According to a study reported in the “Journal of Business Communications,” group laughter appears to be a resource that can be used to improve performance and, through this, the achievement of the goals of an organization. Obviously, improving performance and achieving goals is important to a human resource professional who plans meeting, as well as to an event or meeting planner.  It’s also important to those who conduct web conferences or virtual meetings. Therefore, when planning your next event for executives, sales people, employees or customers, here are just four benefits to keep in mind with regard to incorporating laughter and fun at your meeting.

Cohesion:

Laughter is like yawning – it’s contagious. And most meeting planners or human resource professionals would rather hear a roomful of laughter than see a roomful of people yawning. How many times at a web conference do you see attendees turn away from the “action” and start texting on their phone? Laughter brings people together. It allows them to drop their “guard” at a meeting and become “one” with the group. Furthermore, during coffee breaks or networking functions, attendees have a tendency to share what they thought was funny or humorous with each other. This greatly helps those who are not “outgoing” to strike up conversations with others, which fosters communication and teamwork.

Increased Comprehension:

Dr. William Fry, professor emeritus at Stanford University School of Medicine, stated “Laughter aids memory and increases alertness and concentration.” Studies reveal that you can’t think and laugh at the same time. Therefore, laugher acts as a “mental wash,” allowing the brain to take a break. This break then provides the mind with an opportunity to absorb more information. Plus, when you laugh, you remove carbon dioxide from your system at an increased rate and replace it with an increased amount of oxygen, which stimulates not only the brain, but also the whole body. Therefore, you are more alert and can concentrate more efficiently.

Aid in Stress Reduction:

A study at Stanford University showed that laughter stimulates the “feel good” chemical in your blood, which lessens the feelings of stress and makes you “feel happy.” These same chemicals also increase your immune system.

During a web conference, I usually am there to add some humor and fun to the meeting. However, at the vast majority of events at which I am hired to speak, in addition to providing laughter and fun, I also deliver content. One area on which I am most frequently asked to provide information is diminishing stress. The two areas that deliver the most stress are people being asked to do more with less and having to deal with change in the workplace. (These changes may stem from acquisitions, new products or procedures, government restrictions, heightened sales projections, increased competition, etc.) In both cases, the result is unhappiness and stress. Since most meetings focus on the announcement of future expectations from the group, as well as changes that will occur in the workplace — a little bit of humor can make dealing with that information a little easier. As Mary Poppins once said, “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down!”

Most human resource professionals would agree that stress is a major concern. Numerous reports not only state that stress related illnesses cost employers approximately $300 billion a year, but also affirm that unless these issues are addressed, the costs will continue to go up. Stress attacks your immune system, which causes a variety of illnesses.

In fact, a 20-year study conducted by the University of London stated that unmanaged reactions to stress were a more dangerous risk factor for cancer and heart disease than either cigarette smoking or high cholesterol foods. Therefore, to cut costs, it behooves corporations to be pro-active in reducing stress. Taking this into account during meetings and events is a step in the right direction.

Overall Satisfaction and Productivity:

When your group is having fun, not only is the overall satisfaction of your meeting or web conference increased, but so is participation, which means productivity. After all, if a meeting is just one speaker and power point after another, how much satisfaction or participation from your group would you expect?

Psychologist Maren Rawlings from Swinburne University in Australia conducted an amazing study on humor in the workplace and found a direct link between the climate of good humor in the workplace and employee satisfaction. Rawlings noted, “If employers take measures to encourage a positive humor climate in the workplace, they are more likely to retain their staff.”

Why will the staff be retained? Because they are having fun! Happy employees are productive employees. This finding can easily be translated to meetings, as a happy audience means increased overall satisfaction, which means heightened attention, participation, and, therefore, productivity.

As you can see, there are a few good reasons why providing laughter at your meeting is beneficial. An easy way to obtain these benefits is by engaging a funny motivational speaker for your event. If you would like to see how I have been helping companies worldwide offer this to their groups, visit my funny motivational speaker site.

©2012 Bob Garner. All Rights Reserved. You may use this article, but you must use the byline and author resource.

I work with many meeting planners and not long ago, I was scheduled to be the morning entertaining motivational keynote speaker for a large corporation. In a phone call to the meeting planner, I found out that she – unknown to the actual client – had scheduled me to speak while the audience was eating breakfast.

I’m known as a funny motivational speaker who actually has something to say and my presentations are highly interactive. The meeting planner knew that my client wanted me to kick-off the day with an informative, motivational and fun presentation and having me speak while the audience was eating would not only not achieve that goal, but also was a prime example of poor planning.

Meeting planners and event planners know that speakers are a prime component of meetings and making sure the audience receives the full benefit of the person speaking, as well as ensuring that the speaker has what he/she needs to effectively deliver the presentation, is essential to the success of the speaker, as well as to the overall event. When this does not occur, the result is a poor experience for the speaker and the audience, as well as “egg on the face” of the event planner.

The following 5 steps will aid you in making sure the presenter and the audience, as well as your client receive the full benefit of utilizing a speaker at your meeting.

1 – No Speakers While the Audience is Eating:
People don’t like to be disturbed while they eat. How do you concentrate or even listen to what a speaker has to say while you’re passing the salt? Oftentimes, due to the room set-up, during meals some audience members have their back to the stage, which means the speaker has the pleasure of speaking to the backs of the heads of the audience. (It’s rude to the speaker and the audience.) Presenters like audiences to pay attention to what they have to say and that won’t happen, if the audience is engaged in eating.

2 – Position the Audience Close to the Speaker:
Placing a dance floor or tons of audio/visual equipment in front of the speaker so that the audience is 20-30 feet away from the stage provides an automatic disconnect from the speaker. A good presenter wants to see the faces of the audience to gauge their program and make any adjustments. Keep the audience close to the speaker.

3 – Clarify Walk-On and Walk-Off Music:
Recently at a large meeting, they introduced the chairman of the board by playing an unrecognizable song by the late James Brown. Instead of applauding the chairman when he arrived on stage, the room went quiet… no applause. The COB just stood there. It was a very uncomfortable moment and that’s never good, when you’re dealing with the COB. Pay attention to the details. Make sure that you go over the music that will be used to bring people on and off the stage.

4 – Don’t Clutter the Stage:
I recently did a presentation where the stage was so full of plants and flowers. I thought I was speaking in the nursery section of a Home Depot. When the director of sales came up to speak, he said to the audience, “Wow – look at all these flowers! Who died?” Of course, everyone turned toward the meeting planner and laughed. Let me ask you, is that a “good thing?” Keep it looking simple and smart. Having a nicely decorated stage is appropriate, but don’t go overboard.

5 -Read and Follow the Rider:
Most professional speakers have a rider, which is a document that explains what he/she will need in order to do his/her job effectively. Speakers create riders for a reason – they know what they need. We have all heard the stories about rock bands asking for something as superfluous as brown M&Ms in their riders. Such a request is usually placed deep in the rider to see if – when band shows up – the asked for items have been provided. That way – the band knows someone has actually read the rider and the stage will be set for the band to do what they were hired to do. If those items are not there – someone is not doing their job. The vast majority of speakers have simple riders and will not request brown M&Ms, but they will request water, proper lighting, a/v, etc. Read the rider. If there is a concern, call the speaker and ask for clarification.

With regard to the meeting planner for my morning event – fortunately, I was able to have her “see the light” and she had me go on after breakfast. It was the correct decision.

Remember, the client hired the speaker to either be entertaining, motivating, informative or a combination of the above. You do a disservice to the speaker, the audience, as well as your client if you don’t help the presenter do his/her job as easily and effectively as possible. While the above 5 tips may seem basic to most meeting planners, they are details that are quite often overlooked. A meeting planner gets paid to pay attention to the details and by doing so you make sure that the “eggs” stay on the plates of your audience … and don’t end up on your face.

Funny motivational speaker Bob Garner works with corporations worldwide to improve employee and sales productivity and performance. In addition to being an entertaining keynote speaker, Bob is an author and syndicated writer.

©2011 Bob Garner. All Rights Reserved. You may use this article, but you must use the byline and author resource.

According to the book, “Laughter: A Scientific Investigation,” by psychologist Robert Provine, laughter is all about creating social interaction – social bonding. Most meetings provide dry speaker after dry speaker and leave the networking and social interaction aspects of the event to the cocktail hour, dinner or an exhibit area. By following this format, you leave behind a crucial component to creating social interaction – laughter. That is one reason why having a funny motivational speaker at your meeting can help you boost networking and social interaction at your event – laughter increases bonding.

A reason that laughter creates a unique opportunity to bond is because our desire to laugh is primal. Evidence suggests that the mechanism to laugh is located in the brain stem, which controls other basic functions. When a group of people laugh together, you are tapping that primal behavior and providing an outlet for not only a release of that function, but also a way for a group of people to act as a cohesive unit, which is also a basic desire of humans.

Using a funny motivational speaker during a meeting aids event planners and meeting planners in not only providing a primal and powerful outlet for social interaction during a meeting, but also encouraging further networking and social interaction after the meeting at cocktail receptions, dinner, etc.  Audience members now have something in common and a topic, beyond the reason for attending the meeting, about which to speak.

At most corporate events, there is an evening or two that offers guests a chance to dine, drink, and network.  Mostly, these are all the same and rarely stand out in the minds of the guests. (How many carved turkey sandwiches and shrimp have you eaten?)

However, this occassion is also a prime time to reinforce that your company “thinks outside of the box,” “likes to do unique things,” and “offers more than the competition.”

The video below shows how companies can take advantage of more mind share by offering an attraction that delivers sophistication, fun, and audience interaction. Additionally, it offers LLMS - long lasting mind share – because your guests will end up talking about what they experienced when THEY go back to THEIR office.

As you will see, the set-up is minimal; it works both indoors and outside and the reactions are amazing.

Whether it’s a hospitality suite or after-dinner gathering, a users conference or employee event, event planners and meeting planners should always be looking for ideas to make their events stand out in the minds of their guests. When you couple that with LLMS, you get a fantastic return for your event dollars.

Meeting planners and event coordinators are constantly in search of speakers who will not only inspire their audience, but also be entertaining and provide a unique experience for their group. In short, they’re looking for an entertaining motivational speaker who provides the “WOW” factor.

Finding a speaker who is not only entertaining and motivational, but who can also provide the “WOW” factor can be a challenge. However, with just a little research on the Internet, you will find a number of speakers who provide all of the above and also customize their program to your specific group.

With regard to entertainment, be careful what you choose. A trainer/speaker may throw in a joke or two or maybe a funny power point slide. If that is sufficient, that is fine, but it will probably fall short of the “WOW” factor. Instead, consider the use of comedians, jugglers and magicians who provide well thought out entertaining material that reinforces their motivational message.

To find them, do a search for keywords like entertaining motivational speakers or funny motivational speakers. You could also search for specific keywords like magician motivational speaker or mentalist motivational speakers, etc.

View their website and pay attention to their videos. Notice if they have a complete speaking presentation on their video. It shouldn’t be the whole program, but you should be able to see the beginning, their use of information, their style of entertainment and the end. How did the audience react at the end of the program? Did the speaker receive a standing ovation or just luke warm applause?

Also, examine their testimonials to see if they have worked with the same company more than once. Anyone can work with a company, a meeting planner or event planner once, but for an entertaining motivational speaker to get rebooked by the same client holds quite a bit of weight.

Finally, talk to the speaker yourself. Even if you’re use to working with agents, speak to the speaker yourself. Talking to the speaker will give you a “feeling” as to whether or not you would like to work with this person. Ask the speaker for ideas and input. After all, if a speaker has a solid reputation and has been in the business for a while, he or she will probably have some valuable input.

With regard to agents, not all speakers work with booking or speaker’s agencies. Doing a little research via the Internet with the keywords mentioned above will provide you with a source of prospects that you could hire – minus the fee tacked on by the agent.

Naturally, those who attend your meeting or event also attend other meetings and the competition for the minds and memory of your group is fierce. Obviously, providing the “WOW” factor will help you win the battle for your group’s mindshare both during and after your event and a speaker who is both entertaining and motivational will help you achieve that goal. Finding the right entertaining motivational speaker can be a challenge. Yet, through a little research, you can find a speaker who not only fits your budget but also provides a unique and memorable experience for your group.

Bob Garner is one of those rare motivational speakers who is also entertaining. Recognized as an entertaining motivational speaker who actually has something to say, Bob travels the globe on behalf of his Fortune 1000 and association clients delivering a customized program that provides usable content reinforced with amazing demonstrations of mind reading, clean humor and audience participation. To see his videos and for more information go to http://www.bobgarner.com/ .