At the cusp of this holiday season, when life becomes more harried and stressful, I want to

Make ’em Laugh

take a moment and recognize the sheer chaos of it all, and get you to recognize the incredible amount of people and networking opportunities around you at every turn by making people laugh.  This is not the time to give up on your goal of meeting 5 new people a day. It’s exactly the opposite!  Just look around at the audience around you just waiting for, just needing, a laugh to break the mood, to remind them of the reason for the season.

  •  Take advantage of the practice arena you have with old and new family and friends in town. Try new things out with them.
  • Be the one who starts conversations making an off-beat observation, like,
    • “Did you see that Cadillac out front with the antlers and Rudolph’s red nose? I didn’t think they still made those cars.  What do they get – like 2 miles per gallon?  Boy – Santa must have access to the oil supply up there!”
    • “My grandma got run over by a reindeer, and I need to find some bandages – know where the first aid aisle is?”
    • “I hear that Santa prefers gluten free cookies now – know where I can find them?  I have to keep the man happy you know – I’ve been a little naughty this year.”
    • Just stand at the front door of Walmart or Target with antlers on & greet people for fun. Ok – that’s a stretch, but you get the idea right?
    • “Do you know where Santa is in this mall?  I have a bone to pick with him.  I got an IOU for an iPhone last year because he was waiting for the new iPhone 4 to be delivered.  I want an iPad instead.”

I am sure you may be one of the stressed and rushed this season, with work pressures and family things you must take care of at odd times.  This exercise is meant to challenge you to experiment and try making people laugh – seeing what works for you and what doesn’t.  Seeing where people respond to you with a chuckle, a laugh, a snort or a smile.  We each have our own style of humor and now is the perfect time to practice and find out what that is.

I am hoping you will see, as I have discovered over the years, adding humor to your conversations exponentially expands your networking abilities and possibilities. Times are tough all around for most people, but humor goes a long way in opening the doors of connection and conversation.

Keep practicing, and let me know if adding humor actually helped you reach that goal of 5 new contacts a day.  (at the very least, you’ll have fun attempting it!) Good luck!