chrisbrogan.com - Latest Comments in The Importance of Being Funny

Re: The Importance of Being Funny

Peter Billingham — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 11:10:31 -0000

Reading through The Impact Equation came across the Ken Hadge story and the passage on metaphors - nearly five years old the story of Planning.
Organizing. Directing. Coordinating. Controlling. (PODCC = Plenty Of Delicious
Canadian Club) - shows how good content is timeless. I would love to have met him, sounds like a great teacher. I had one like that, he was called John Oxley, a 6ft something imposing character, told me the story of Mary's cat syndrome - involved kicking a cat (metaphorically) never forgot the story.

Re: The Importance of Being Funny

youtube downloader — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 04:57:50 -0000

Funny can make things memorable. Memory is an important glue to our ability to recall, and then reprocess, and resynthesize information that we don’t need all the time.

Re: The Importance of Being Funny

Paul — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 06:50:16 -0000

Hey Chris,

I'm usually a funny guy, I think I die if I will have to stop...

By the way, great reading!

Paul
http://r.evie.ws/view-revie...

Re: The Importance of Being Funny

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Re: The Importance of Being Funny

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Re: The Importance of Being Funny

Seeniocotttak — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 11:51:35 -0000

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Re: The Importance of Being Funny

Tumblemoose — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 10:22:24 -0000

Chris,

Nothing brings people together like funny. I've used humor with my daughter since she was born. Now at the precocious age of 5, she is constantly playing tricks on her dad.

I was fortunate to be blessed with an exceptional sense of humor and some of the best comments I've received relate to posts where I've used humor in some form.

I recently commented on a post where the blogger had been personally attacked over a grammar issue. I told her that "those people are insecure in their own lives, hiding behind their impenetrable flat panel monitors while eating ho-hos in their underwear, in a dingy corner of their Mommy's basement"

Cracked the blogger up and made her day.

That's what I'M talkin' 'bout!

George

Re: The Importance of Being Funny

Matt Keegan — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 06:57:27 -0000

Listen to the wisdom of your parents. They're giving to you unconditional love but they're also encouraging you to show some restraint which isn't a bad thing.

Re: The Importance of Being Funny

Dawn Goldberg — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 09:11:41 -0000

One of the reasons storytelling, and humor, works is because the storyteller paints a picture. We can all see in our heads what he's describing. Better for us to learn and remember and retain. Much better than just figures and theories. Give us color, smell, sound, taste, touch!

Thanks for the great post!

Re: The Importance of Being Funny

Reut — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:31:35 -0000

Добавил в закладки. Теперь буду почаще читать!

Re: The Importance of Being Funny

Capone — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:16:40 -0000

Было бы интересно узнать поподробнее

Re: The Importance of Being Funny

Sharron (kkomp) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 18:58:02 -0000

That is a great post you've made there. I've learned something by reading this; quite possibly something very important.

I had a sense-of-humour implant some years ago and I'm still getting used to making people laugh. It fails from time to time though: I wonder if WordPress could design a free plugin to assist?

I like this blog. I'll be checking in more often. :-)

Re: The Importance of Being Funny

Stephen Hopson — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 08:47:57 -0000

Chris, you're right - it's important to be funny or at least humorous when telling stories b/c it helps people relate.

As you already know, I'm an inspirational speaker and I have learned how to tell stories around certain points. I don't bill myself as a comedian, just naturally humorous and I've found it to help bridge whatever gap there might be between myself and the audience (perceived gaps or whatnot).

For instance, I tell the story about getting snookered by a hooker one night because of my refusal to accept my hearing disability (I let her whisper in my ear, pretending to undertand). Imagine what happened later that night. This is not a "fall down funny" kind of story but it makes the point of accepting ourselves for who we are pretty clearly.

Thanks for sharing. You rock my friend.

Re: The Importance of Being Funny

Randy Stewart — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:25:21 -0000

Tell your mom I'm sorry for the pic :-). That said, I couldn't agree with your sentiment more.

Humor and wit come across in both writing and photos and in general, it's always easier to learn a hard lesson with a spoonful of sugar.

Thanks for making taking pictures at Gnomedex easy and fun.

Cheers,
Randy Stewart

Re: The Importance of Being Funny

Larissa Gaston — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:35:43 -0000

I agree, humor resonates. At least it does for me. I had a high school physics teacher named Ken that was Wes Anderson-like. I remember once when he gave us a test he sat in the front of the class on a stool with his sunglasses on the whole time looking out at us, without speaking a word. I can’t say his style helped me understand physics any better, science just wasn’t my thing – but I remember him. And I didn’t cheat on my test.

Re: The Importance of Being Funny

BethP — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 10:59:03 -0000

The importance of being earnestly funny--it's true! I had a college professor with a similar approach to Ken Hadge's.

http://www.onlinefundraisin...

Re: The Importance of Being Funny

TimWalker — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 08:52:35 -0000

Amen, Chris. There are a few people who genuinely can't pull off funny on stage, and if they have any experience, they don't try. (I'm thinking of Paul Collier at TED, who admits to feeling awkward onstage. But even he manages a wry take on himself in conveying this.)

For the rest of us, though, it's vital that we get something of our personality, our humanity, across through our interactions. My office is such a fun place to work in no small part because there's a smart, smart-ass sense of humor that runs all through the place. It keeps us from the faux-seriousness that poisons so many business interactions.

We all critique politicians who aren't "real" -- but then we get in front of people and go into drone-mode. We need to abandon the corporatespeak ("at this point in time...") and get on with *living* our working lives as real people. And sticking our tongues out at (in)opportune moments. ;)

Re: The Importance of Being Funny

Jason Grigsby — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:16:29 -0000

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the kind words about my Cup Noodle talk. Looks like Betsy already provided the url to one of the videos. This other video has an angle that makes it easier to see the slides.

If anyone is interested, the book about Cup Noodle is one of the best business case studies I've read. It is part of a series of Japanese Manga called Project X Challenger. Each one follows a story of business innovation. I'm not normally a fan of manga, but these books are great.

Project X Challenger: Cup Noodle is $11 and available on Amazon. I highly recommend it.

Re: The Importance of Being Funny

Cenay Nailor — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 22:51:22 -0000

Chris, thanks for keeping things fresh, and for the great photo of you! I will have trouble seeing other photo's of you without remembering this one!

Cenay'

Re: The Importance of Being Funny

Kristina Schneider — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 19:12:21 -0000

Chris, I could not agree more with you. I recently wrote a post about Humour - A Viable Strategy for Diversity Training? which unfortunately didn't generate any discussion. But I personally find that for me, humour is one of the best ways to deal with adversity.

Re: The Importance of Being Funny

Betsy Richter — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 14:43:16 -0000

The Cup O Noodles presenter was Jason Grigsby from Portland, Oregon. You can see his original presentation (given at Ignite Portland a few months ago) here.

Re: The Importance of Being Funny

Discount Digital Camcorders — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 06:33:31 -0000

This is so true, I read several blogs only because of the humour of the blogger.

Re: The Importance of Being Funny

Anne McCrossan — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 06:15:44 -0000

This is a great post Chris, funny is a saving grace is a big point. Yes indeedy.

Re: The Importance of Being Funny

Jasmine Lim — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 05:18:25 -0000

I love this post Chris. Laughter truly is the best medicine! And life gets by a lot more easier when we don't take ourselves too seriously.

I live by humor everyday- At work, personal life and even in my blogging. It makes me happy when others are happy too.

Re: The Importance of Being Funny

Tina Mammoser — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 04:40:53 -0000

Love the photo Chris! My brother and I do a photobooth session of silly faces each time I visit the old 'home' (Chicago) and my mom rolls her eyes at us. So maybe it's just mothers. (Hi Mom Brogan!)

But as you say things like this show us a human, a real person who isn't always in serious business mode. I had a photosession for my portfolio and the image I decided to use online is the one silly one. It brings a bit of lightheartedness to my professional listings and writing online. Perhaps it doesn't need to always be flat-out humour, but just a little lightening of the mood.