Welcome to the 3rd Humormeister's Forum edition

The Humor-laughter web site continues to increase in popularity. Many web sites have linked with our web site while others will be listed on our 'new' "Humor site links" page

May 4, 2008 is World Laughter Day. This day will be celebrated by Laughter Clubs all over the world. There are now over 5000 Laughter Clubs in over 40 countries in the world.

The biggest World Laughter Day attendance was in 2000, in Copenhagen when 10,000 people turned out to celebrate the day.

Why we need Humor and Laughter in the workplace feature article of the month

Surveys and statistics support the fact that many workplaces aren't the happiest, or the healthiest to spend a large part of our life in.

Every year more than 18,000 workplace assaults are reported in the USA, and in excess of 20 work-related murders. The reason is of course that people are stressed, Statistical figures bear this out.

• 58% of people say their number one stress source is their job
• 46% find their job highly stressful
• 46% quit their job because they feel not appreciated
• A recent Fast Co. magazine survey found 46% of respondents saying that their lives are unbalanced
• And a recent medical survey pointed out that workplace mental stress is more dangerous than lack of exercise

The most underrated and undervalued stress relief options are humor and laughter. The reason,of course, is that you can't laugh and be stressed at the same time.

Many successful organizations are finding out how powerful humor and laughter are, not only for the employees, but also for their customers. Where there is humor and laughter, customers are treated in a much more pleasant and positive manner.

Aside from humor and laughter being great stress busters, they are also great for morale, effective motivational environment, team building, and enhanced relationships and communication.

Humor and laughter facilitate a more stable and balanced work environment with less turnover of staff and reduced absenteeism.

Even employee training benefits from humor and laughter, as they inprove participation and retention of information.

I find it amazing that organizations pay hundreds of thousands for 'fad' improvement programs, and that basics such as humor and laughter, which are free and readily available have been and are still overlooked.

To give you an idea how powerful humor and laughter are, a Danish company introduced 'Laughter Yoga' to their staff, as a result they boosted sales by 40% and reduced employee stress by 75%.

Do you have a humorous story, or experience you would like to share? Let us know. We would like to help you share it with others.