Contact Person: Nellie Oehler Oregon State University Extension Agent Lane County 950 W. 13th Eugene, OR 97402 Presenter: Nellie Oehler Eugene, OR 97402
Conference Objective:
Humor is a great tool to use to balance work and family because looking at stressful situations in a humorous way will help relieve the tension and become contagious with both co-workers and family.
The humor in the workplace workshops I have taught has reached audiences that otherwise are not regular participants in extension programs. One example would be our work with the homeless in the Renters Rehabilitation program. We use humor to teach goal setting and self-esteem building.
Humor programs are very effective stress management tools. Humor gives you a different frame of mind to look at your workload. It also works well to use as a team building tool for both staff and volunteers. Humor tools can also be used at home to deal with stressful situations that arise in everyday family matters.
Abstract:
Laughter is used to make social changes and reform the system. Humor is used to reflect societal anxieties, values, and need for change and reform. Through adding humor to workshops and classes, I have been able to teach more effectively and also change behaviors of individuals involved.
Humor in the workplace has been a very popular workshop that has made a difference in the lives of the participants. People are again learning to laugh at themselves, take stressful situations lightly and have learned to use humor to plan for the future.
The class will include a discussion of types of humor and learn to identify humor styles. Looking at different types of humor and what effect they have on others is important to learn if you plan to use humor and not get into trouble. There is a lot of negative humor being used that can cause a lot of harm. The class will cover positive humor and give participants time to practice.
The class will cover using humor to cope with life and the changes that take place. Good examples are learning to use humor to look ahead and think about things that could happen, and then plan for those before they actually happen. Examples that have worked well is to use humor to plan funeral wishes with your kids, ways to cope with life changing health issues we might face, look at unrealistic job expectations and learn to look at the humor in them.
This concurrent session is bound to make you laugh, feel good and is hoped that it will change the way you look at life. A good laugh is good medicine. The more we do the better we feel about ourselves. A happy person is one people want to be around.
I'd like to sum up what will be covered in this class in this way:
People prone to illness live on crisis management
People under stress tend to blame others
Life is fun and it is up to us to make it happen
Develop a sense of humor
Adopt a playful attitude
Laugh with others
Laugh at yourself
Don't take life so seriously. You only have one so make the best of it.
The time has come to give up all hope of the past.
The only effect you have on the past is what you create for tomorrow.
Let's Start Today. Laugh again!