By Lisa Hochgraf from notes by Josie Collins
Just about every Monday night I take a Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement class. My classmates and I lie on the floor on mats and follow the teacher's instructions to move our heads, necks, arms in various combinations and always very slowly. The idea is that the body's nervous center learns to move more easily and pain-free because of the undivided attention you give the movements. I'm proof positive, since I can now type (and I type a lot) without pain in my neck and shoulders.
Our teacher often brings jokes to start us off with. Why? Not because he thinks he's so funny, but because he knows that laughter will relax us and help us learn.
Learning to move better isn't the only thing humor can help with. Last week at the CUES Michigan Council's Reach for More conference, consultant Constance Anderson (CUES' partner in CU Membership Strategies: A Comprehensive System for Growth), described five reasons to use the power of humor in shaping the member experience:
- Humor reduces tension and conflict and leads to a valued member experience.
- Humor accelerates and facilitates member and team learning.
- Humor motivates people to act – both the CU team and members.
- Humor helps all of us – members and marketers – deal with change and stress.
- Humor leads to better problem solving in marketing.
The Bruen/Bensley Credit Union Blog gets humor, too. Along with posts today about why you should look for a credit union and why branding with an acronym can be challenging is a photo of someone with an armload of kittens. That pause for a smile really makes a difference.
How are you leveraging humor to your advantage with staff, members, directors and your community? And I could use a good joke today, if any one would be kind enough to comment with one.
