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20 April, 2015 by Cris Popp

Creating Harmony at Work

Workplace laughter may just be the best thing you can do for your employees – and your bottom line. Recent research suggests that a laughter seminar can help you burn calories, cut healthcare costs, boost blood flow and even assist your arteries for a healthier heart and body. Not only this, laughter also helps you achieve a better mental state, and perform better all day long.

laughter therapy

For organizations and personnel heads, investing on a good laughter workshop creates more harmony in the workplace. Other benefits include:

  • Lower stress hormone levels
  • Better immune system
  • Pain reduction
  • Muscle relaxation
  • Cardiovascular conditioning
  • Lower blood pressure
  • Better mood

Laughter therapy is not just limited to a laughter seminar or workshop. You can have your daily dose of it through a few simple steps:

  1. Learn to laugh at yourself – learn to accept your mistakes and practice laughing. Sulking on every mistake you make will not do any good. Learn to laugh at your mistakes. You can move forward faster and become more productive.
  2. Don’t take life too seriously – see the lighter side of life. Enjoy the people around you and watch something to lift your spirits up. Life is too short to spend it miserably. There are times you have to contemplate about things thoroughly but it does not mean you have to be serious all the time. People will find it easier to work with you if you can bring positive vibes into the fold.
  3. Read something funny or subscribe to an email list or newsletter – reading something uplifting or funny to start the day can have a great impact throughout your working hours.

Book a laughter session for your workplace and/or conference and see the benefits for yourself.  Contact us:  info@laughterworks.com.au, or 0438 545 607.

3 Ways to Laugh Up At Work. via @crispopp http://t.co/pKzi9bFjaE

— Cris Popp (@laughterpopp) April 19, 2015

 

Filed Under: Benefits, Conferences, Happiness, Kris, Laughter Workshop, Uncategorized Tagged With: Benefits of Laughter, corporate laughter, Laughter in the workplace, laughter therapy, laughter workshops

23 February, 2015 by Cris Popp

For People Who Don’t Take Laughter Therapy Seriously

The movie Patch Adams starring Robin Williams popularized the use of laughter in combination with other medical treatment. Laughter therapy also known as humor therapy is the use of the laughter process to improve wellness and health. In recent years, the use of laughter therapy has become endemic.

Laughter Workshops

According to the Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) humor therapy has been around for many centuries. For instance:

In the 14th Century Henri de Mondeville renown as the “Father of French Surgery” advocated for the use of laughter to help surgery patients convalesce. He notably advised his colleagues to allow the patients’ friends and relatives cheer them up anyway they could including by telling them jokes.

16th Century English scholar and author of “The Anatomy of Melancholy” highlighted laughter/humour as the remedy for melancholy. Martin Luther also in the 16th Century encouraged people who took part in his pastoral counselling to surround themselves with happy company.

William Beattie, a famous English physician of the 18th Century used humour in treatment of his patients. Starting in the mid 80’s clown doctors have been used in numerous children’s hospitals around the world.

Laughter therapy is a composite of various techniques including:

Laughter Conferences

  • Fake laughter
  • Appropriate jokes
  • Laughter greetings
  • Funny videos/props

Is Laughter Therapy’s Efficacy Proven?

For a long time scientists have been conducting studies to determine the effect of laughter on health and the body.

When we laugh we stretch our body and face muscles, we breathe faster, and our blood pressure as well as our pulse goes up. Some people believe that a good dose of laughter has the same effect as an easygoing workout. Steve Wilson, a consulting psychologist and laugh therapist says that the effects of exercise and laughter are very similar, a view that is held by William Fry, who has pioneered laughter research. According to Fry, it takes only one minute of laughter for the heart rate to reach the level it would after ten minutes spent on a rowing machine.

What’s more, 10-15 minutes of laughter burns 50 calories according to research conducted by Maciej Buchowski of Vanderbilt University.

How Laughter Affects Our Bodies

Blood sugar levels. A study conducted by Keiko Hayashi, a professor at the University of Tsukuba in Ibaraki, Japan shows that laughing after a meal lowers blood sugar levels naturally.

The study had a total of 19 subjects each suffering from type 2 diabetes and whose blood-sugar measurements were taken two hours before and after a meal. On the first day all the respondents attended a boring 40-minute lecture after dinner. On the following day the patients attended a manzai (Japanese stand-up comedy) following dinner. Their blood sugar levels went up after the comedy as compared to their measurements after the lecture. The study’s conclusion was that people with diabetes should laugh daily.

Immune Response. The lymphatic system in the human body plays a crucial role in aiding the immune system to get rid of waste product and excess fluid in interstitial spaces between the cells. It also acts as a delivery system that transports nutrients from the digestive tract and to the cells where they are needed. Since unlike with blood flow there is no natural pump involved, the lymphatic system makes use of exercising and breathing to remove waste from the body.

According to doctors, deep breathing is characterized when the diaphragm flutters up and down at a quick rate. This causes the expulsion of lymph from the bloodstream at a rate 15 times higher than the normal rate. When you laugh deep from your belly, the diaphragm acts as a powerful pump that assists in the removal of waste from your body. By increasing the flow of lymph through laughter more antibodies are produced by the body and hence an enhanced immune system.

Blood Flow. Scientists from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore carried out a study that proved that laughter and healthy blood flow are linked. According to their research laughter causes the endothelium (tissue lining blood vessels) to expand hence increasing the flow of blood.

A group of 20 healthy volunteers with an average age of 33 were shown two movies each at its climax. The opening scene of Saving Private Ryan caused the group to have reduced blood flow while those who watched King Pin (a comedy) had relaxed blood vessels thus had a smoother blood flow. According to Michael Miller, Director of Preventive Cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center, laughter has the same effect on the endothelium as aerobic activity without the muscle tension, pains and aches, of course.

Laughter at the Workplace

What we’ve always known is right! There’s a correlation between laughter and workplace productivity. According to Chris Robert of the University of Missouri-Columbia’s Robert J. Truslaske Sr. College of Business having a light atmosphere at work can have a positive effect not only on output but on employee retention as well.

Laughter Seminars

According to him the ability to be humorous is linked to creativity and intelligence both of which are highly valued in any workplace. There seems to be a strong link as well between humour and positive emotions. Likewise there’s a link between workplace performance and positive emotions.

Even though there’s not sufficient research showing that humour directly affects employee performance there’s evidence to suggest that individual performance in the workplace is enhanced by the positive affect. This not only increases productivity but also the ability to communicate well with others; customers, boss, and co-workers. There’s increased cohesiveness between members of the team as well.

To understand how humour and creativity go hand-in-hand you need to recognize the fact that humour succeeds based on incongruity. For instance a punch line usually links together things that wouldn’t normally be considered to be related. In essence that’s what creativity is too; uniquely putting things together.

In fact a number of studies have shown that there’s a possibility of a funny person being a creative person. Now, this doesn’t mean that you should go for the class clown during the hiring process many hiring managers would be justified in having valid concerns about that not to mention that such a person would serve as a distraction to other members of his team. However, if you are able to pick up on indicators during the hiring process that someone finds things funny or appreciates a sense of humour they may be the right candidate for the job.

There’s a theory that we are less likely to quit if we have positive emotions about our jobs. A contributing factor to this may be the fun that we’re having in the break room. Even though a worker may receive a better job offer it will take more than that to draw them away from where they like working as well as the team they like working with.

Humor is also a great medium for employees who want to get their voices heard by management. In case the supervisor or business owner is not open to suggestions or challenges coming directly from employees, workers may still criticize management albeit in humor. Such criticisms should always be taken seriously by management as the person who made the joke may be speaking on behalf of their co-workers. In such an instance humor may be used by an organization’s leadership to understand employees’ psyche.

How to Get Cracking

As stated before laughter therapy does not solely rely on humour but on fake laughter as well. If you can’t get yourself or others to start laughing all by yourself here are a couple of ideas to help you get started.

Laughter Speaker

  • Imagine ants in your pants
  • Place an ice cube down your back
  • The balloon pop; imagine two people popping each other’s imaginary balloons
  • Pie laughter; imagine throwing an imaginary pie into someone’s face.
  • Imitate a donkey laugh; “ee-haw, ee-haw”
  • Don a chicken hat and flaunt it
  • Cookie monster laugh (hope you liked Sesame Street)
  • Cry as you go down, laugh as you go up
  • Greeting laughter; greet another person in as many different cultural greetings as you can e.g Chinese, Korean etc
  • Stick your tongue out and hold your hands like a lion’s paws proceed to roar and laugh
  • Rooster laughter; imitate a rooster’s walking style- puff up and flail your arms like a rooster’s wings
  • Start by sitting down with a straight face then stand up and smile (repeat these 3 or 4 times)
  • Imagine walking on very hot sand as you try to get to the cool ocean

Laughter Sessions

Kris offers laughter seminars and workshops for corporate clients. Kris’ laughter workshop sessions are convenient to have and require no preparation. We like to treat adults as adults in our laughter conferences and thus no funny props that would make any adult audience uncomfortable such as costumes or funny hats.

Cris Popp

For the past two years he has been working closely with Melbourne Business School (the number one provider of executive education in Asia-Pacific) to provide professional development to up-and-coming leaders in some of Australia’s biggest corporations.  His workshops on resilience, change management, leadership, innovation, Mind Mapping©, decision-making, conflict resolution, team-building and frontline management are highly regarded by participants.

He has also enjoyed success as a business change manager, innovation agent, facilitator, online project manager, ABC journalist and copywriter in both the public and private sector.

Kris also has a keen interest in positive psychology and its application to create high-performance workplaces and make change efforts successful.

Book your laughter workshop today by contacting Kris, a seasoned laughter speaker at info@laughterworks.com.au or +61 438 545 607.

For People Who Think Laughter's A Joke. via @crispopp http://t.co/2WcQou4xoy

— Cris Popp (@laughterpopp) February 24, 2015

Filed Under: Conferences, Corporate Laughter, Kris, Laughter, Laughter Workshop Tagged With: Benefits of Laughter, corporate laughter, Kris, laughter conferences, Laughter in the workplace, laughter speaker, laughter therapy, laughter workshops

9 February, 2015 by Cris Popp

Ignite The Crowd at A Conference Like A Laughter Leader

Whether holding big or small conferences an amazing performance is of absolute importance if you want to ensure that you’ve captured your audience’s attention. In such instances, it’s always a great idea to book a laughter leader for your session and guarantee to keep your audience ignited. Sometimes however it’s not possible to get one and you have to do it yourself.

How To Ignite The Crowd At a Conference

Here are some ideas to get you going on the right path:

  1. Create a Powerful Video to Introduce Yourself: It is now easier than ever to make a powerful video and share it with others. Because of the relatively low cost of video-editing software and GoPro video cameras, a video can be comprised of a fun song, viral video, motivational quotes or a bio.  Adding humor or laughter always helps. The sky is the limit on this one…
  1. Break the Ice: Ice-breakers really run the gamut. Whether you play the name game; have everyone introduce themselves to their neighbors, ice breakers are a great way to introduce team building and a comfortable environment to engage your audience.
  1. Exercise Warm Ups. If the room is feeling a little stuffy, introduce a warm-up exercise that gets the entire audience involved. Have everyone flail their arms around, roll their neck, make a big smile, or just about anything physical (within reason of course) that can encourage the crowd to participate.

These are some great suggestions to help get you started – but perhaps the best advice is to get a professional speaker and/or laughter leader.  Kris can help you find an excellent laughter leader in your area (or he’ll do it himself).  After all, there is a lot riding on your conference – don’t leave it to chance.

Kris has run laughter sessions at conferences all over the world and is available to help you make your next conference a smash hit. To get in touch contact Kris on +61 (0) 438 545 607 or email info@laughterworks.com.au

How To Ignite The Crowd At a Conference. via @crispopp http://t.co/Cd5msNWcNf

— Cris Popp (@laughterpopp) February 8, 2015

Filed Under: Conferences, Kris, Laughter, Laughter in the workplace, Laughter Workshop Tagged With: Benefits of Laughter, corporate laughter, Kris, Laughter in the workplace, laughter therapy, laughter workshops

22 December, 2014 by Cris Popp

Laughter As A Stress Buster

Life can feel very stressful these days, especially with the ever-increasing demands of our attention from family, coworkers, and bosses. Sometimes we can forget to enjoy all the little things in life, and sit back and laugh. In fact, studies have shown that laughter can be one of the biggest stress reducers in our lives, and everyone could use a good laugh every now and then. Unfortunately, many people, especially stressed-out adults, don’t laugh often enough. One study found that healthy children may laugh as much as 400 times per day, but adults tend to laugh only 15 times per day. An obvious and unfortunate reason for this large disparity is likely due to the increased stress and reduced joy in adults’ lives, leading them to laugh less. However, there are ways we can incorporate more laughter into our lives.

laughter as a stress buster

Sometimes when we get too involved in the tasks at hand, we take ourselves too seriously, and may even refuse outright to have fun. If we laugh at ourselves every once in a while, instead of getting caught up in the frustration if something goes wrong with our day, we can reduce the levels of stress hormones like cortisol and epinephrine, and increase endorphins, in addition to possibly relieving health issues like high blood pressure. So, instead of cursing at your steering wheel when you leave your coffee thermos on the roof of your car and hear it tumble to the ground just as you’re heading off to work, smile and laugh at your forgetfulness instead. Life is too short to let the little things pile up and stress you out. A smile and a laugh can work like magic to make the stress response melt away.

Laughter can also be beneficial to reducing other symptoms of stress, increasing your intake of oxygen, thus reinvigorating your heart, lungs, and muscles, and stimulate circulation and muscle relaxation. Whereas while you’re stressed out, your breathing may be shallow, muscles tensed up, and circulation poor, which over the long term may contribute to health problems. If you’re having a stressful day at work, grab your phone, head to the break room, and watch a quick cat video. With the wonders of the internet, you can relieve your stress in 30 seconds flat. To live a more relaxed, stress-free life, don’t forget to laugh every now and then.

Would like to have more laughter in your life and workplace?  Get Laughterworks to deliver a laughter session at your workplace or next conference or event?  Contact us:  info@laughterworks.com.au, or 0438 545 607

Laughter- The Best Stress Buster? http://t.co/yGjTb7EWcl

— Cris Popp (@laughterpopp) December 21, 2014

Filed Under: Happiness, Happiness, Kris, Laughter, Laughter Workshop, Uncategorized Tagged With: Benefits of Laughter, Health & Happiness, Kris, laughter workshops, stress-management

1 December, 2014 by Cris Popp

5 Secrets to Drawing Attendee’s to Your Conference

With how much time, funding, and energy planning a business conference requires, you want to be sure to optimize your profit margin. The best way to do this – besides proper budgeting – is to draw in as many attendees as possible.

Business leaders are becoming careful about which conferences they attend. They look to optimize the value of their experience by comparing travel and attendance costs with what your conference has to offer.

Drawing Attendees to your conference

 

Follow these 5 tips to take your conference from “just another business conference” to a “must-see event”:

1. Get a head start

Don’t wait till every last detail is planned out to start attracting attendees. You are going to need sufficient time to advertise. Pick your venue and a date that doesn’t conflict with holidays or other, similar conferences and start marketing. The larger the conference, the further in advance you will need to announce it.

2. Make it marketable

Marketing firms are constantly keeping an eye on the latest trends. The goal is to borrow a trend’s existing momentum to advertise their own products or services. Search social networks like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to find out what subjects are trending in your industry, and brainstorm ways your conference can provide exclusive content on these topics.

3. Don’t skimp on the speakers

Anyone can talk about trending topics in your industry. The trick is to find experts at the top of your field, people who are seen as innovators and industry leaders. These are the kinds of speakers that bring with them the promise of inside information on the future of your field. The money you spend on expert presenters should be made back in increased registrations.

4. Interview the speakers beforehand

Introduce your speakers to potential attendees through interviews leading up to the conference. If you are able to, make video interviews and share them on YouTube. This provides registrants with a chance to preview the speakers before committing to registration.

5. Industry outreach

Send personalized letters to major industry groups. Advertise in magazines, newsletters, quarterlies, and any other media that your target audience would read. Take advantage of social networking to spread the word. Savvy marketers can hire industry bloggers to promote the event through advertising, or even contests and giveaways.

We offer laughter workshops for both teams and organisations. Have laughterworks deliver a laughter session at your next quarterly forum or team-building day.  Contact us:  info@laughterworks.com.au, or 0438 545 607.

5 Secrets to Drawing Attendee’s to Your Conference. http://t.co/5dIcIaV29w

— Cris Popp (@laughterpopp) December 1, 2014

Filed Under: Conferences, Kris, Laughter Works Products, Laughter Workshop, Slider Posts, Uncategorized, Workplace Tagged With: Benefits of Laughter, corporate laughter, laughter therapy, laughter workshops

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