Before we get into what not to do when using humor in safety training, let’s look at why it matters:
- Using humor and promoting some laughter and fun in safety training sessions helps trainees relax, interact more with you and other trainees, and be more open to new ideas.
- Laughter can also help perk up a training group and refocus attention on the serious side of safety training.
- Used appropriately and in proportion, humor and laughter can make safety and health information more memorable, which means it’s more likely to show up in trainees’ performance on the job.
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As much as using humor can be a great way to enliven training sessions, there are some precautions you need to take.
Don’t:
- Feel obligated to start the session with a joke. Lots of trainers do it, but not many do it well. A false start can make trainees immediately roll their eyes and tune you out.
- Just tell jokes. Use humor with a specific purpose, whether that’s to emphasize a point, relieve stress, or keep people involved in what’s going on. Remember, your primary role is as a trainer, not a stand-up comic.
- Force it or overdo it. Humor has to be natural to promote laughter.
- Laugh at people, but do laugh with them. Never use humor that could be interpreted as ridiculing specific persons or groups of people, and never embarrass anyone with your humor.
- Lose control of the group. Give laughter a few moments to die down and then go on with the business of the session. Otherwise, the session could turn rowdy, and nothing useful will be accomplished.
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