Holiday Humor the Right Way
Remember the “Salad Shooter?” 🥗 Though it sounds like a robber at a vegetarian restaurant, this was an actual kitchen device invented in the 80’s to handle the headaches of chopping up lettuce – you could shave 30 or 40 seconds off of that salad chop!
Well, my mom got one for Christmas 🌲 the year they came out as the hot, new must-have item. And ya know what else was bright and shiny that Christmas? Camcorders! 🎥They were coming down in price and so our family had gotten one of those too.
Christmas Morning,
when no one was around, my brother Dan and I decided to have some fun by doing a “reporter on the spot” video with some of the gifts. We recorded each other making fun of the Salad Shooter. When the recording was over, I checked the footage and realized my first lesson in comedy – don’t be mean.
While our salad shooter commentary was hilarious (I’m sure!), we realized that the gadget was a gift someone had given her and it would be hurtful to mom and the gift-giver to make fun of it. Luckily we figured this out before showing our masterpiece to anyone, so the salad shooter footage got filed away.
This holiday season there will be LOTS of funny things you can joke about – from crazy relatives to weird gifts, and terrible food. And while it’s tempting to crack jokes about them . . . don’t.
Humor should be used for good. Instead make jokes about yourself, the weather, the traffic 🚗or yourself in weather and traffic – or a myriad of other safe things (malls, crowds, etc. . .). Just don’t be mean to others . . . and when in doubt, run it through the “salad shooter” test. If it’ll hurt someone’s feelings, leave it alone.
KEEP LAUGHING AND HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY SEASON!!
Jan
check out my blog post on being a Master of Ceremonies: Click Here
And here’s my main website: TheWorkLady.com
Humor Writing for Business or Personal
Want to use humor in business? Then learn how to find and write the humor yourself! Below is my quick – 1:30 – tip on humor writing. This is my fourth tip in cartoon format . . . a little more interesting than me just talking.
Writing humor is not rocket science, BUT using humor is a great way to connect with co-workers, staff, clients, and potential clients.
I offer humor tips in this blog, but also I put together quick videos on how to develop humor (and your humor muscle). Above is the video and below is the video as well as a link to it to my youtube channel where you’ll find similar How To videos.
Hey, also, why not follow me on my social media? I really need some friends! or followers or something!
Have a great holiday. . .
Jan
Click here for my main website
And click here for a great post on using humor in sales and marketing
About Jan
Jan McInnis is a top change management keynote speaker and comedian. She uses short funny stories to emphasize her tips on how businesses can use humor to handle change. Jan is a top conference keynote speaker, comedian, Master of Ceremonies, and comedy writer. She has written for Jay Leno’s The Tonight Show monologues as well as many other people, places, and groups—radio, TV, syndicated cartoon strips, guests on The Jerry Springer Show (her parents are proud). For over 25 years, she’s traveled the country as a keynote speaker and comedian, sharing her unique and practical tips on how to use humor in business (yes, it’s a business skill!). She’s been featured in The Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post for her clean humor, and she’s the author of two books: Finding the Funny Fast – How to Create Quick Humor to Connect with Clients, Coworkers, and Crowds, and Convention Comedian: Stories and Wisdom From Two Decades of Chicken Dinners and Comedy Clubs. She also has a popular podcast titled Comedian Stories: Tales From the Road in Under 5 Minutes. In her former life, she was a marketing executive in Washington, D.C. for national non-profits, and she received the Greater Washington Society of Association Executives “Excellence in Education” Award. Jan’s been featured at thousands of events from the Federal Reserve Banks to the Mayo Clinic.
Humor About NOT Using Your Product
Lots of marketing campaigns use humor toting the benefits of using a product or service, but what developing humor about what happens if people DON’T use your product or service?
This Hilarious ad from Southwest Airlines
(below) promoting their hotel site is a GREAT example of using humor to show people the benefits of your product without making a boring list of benefits.
By asking the question above, Southwest Airlines ✈️ found a common experience – who of us has not slept on an air mattress in an odd room at a relatives house? And then they developed a funny ad!
Marketing experts say we are motivated by “fear, pride, and material gain” . . . I’d like to add humor coupled with fear/pride/material gain is even better. The fear of sleeping around creepy dolls, the lost pride of sleeping on an air mattress, and material gain of getting a good nights sleep are all wrapped up in this ad.
When writing business humor, start asking different questions to find fun ways to connect with your customers! What happens if they don’t use your product
Check out some of my other clips on humor at this link: CLICK HERE
About Jan
Jan McInnis is a keynote speaker, comedian, Master of Ceremonies, and comedy writer. She has written for Jay Leno’s The Tonight Show monologues as well as many other people, places, and groups—radio, TV, syndicated cartoon strips, guests on The Jerry Springer Show (her parents are proud). For over 20 years, she’s traveled the country as a keynote speaker and comedian, sharing her unique and practical tips on how to use humor in business (yes, it’s a business skill!). She’s been featured in The Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post for her clean humor, and she’s the author of two books: Finding the Funny Fast – How to Create Quick Humor to Connect with Clients, Coworkers, and Crowds, and Convention Comedian: Stories and Wisdom From Two Decades of Chicken Dinners and Comedy Clubs.
And here’s to other business comedy writing posts so you can put humor into your sales pitches.
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