Catching up with Karyn

"She had the attention span of a goldfish in a bowl of Red Bull!"

Have you ever heard a phrase that made you laugh and instantly understand a complex idea? That's the power of humorous metaphors in leadership.

Why Humorous Metaphors Matter:

1. Instant understanding: They paint vivid pictures in listeners' minds.
2. Memorability: Humor makes your message stick.
3. Connection: Laughter increases likability and strengthens relationships.
4. Efficiency: Complex ideas conveyed in simple, relatable terms.

Smart leaders and coaches leverage these linguistic tools to:

• Communicate more effectively
• Engage their audience deeply
• Make their messages unforgettable

Pro Tip: Create a "go-to file" of powerful metaphors you encounter. They're goldmines for future use!

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Ready to supercharge your communication skills? Join my upcoming event starting Wednesday, September 18th. Learn to craft compelling metaphors, use humor strategically, and transform your leadership presence.

Don't let this opportunity...

For leaders who are seeking to set an inspiring, entertaining, and engaging tone for their team, I recommend my program Amazed and Amused. 

In this program, I discuss how we find amusement by finding amazement in our days and how, even during tough situations, there are wonders to be found.  

When you learn how to live amazed and amused, your leadership ability and client relations excel. Motivate your team and inspire your stakeholders by sharing the exciting vision, products, and people that elevate your business above the rest. This passion is contagious, and it is a major key to your success! 

Depending on the length of your program or event, I can tailor my tips and strategies for the sane & successful to suit your requirements best. 

Amazed and Amused: Strategies for the Sane & Successful 

Success is not measured only in dollars and cents, but also in the moments that you...

Whether you’re a business under a lot of stress, or you’re just trying to add a little humor to your leadership style, I can help! 

Feeling the Pressure?  

If your organization is inundated with stress, then let’s nip it in the bud! Waiting until the eleventh hour to ask for help isn’t nearly as effective as acting on a situationbeforeit becomes dire. I can teach you how to leverage high-pressure situations in order to: 

• Increase Productivity
• Boost Engagement
• Improve Communication
• Increase Your Bottom Line

Adding to the Team? 

Mergers are tough. You have to help people from two different companies become comfortable in a new setting and learn how to work together. I have tips and strategies to make the transition easier for everyone!  

Are You an Effective Leader? 

Learning how to employ strategic humor in the workplace is an essential skill, and it has...

Recently, I discussed the importance of implementing humor as a core value in your corporate culture (TL;DR: an organization that laughs together stays together). But before you can add a little funny business to your serious business, you have to understand how to see the funny to properly leverage it.

Humor has the ability to strengthen bonds and completely shift the mood of your environment. And the best part? Anybody can learn how to implement it! Just as I’ve developed my sense of humor over the years, so can you. With a little practice, your whole team can understand how to see the array of hilarity at their fingertips. In appreciating the many humor styles surrounding you, your organization can take the first step toward becoming a place of collaboration, productivity, and, of course, joy!

So, what are these “many humor styles” of which I speak, and under which one do you fall? Let’s take a look!

The Many Faces of Humor

Maybe you...

A bunch of guys are playing football in a park. The ball is hiked. The quarterback steps back to throw. The receiver—an old woman!—shuffles down the field. Ninety-year-old comedic actress Betty White nearly catches the ball, but suddenly she’s brutally tackled. One of her teammates teases, “Hey man, you’re playing like Betty White out there!” She’s given a Snickers Bar, which transforms her back into his proper male form. The tagline: “You’re not you when you’re hungry.”

It became one of the most talked-about commercials in Super Bowl history.

Ask folks if they watch the Super Bowl and you’ll often hear, “I just watch the game for the commercials.” People remember and talk about these ads! Especially the funny ones.

This is why leaders at companies like Frito-Lay, PepsiCo, Allstate Insurance, Reebok, McDonald’s, and Budweiser pay $4.5 million for 30-second spots, most of which are humorous. Why...

It was 1984, and the second presidential debate between Walter Mondale and Ronald Reagan was underway. After the first debate, critics observed that Reagan looked tired, and they wondered if he might be too old for the job. Understanding how this precarious issue could affect the outcome of the debate—and the election—Reagan’s team went to work and prepared his response.

Sure enough, shortly after the debate commenced, a reporter asked Reagan, “Given the fact that you are already the oldest president in U.S. history, would you be able to function should a crisis arise?”

Reagan assured the reporter that he’d be perfectly capable of dealing with any situation at hand—and then he quipped—"I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience."

When the laughter died down, so did the question of Reagan’s age. And he was elected president for a second term....

OCTOBER 1962 — The world held its breath as America and Russia went to the brink, with nuclear weapons at the ready. Russia was installing nuclear missiles in Cuba—a mere 90 miles from the Florida coast. The 13-day crisis played out in real time on TV around the world.

As American and Soviet delegates came together to negotiate, tensions were high, and they soon became deadlocked. And then…a Russian delegate told a joke: “What is the difference between Capitalism and Communism? In Capitalism, man exploits man. In Communism, it is the other way around.”

Delegates on both sides laughed, and this created a bond among all of them. (Hey, ya gotta start somewhere!) With the tension eased for the moment, talks resumed, and eventually a deal was struck that avoided blowing up the planet—no small feat! (You can catch this story on my TEDx talk here.)

Whether you’re negotiating for world peace or for which movie to go to, humor can play a crucial...

The travel gods smiled upon me. My bag and I both arrived at the same airport at the same time, traffic to the hotel zoomed along, and the line for hotel check-in was shorter than the TSA’s.

As I made my way to my room, I observed this hotel’s unique (and somewhat goth) décor: elegant, comfortable... and dark. Dark! Dark! Dark! The walls were black, the furniture was black, I even think the water was black—but I couldn’t tell because, well, it was so DARK. (And I’ll let you guess what color the ballroom floor and the staging were...)

The meeting began and halfway through my presentation, I stepped forward to make a dramatic point...and walked right off the front of the stage. (Picture Wile E. Coyote stepping off a cliff.)

As you might have guessed, the black carpet and the black stage floor merged visually, leaving no hint that there was a drop-off there. The audience gasped, wondering (in the dark) if I was injured; then they held their...

“I’m trying to imagine you with a personality.”

“This isn’t an office. It’s Hell with fluorescent lighting.”

“Don’t bother me. I’m livin’ the dream.”

Sarcasm. Gotta love it, don’t ya? Used for comic effect and dry criticism throughout the ages—by us common folks and by the famous.

Oscar Wilde observed: “Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.”

Stephen Bishop said: “I feel so miserable without you, it’s almost like having you here.”

Mark Twain once quipped: “I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.”

Sarcasm. You hear it nearly every day, from all kinds of people, in all kinds of situations.

[Yeah, we all know—or think we know—exactly what sarcasm is. But for the meticulous among you, here’s the precise definition, according to Webster’s Dictionary: “The use of words...

“To know and not to do is not to know.” Chinese Proverb

John glanced over his shoulder as he was driving me to my speaking venue and asked, “So you’re the speaker? What do you speak about?”

Ah! Did he know that this is a professional speaker’s favorite question?! “My body of work for the last 25 years has been the study of humor’s relationship to profitability and health. This afternoon I’m going to share how to use humor as a competitive business edge,” I explained, delighted to share my passion with him.

I could see John’s smiling eyes in the rearview mirror. “Did you know that humor is really, really good for you?” he asked in all sincerity. (Yes, I knew that!) John then went on to tell me a somewhat fuzzy version of Norman Cousins overcoming his life-threatening illness by watching funny movies. It was fun to hear someone else extol the benefits of humor—and I was encouraged that the word was...