People and Projects Podcast: Project Management Podcast · Andy Kaufman, PMP, PMI-ACP

PPP 487 | Why Humor Is a Serious Leadership Skill, with comedian Adam Christing

·43 min·2 clips

Jay Leno told Adam Christing to track 'laughs per minute,' and Christing adapted it into laughs per meeting for leaders.

1. People and Projects Podcast Episode 487 covers humor as a leadership skill, built around Adam Christing's book The Laughter Factor: The Five Humor Tactics to Link, Lift, and Lead. 2. Host Andy Kaufman interviews Christing, a comedian, magician, and corporate emcee who says he has done roughly 4,000 gigs and runs a company called Clean Comedians. 3. Christing's thesis is that "if you're a human being, you are also a humor being," and that humor works as "a shortcut to trust" rather than as simple chuckles. 4. He cites an Oxford study saying people who laugh together are up to 30 percent more productive, and recalls Dale Carnegie's answer that his book sold so well "because I'm sold." 5. He relays Jay Leno's advice to track "laughs per minute" and recommends leaders raise their laughs per meeting instead of telling one joke and then going serious for 58 minutes. 6. He describes the "surprise" laugh language through his over-the-top introduction that ended with "Hi, I'm Adam Christing," his "SAD" shorthand for "surprise and delight," and Mark Twain's remark that a good impromptu speech takes three weeks to prepare. 7. On the "poke" language, he says to celebrate someone before roasting them, to avoid put-down humor, and to follow "if in doubt, leave it out," citing manager Marianne Kristen's six nicknames and his "Kenny Rogers look-alike" bit. 8. For cross-cultural settings, he plans calls with the management team before an Indonesia event to learn phrases, pet peeves, and the name of the company's biggest competitor, and he suggests talent shows at Fortune 1000 companies for teams that meet every week. 9. He says a funeral directors' audience laughed harder than most because "we see how short and precious life is," and that his acting coach's feedback led him to treat every meeting as "a party with a purpose." 10. Suited to managers, project leaders, and speakers who want practical, low-risk ways to use humor.

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