Product Description

We may not all be born comedians, but most people are naturally humorous, says Doni Tamblyn, comic-turned-trainer and president of HumorRules LLC. Tamblyn’s humorous techniques have brought serious results to clients such as Chevron, Wells Fargo, AstraZeneca, and other Fortune 500 companies, universities, and government entities. Now she offers these techniques to you in one intriguing, information-packed, and very funny book!

Combining the latest brain studies and humor research with the author's own 23 years of experience in comedy and corporate training, LAUGH AND LEARN is a fascinating look at what makes learners perk up, pay attention, and remember. It’s the first book that 1) explains the research that shows how humor can make information more memorable, 2) teaches communicators how to be funny without relying on joke-telling or novelty store items, and 3) gives specific, light-touch techniques that can be used by virtually anyone who seeks to present their message more effectively. This book will help teaching professionals to:

* Attract more learners to their programs

* Get and hold learners’ attention throughout the learning process

* Present curriculum memorably

* Positively affect learner attitudes

* Go beyond teaching facts, to encourage and model creative thinking (a much-sought ability in today’s organizations!)

* Improve performance scores both inside and outside of the classroom

* Enhance their own reputations as contributors to their organizations' bottom line

* Get "buy-in" from organizational decision-makers

Moreover, LAUGH AND LEARN is a true page-turner! Rich in insights, research data, showbiz secrets, and backstage anecdotes, it is a book that will be read and reread. From the very first chapter, readers will begin to see that professional development can actually be fun!

Wouldn't you like your learners to say the same?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #781787 in Books
• Published on: 2002-10-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 224 pages

Review
An entertaining and practical book chock-full of tips, techniques, anecdotes, and exercises that show anyone how to use humor well. -- Dr. Joel Goodman, Director, The HUMOR Project, Inc., Saratoga Springs, NY

Combining learning and laughing is not easy, but Doni does it brilliantly (and with integrity). Highly recommended! -- Eric Jensen, author, Teaching with the Brain in Mind

I read the book twice! -- Applied Improvisation Network 2004

Should be required reading for anyone involved in teaching or training. (I wish some of my teachers had read it.) -- Malcolm Kushner, AFHC, author, Public Speaking for Dummies

Tamblyn provides necessary references to important cognitive studies, yet her writing style best reflects her background as a former comedian. -- Mills Quarterly Fall 2003

From the Publisher
According to the latest studies in adult learning theory, an environment that encourages spontaneity and a sense of humor can increase knowledge retention considerably. Successful trainers are beginning to realize that getting participants relaxed enough to become engaged in the subject matter -- and even have a little fun with it -- can produce serious results.

In LAUGH AND LEARN, author Doni Tamblyn draws on her experience working with Fortune 500 clients such as Chevron Corp and Wells Fargo Bank to show how teachers and training professionals can inject elements of emotion, humor, and creativity into their programs in order to spark engagement and understanding in their classes and training sessions.

If anyone should know about the use of comedy in a classroom setting, it’s Tamblyn. Having started as a professional stand-up comedienne, she first came into the world of training when hired by the State of California to teach traffic school. Surprisingly, she and her staff of 48 professional comics did not tell jokes! Instead, they facilitated fun games that let their learners wrestle and play with the curriculum, think creatively about it -- and get laughs from each other. The response to the program was overwhelming -- one student even asked if he needed to get another ticket in order to come back -- and it was from that experience that Tamblyn realized just how much an intelligent use of humor could facilitate adult learning.

Since then, Tamblyn has made a name for herself working with major organizations, becoming a frequently requested speaker at training conferences, and sharing a stunning revelation: that even trainers who don’t consider themselves to be naturally funny can use humor to draw participants in, help them think fast on their feet, and problem solve creatively.

In LAUGH AND LEARN, Tamblyn demonstrates with wit and keen insight how educators must foster a sense of intrinsic motivation among learners, getting them in on the act themselves and encouraging their own personal involvement in the material. The book is packed with 95 practical "rules," including:

• Don’t try to be funny -- just try to have fun

• Focus out, not in -- and let participants get in on the act

• Use positive humor, and avoid sarcasm like the plague

• Always acknowledge the "Bomb" (when humor falls flat)

LAUGH AND LEARN features dozens of exercises and thought-provoking games, as well as a special One-A-Day Plan on how trainers can boost their own Humor Quotient. Filled with ideas, tips, and valuable information, Laugh and Learn is a smart, one-of-a-kind book no trainer should be without.

From the Author
Most teachers and trainers believe, either from research or gut instinct, that humor helps people learn better. Relatively few, however, give much time to building this very easy skill.

One reason is that they don't think humor is a "skill" that can be "built." Humor is a gift, they believe. Either you're born with it or you're not. They're almost right. In actual fact, humor is a gift -- and you, I, and everyone else, was born with it.

Another reason teachers and trainers resist using humor is because of the possible negative repercussions. Maybe they will "bomb." Maybe they will inadvertently make an inappropriate joke. Maybe their topic is too serious for humor. Maybe a humorous, playful audience will be too hard to control. Some of these fears are well-founded. Most, as you will see in reading this book, are not.

Perhaps the most immediate cause for reticence is the simple fact that professional development costs money. When it comes to allocating scarce funds, one has to think carefully. Sure, speakers' and trainers' evaluation scores may go up when they use humor -- but will their listeners actually remember better? Score higher on exams? Do better on the job? Is there any proof that humor actually improves learning? Aren't we safer using the budget to build the currently-needed technical skills rather than training trainers to be funny?

This book is written to provide a low-risk, affordable way for teachers, trainers, and speakers to start putting humor to work for themselves. In the process, however, I freely confess that I hope to lead ALL communicators to an appreciation of how humor can help them convey virtually any topic far more effectively, resulting in substantial long-term benefits for themselves, their listeners, and their organizations. I can promise you one thing: If you are a former child, you are a veritable treasure trove of humor. Share the wealth.

Customer Reviews

Is Anybody Bleeding?
I'm a wildlife rehabilitator, and with the exception of a few goofy raccoons, none of my clients finds me in any way amusing. I've tried some of Ms. Tamblyn's tactics on our furred and feathered friends, and I'm sorry to say they just don't work. HOWEVER.....

I also do lots of public speaking in the service of the furred and feathered, and while my human friends call me amusing and humorous.....all of that seems to leave me when faced with a big audience of people who.......are way scarier than those animals who bite and claw me!

This book was VERY helpful....it gave me permission to fail....to bomb! I just love that, since I've often found myself in mid-stride, suddenly losing my place and thinking discreetly, "Why are these people listening to this? Are they listening? Am I making any sense? Oh %#$##....what did I just say?"

Yes, I'm among those who flub punchlines, and laugh so hard at the joke I'm trying to tell that everyone loses interest. Tamblyn's book includes all the advice you'll ever need on using humor without necessarily using jokes, and getting gracefully out of tough situations.

Finally, my work is very high-stress, and often tragic...the book offers insight on dealing humorously with other people while confronting stress and pain. It can be done. I can and do train others to do the same. I found the chapters on engaging emotion, taking the space you need and laughing in the face of fear the most helpful.

While the book was obviously written with corporate training in mind, those of us in the non-profit (read non-paid) end of the working world can certainly take a page from this book.

Thank you, Ms. Tamblyn!

LAUGH AND LEARN--A HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER'S FERVENT HOPE
Recently, an old friend suggested that I read Doni Tamblyn's Laugh and Learn, a "how to" book that delineates various exercises, all intended to increase creative thought. At first I was reluctant to read the book--as a high school teacher I am bombarded by teaching methodologies, each one claiming to be the magic key that will unlock student achievement and motivation. So I was surprised when I discovered that Laugh and Learn was 1) witty 2) entertaining 3) well-researched 4) practical and, best of all, actually works!

Through a combination of data compiled from brain-compatible research, and an enormous catalogue of easy to read, easy to implement student activities, Tamblyn makes the compelling case that creative thought flourishes best when learners are first instructed to avoid being clever and original. While the ultimate goal may be to reach heights of innovative thinking, Tamblyn assures us that such heights will more than likely be reached when the learner's mind is relaxed enough to begin making the connections that distinguish the truly interesting thought from the mundane.

In each chapter, Tamblyn discusses the hows and whys of encouraging learners to lose their anxiety and increase their joy as they discover the creative process within themselves. Although the book is a virtual treasure trove of fun activities for students, my favorites have been the "mind map" and the "finish the sentence ball toss." (You have to read the book to find out why these activities are such big fun!) Again, the idea behind each activity is to "sneak up" on the creative drive before it has a chance to realize that it is being scrutinized and therefore shut down like a wall flower at a jr. high school dance.

At least one or two days a week, I incorporate a Laugh and Learn activity into my lesson plans. My students love the program. And their test scores and projects reflect the influence of Tamblyn's techniques upon greater retention of content and increased motivation for success. This is nothing short of a miracle, when you consider the natural reluctance of teenagers to try anything that might make them look "uncool" in front of their classmates.

Laugh and Learn is both brilliant and of enormous practical benefit--two qualities not often found in teacher training manuals. Tamblyn's book should occupy a special place on every educator's desk. Five stars, Ms. Tamblyn, five stars and more...

Wow, am I glad I bought this book!
After 19 years of school, I now reserve weighty treatises for subjects like international law. What I needed as a trainer of nonprofits in proposal writing and development, was some good technique in leavening what can be awfully dry subjects (after all, they're about getting money) with a whole lot of fun. Ms. Tamblyn's "95 Ways" sparked my creative juices and I use her techniques whenever I teach. Plus, I've been incorporating some of her exercises into my workshops to teach nonprofit folks how to leaven their presentations when they get that much longed for meeting with a potential donor.

This is a "grab it and go" book that fits in your briefcase along with your handouts. If you're a trainer - nonprofit, corporate or otherwise - you know the feeling of "dead air." During the break, turn to almost any page in "Laugh and Learn" for a technique or an exercise that will uncrink your brain and ramp the room up for your returning learners.

You won't become an expert in the science of humor with "Laugh and Learn." But, hey, they give degrees to people for that kind of in-depth knowledge. As a trainer, you will go as far as you like in incorporating humor into the business of teaching - safely, judiciously and successfully.

Thanks, Ms. Tamblyn. You are a funny lady, and you know how to teach what you know!