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Humor is an Attitude: HA!
By Beverly Cohen, Communications Specialist

Have you ever wondered how you can keep your audience more alert, involved, and inspired? Make them laugh! Use humor in your presentation! There are many wonderful reasons to develop a Humorous Attitude…a HA!

• Laughter is healing
• People like to laugh
• Laugher is contagious
• Laughter links you to your audience

Even if you think you're not funny, you can still be humorous. You can develop a Humorous Attitude and get a HA with each presentation you give. Being humorous doesn't mean memorizing jokes or delivering rapid fire one-liners. It means developing the HA within you by nurturing a sense of humor. Challenge yourself to:

• Find humor in all situations
• Not take yourself too seriously
• Not take life too seriously

The most effective examples of humor are not found in books or stock jokes. The best sources of humor come from you and your life experiences.

Don't tell a joke; tell a story related to your message. Your delivery and the addition of the unexpected will add an element of surprise and make it humorous. Make your story real. Make it come alive to your audience by:

• Vividly describing the setting
• Giving your characters names
• Using your voice to indicate the different characters
• Maintaining eye contact to make the audience part of your story
• Using a pause before the punch line

Your audience will stay awake and attentive, and best of all, your HA will make your message memorable.