Jim Richardson, humorist speaker, "Humor in the Workplace: How to Lighten Things Up"

Photo of Jim in white jacket, red and white shirt against green trees, smiling out of corner of his mouth, eyebrows slightly raised

A day wearing bright colors & going tie-less:
Already Jim is feeling light-headed!
To see how Jim can
brighten your day,
just click on Jim's face.

Jim Richardson's All Day Program "HUMOR in the Workplace"

Keynote Speech, 20-90 minutes:
Turn Your Business into a Community:
"How to Lighten Things Up"

Half-Day Program, 1-6 hours:
"Delivery: Vocal Tricks that Sell Your Ideas"

Half-Day Program, 1-6 hours:
"Improvisation: Thinking on your Feet"

Plus:

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions):
EXAMPLE: "If I make jokes, will anyone take me seriously?"

Audio Clips from Jim's Talks

Program Request Form

Keynote Speech(20-90 minutes):
Turn Your Business into a Community:
"How to Lighten Things Up"

Laugh, and we are vocally agreeing why the joke is funny:

HUMOR communicates faster: reduces complex statements to short, pithy sound bites
HUMOR punches your points--be remembered "for all time!"
HUMOR: how not to take yourself too seriously during serious times
HUMOR: 7 ways to avoid chronic burn-out
HUMOR smashes through hidden agendas
HUMOR relaxes both the teller and the listener
HUMOR creates a like-minded community

Densely packed messages will be ideal for the upcoming Information Age:

Internet bandwidth problems will be licked between the middle and end of this year by the Universal Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)

ADSL will deliver to consumers high-speed modem communication over existing copper phone wires . . . to give access to data, video services and the Internet at speeds up to 150 times greater than 56-kilobit-per-second modems.
ADSL achieves this throughput by carrying data traffic outside the voice band. Customers can still use their existing analog telephones and simultaneously use the "always on" high speed connection to the Internet, corporate networks or multimedia services.
[ADSL connections give customers a constant link to the Internet by eliminating the waiting time required by modems to dial up and connect to the network and thereby provide near-instantaneous retrieval of information from Web sites. . . . A universal standard for worldwide deployment is currently being developed by] AMD and other PC industry leaders such as Microsoft, Compaq, Intel, . . . and communication leaders, including Ameritech, Bel Atlantic, BellSouth, GTE, SBC Communications, Sprint, U.S. West, Alcatel, Ascend, Ericsson, Lucent, Nortel and Siemens. . . .
Full-rate ADSL rollouts are already underway by several Internet Service Providers.
--Compiled from two articles:

Denver, Colorado, Reuters, January 29, 1998
Austin, Texas, Business Wire, February 25, 1998

So, whether the ultimate solution is the fiber optic cable that is scheduled to be laid throughout Jim's Sonoma County by summer's end, satellite or ADSL, very-very-very soon every home will have download speeds somewhere between that of the T1 and T3 lines currently only financially practical for corporate America:

Soon on the heels of this evolution will be the power to upload and download video files that can finally achieve the elusive 30 frames/second speed necessary to avoid jerkiness
- Overnight, every telephone can become its own television station broadcasting to the world market
- Considering how fragmented the TV viewing audience has been made by the existence of 50-plus cable stations, imagine the competing demands millions of TV stations will create for high visibility!
- On-the-air time will be at its highest premium yet, an advertiser's nightmare!
- Customers will demand and get businesses to make multi- media versions of their sales pitches, accessible 24 hours a day from the Internet--but of a quality far beyond the simple brochure-like layouts now available at today's infant web sites: to connect with your customers, they will want to see YOU ACTING believably in these commercials
Customers will demand and get personal one-on-one targeted service, if and when they desire same
Customers will demand and get those few business people who can match the requirements of the new times
Those folks who refuse to adjust will find their careers have the same meager value as old computers and the materials gathered from closed businesses everywhere: all will be useful only as landfill!
Everyone will have to become an actor just to stay in business; better still, we should all become humorists
Why?
Because the average web sufer lingers on a site less than ten seconds before deciding to stay or leave; the only form of communication fast enough to hold his attention will be the sound bite and the joke
In the new Information Age, everyone the world over must learn or die!

Back to Jim's "Humor" menu

Half-Day Program (1-6 hours):
"Delivery: Vocal Tricks that Sell Your Ideas"

We have been speaking 250 times longer than we have been writing. This is why we hate computer manuals.
How many times have you heard folks say, "Now that you explain it to me, I get it." "Simple. That's all you had to say." "It's nice to finally be told." "Thanks for taking the time to talk." "OK!"

Do other people ever use your own words better?
Realizing that WHAT you say is not as important as HOW?
Ever heard a voice on the radio, and known who is speaking even before their name is announced?
How your speech can be a distinctive vocal signature
Discover the essential difference between the two English languages: written and spoken
Primal Delivery: how we really think, talk, hear
Control your tempo and you control your listener's emotions
Phrasing that makes listening to you much easier
How to keep your cool and avoid running out of breath, whether speaking to one person or an audience of over 1,000
5 speech techniques which you can begin using immediately
When you make more sense to your listener by violating the rules of grammar
Untwisting tongue twisters
Exercises to help you speak as naturally on the podium as you do at the lunch counter
Nuts and bolts: difference between delivering set up and punch lines, selling the joke so it works every time
Timing to make sure you get your laughs; become a HUMOR powerhouse

Back to Jim's "Humor" menu

Half-Day Program (1-6 hours):
"Improvisation: Thinking on Your Feet"

Are you:

Ever at a loss for words?

Have trouble keeping co-workers and clients on track?

Drop the ball when it comes to closing deals? Here are some techniques which can help you do business better-- plans of attack for working your way out of common one-on-one negotiations, general meeting and public speaking situations:

Loosen up "mental lockjaw," stay focused
Accomplish objectives: get what you want now!
Controlling interruptions
Bounce off attacks, turn them to your advantage
3 ways to protect yourself while becoming even more endearing
Use HUMOR to deflate anger and misunderstanding
We will get down to the nitty gritty: we deal with your real life work place problems
You finish every negotiation a winner

Back to Jim's "Humor" menu

What is a sound bite?

sound bite/'saond bait/noun;
A short, pithy extract used for maximum punchiness;
also, a one-liner.
First appeared in print in the early eighties
. . . public will not follow more than a few seconds of speech.
"Anything more than that and you're losing them."
Washington Post 22 June 1980.
--The Oxford Dictionary of New Words

Back to description of Keynote Speech "How to Lighten Things Up"

Forward to description of Jim's Half-Day Program "Sound Bites That Get Results" listed under
Jim's All Day Program "LEADERSHIP in the Workplace"

Back to Jim's "Humor" menu

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions):

Q: "If I make jokes, will anyone take me seriously?"
A: People ask you not to tell jokes because they are afraid you are going to make fun of them, causing them mental anguish.
But if your jokes are not used to attack but to make relevant points, then people are grateful.
You will be the heroic one, opening up the discussion of difficult subjects, breaking the ice.
Ok, if you don't want to call these little short lines of poetry "a joke," then think of them as pithy statements.
Good jokes effectively reduce complex ideas down to their essential kernel.
If you can do that consistently in under three sentences, you will own your listeners for life.
That's serious!

Back to Jim's "Humor" menu

Audio clips from Jim's Talks

These two audio clips are from Jim's talk to the Menlo Park Rotary Club in Menlo Park, California. Jim adds some notes to supplement each audio clip to help the reader better follow Jim's argument:

Jim how to use humor to:
- Keep your job
- Survive bad dates
- Get children to automatically agree with your point-of-view
"Bosses, Dates and New Moms"
Are you starting to feel the pressure from difficult people, starting to get burned out?
Stress is often caused when we are pulled in too many directions at once. Like trying to hold back a team of wild horses who are all going off in different directions.
Jim's techniques help you regain control, get those horses pulling in the same direction.
Thinking metaphorically, you can use all the techniques Jim talks about on this audio clip; today, begin to:
- control how people receive your speeches and "off stage" messages
- be certain your words are remembered
- get people in your personal life to agree with you
Do it right, and they will have no choice.
Now, that's power!
Thinking humorously to convince everyone you are right!
(audio 422 K ".wave" file, playing time: 1 minutes, 46 seconds)
Audio clip begins in mid-discussion, Jim proving to the audience that the number one complaint about doctors and other authority figures (bosses, teachers, government officials, parents, etc.): "Nobody listens!"
"How Better Listening Cures Patients Faster"
The first step in getting folks to come around to your way of thinking is getting them to trust you as much as they used to trust their family doctor. How patients see the doctor during their examination
is the same way everyone at work will initially see you (audio 488 K ".wave" file, playing time: 1 minutes, 52 seconds) Jim will be updating this section constantly from his current speeches, beginning Tuesday, 06-Jun-2023 06:17:11 PDT.
If you would like to listen to Jim's newest audio clips right here on this web page, just as soon as they are available, then please get on Jim's e-mail list at: jim@jimrichardson.com
Jim's brochure, audio and video demo tape are available upon request.
Back to Jim's "Humor" menu

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Today's date and Pacific Standard Time is: Tuesday, 06-Jun-2023 06:17:11 PDT

Date this page was last modified, Pacific Standard Time: Thursday, 27-Aug-2009 15:18:22 PDT

Keynote Speech(20-90 minutes): Turn Your Business into a Community: "How to Lighten Things Up"

Half-Day Program (1-6 hours): "Delivery: Vocal Tricks that Sell Your Ideas"

Half-Day Program (1-6 hours): "Improvisation: Thinking on Your Feet"

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions):

Audio clips from Jim's Talks

"Bosses, Dates and New Moms"

"How Better Listening Cures Patients Faster"

Keynote Speech(20-90 minutes):
Turn Your Business into a Community:
"How to Lighten Things Up"

Half-Day Program (1-6 hours):
"Delivery: Vocal Tricks that Sell Your Ideas"

Half-Day Program (1-6 hours):
"Improvisation: Thinking on Your Feet"