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...

My alarm clock didn’t go off. No hot water in the shower. I’d run out of coffee (gasp!). And to top it all off… my “fat pants” were feeling a bit snug—aaaaaauuuuggghhhhhh! This was shaping up to be a miserable morning, and my 12-hour shift hadn’t even begun!

I heard my phone chime and my heart skipped a beat. Had I gotten my times mixed up—was I late for work? I snatched my phone off the table and saw the text:

“I just wanted you remind you how amazing you are and how grateful I am that you’re in my life.”

My eyes got teary and my heart swelled. My sister, also a busy healthcare professional and three time zones away, had taken 30 seconds out of her busy schedule to share her gratitude. It changed the course of my entire day and reshaped my life.

Studies have shown that one way of increasing your happiness setpoint is to practice being grateful. Studies vary slightly in their findings, but in a nutshell, writing down...

We all know the old saying: “Laughter is the best medicine.”  

And it’s true! When you laugh, you’re: 

• Relieving anxiety
• Decreasing stress
• Giving people a socially acceptable way to express their anger 

But many of you probably already know this. So, why is it important? Well, according to a study, laughter, and the stress reduction that comes out of it, can improve one’s memory and learning ability as we age! Crazy, right?! Allow me to save you some time and summarize this awesome finding:  

Chronic stress, manifested in the hormone cortisol, takes a toll on your brain over time, eating away at your learning and memory functions. When you laugh, you reduce cortisol levels, increasing your memory and recall functions, as well as your capacity to learn. 

All this to say, who couldn’t use more memory space in the hard drive that is your...

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...

Fun fact:

In January of this year, Southwest Airlines reported their 46^th consecutive year of profitability. They also ranked #11 on Fortune’s 2019 list of the World’s Most Admired Companies.

One of this company’s standout qualities is its dedication to a humorous corporate culture. Their flight crews are encouraged to be funny, and the numbers don’t lie - that sense of humor is paying off!

No, this post isn’t sponsored by Southwest Airlines! They’re just an excellent example of how a company that values a good laugh achieves success. This is High Performance Humor at work (literally!).

High Performance Humor: Let’s Break It Down

High Performance Humor (HPH) is the strategic use of humor in a professional setting in order to achieve a more successful work environment.

Every organization can benefit from incorporating HPH into their workplace; however, before you can give HPH a seat in the boardroom, you have to understand how to properly...

Are you funny? Do people laugh with or at you? Or maybe you just want to be funny or simply, be funnier? Maybe you want to make people laugh without having to try so hard to be funny. If you can identify with any of these questions, you're in the right spot because I'm going to try my best to address these questions in today's video.

If you've gotten this far into my video series, odds are you're already familiar with your humor quotient and how it can help you with your goals to be a better humorist. It also is going to help you apply humor in your everyday life, but why is that so important?  Whether you're using humor to influence or get closer to your family, friends, or at work, you're using it for a reason, and I want to make sure that you're able to be as effective as possible without having to put too much effort in. Applying humor to make someone or a group of people feel good is obviously going to boost morale wherever you are, and it's important that you know that...

What if there was a way to improve your health and well-being without having to watch what you eat or go to the gym? No, this isn’t some fad diet (those never work, just so you know). What I’m talking about is using humor as a way to not only make your personal life better but also to make you feel better. It’s no surprise (to me at least) that laughing makes you feel better-- so it’s essential that we use humor every day to make ourselves, and the people around us, feel better.

In order for you to know exactly where you stand with your humor, it’s important that you know your humor quotient which is something I talked about in my previous video. Your humor quotient is going to let you know how you’re able to appreciate humor and how you’re applying and effectively using humor to control a desired outcome.

But why does this all matter? Why should you want to use humor in your day-to-day? There are three main purposes of why you’d want...

Welcome back! Can I safely assume, since you are excellent humor scholars, that you’ve taken the humor quotient test that I talked about in last week’s video? If you haven’t, go back to last week’s post, then come back and join us!

If you have taken the humor quotient test, excellent! Now, you’re probably wondering what you’re supposed to do with the numbers that you got back. This is where some high school math comes in (I know, it’s been a while). What we’re going to do is graph those numbers, and then you’ll be able to see where you lie in terms of appreciating and applying your humor.

If you find yourself in the bottom left quadrant, you might believe that humor isn’t a crucial part of improving both your professional and personal life! Now, if this is where you landed on the grid, don’t be discouraged—there is always room for improvement no matter where you are on the graph! That’s right. Even if...

You’ve heard me say it hundreds of times, but as I do with my family, I’ll keep repeating it until everyone gets how important it is: knowledge is power. But here’s the thing, it’s not just the knowledge that’s going to get you the power, it’s the application of the knowledge of the power—say that ten times fast! 

Think of it this way if you see someone in need of CPR you’re not going to run up to them and tell them “I know how to do CPR!” that’s not going to help them at all, and it’s definitely not going to make you the most popular person in the room. It’s the same with humor (except its not life or death). You can say you’re funny all day long, but if your appreciation of humor trumps your ability to apply the humor, nothing is going to change.

Throughout the day seek out things that amuse you, and before you know it your brain is going to start recognizing the humor in everything—and...

“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...