Promotes health and wellness
• Minimizes resistance to change
• Enhances team motivation
• Improves relationships
• A survey of business school deans and business executives revealed that humor plays a significant part in the operation of a healthy, successful business.
• "One can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation." — Plato
• Whistle while you work...
   
• Play
• Laughter
• Silliness and self-deprecating humor are great defusers
• Recognition: you do not have to be in charge to give recognition
• Music
• Pranks (but be careful)
• Comics
• Jokes (know your audience)
• Surgeon General's warning...
   
• Be inclusive
• Use appropriate humor
• Avoid off-color, deprecating, or gallows humor
• Know your audience
• Toys at work: "Nunzilla" is a great tension-breaker (search Google under Nunzilla)
  
• "Laughter is the shortest distance between two people." — Victor Borge
• Find your humor quotient
   
• How willing are you to laugh at life?
• How willing are you to laugh at yourself?
• How long do you hold on to unhappiness before allowing for humor?
• What makes you laugh?
• Who is your favorite comedian or comic actor?
• Make me laugh
   
• Anecdotes: any interesting event that helps the humorist make a point
• Epigram: clever, short saying about a general group, usually mankind. Word play and thought play.
• Exaggerism: overstates the features, defects, or the strangeness of someone or something.
• Situational humor: this is comedy that comes from your own life, based on a humorous situation that you have experienced.
• "When work is a pleasure, life is a joy! When work is a duty, life is slavery." — Maxim Gorky
• Not Funny McGee
   
• Blue humor: based on easily offensive subjects like sex, body parts, and bodily functions
• Blunder: wit based on someone making a mistake and appearing foolish
• Caricature: exaggeration of a person's mental, physical, or personality traits, in wisecrack form.
• For the interpersonally challenged: "He/she's a quart low on interpersonal skills."
• Proceed with caution
   
• Practical joke: a trick played on another person and the humor comes from what happens.
• Satire: wit that is critical humor. Satire is sarcasm that makes fun of something.
• Wisecrack: any clever remark about a particular person or thing. Wisecracks are quick wordplays.
• Humor 'round the world...
   
• Thumbs up: offensive throughout the Middle East
• Wit and sarcasm: not prized in Netherlands
• Any humor: not appreciated by Germans or Japanese during business — ever
• Laughing: can mean embarrassment, confusion, or shock for Japanese. For Singaporeans, it can also mean shyness, bitterness, anxiety, or loss of face.
• Winking: women should never wink in Pakistan
• Next steps
   
• Smile
• Buy some books
• Take some risks
• Look at the lighter side
• Be an arbiter of fun
• Make your workplace a happy one
• "He deserves paradise who makes his companions laugh." — The Koran
• Resources
   
• 301 Ways to Have Fun at Work, by Dave Hemsath and Leslie Yerkes
• Managing to Have Fun, by Matt Weinstein
• C.A.R.E. Packages for the Workplace: Dozens of Little Things You Can Do To Regenerate Spirit At Work, by Barbara Glanz
• Fax this Book!, by John Caldwell
• Seuss-isms for Success, by Theodore Geisel
• Lighten Up: Survival Skills for People Under Pressure, by Roma Felible and C. W. Metcalf
• Don't Go to Work Unless It's Fun, by Frank Sanitate
• Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: How to Do Business in Sixty Countries, by Terri Morrison, Wayne A. Conaway, and George A. Borden, Ph.D
• Articles by Roz Trieber
• Humor University (online)