Employees often complain that safety training is boring and unengaging. Humorous safety presentations have been known to create more interactivity, make training concepts more memorable, increase engagement with safety ideas and have higher knowledge retention among employees.
It’s one thing to want to add humor to your safety training presentations, but it’s another, actually, to find the humorous material to do so. Here are some tips and tricks on where to find humorous material worthy of adding to your safety training presentations.
People watching.
Not in a creepy way, but have you ever just sat and watched people in everyday interactions? People watching is a great pastime that will reveal the idiosyncrasies in everyday life. Prime locations are airports, Walmart (the people of Walmart are so fun to watch that they have their own website), the mall, bars or any public transportation.
These are also great places to observe human error—from shopping cart blunders at the grocery store to people texting and walking into someone/something. You can translate these common behaviors to your work environment to highlight serious potential outcomes. Set it up like a comedian would: “Have you ever noticed people at the mall…” or “The other day when I was grocery shopping, I saw…”
Go to a comedy club.
This one might seem obvious, but it’s worthwhile to check out a comedy club when preparing for your presentation. Comedians are big proponents of telling stories from their own lives and making observations. Don’t rip off their act word for word, but take note of how they deliver a story or listen to the observations they make and see if it inspires you for your own presentation.
Another thing that comedians do well is make people feel like they’re in on the joke. They don’t make fun of them. Rather, they position their bits like: “Do you ever feel like…” or “Have you ever noticed…” speaking directly to the audience. Even though the question is rhetorical, the audience ponders their response, they feel included and the outcome is typically a laugh since everyone is in on the joke.
Once you train your brain to look for comedy, you’ll see that it’s everywhere.
Safety conference sessions and workshops.
You might be surprised to find that people are already doing humor in safety—and they’re doing it well. The humor is usually subtle, so that may be why you haven’t heard about the hilarity in these safety sessions, but it’s enough to make the presentations enjoyable and ensure the audience retains the information. Check out some conferences and workshops around the safety industry and see how they’re presented—you never know what you’ll be able to borrow for your own benefit.
Shameless plug: There’s a reason SafeStart speakers are continually on the “Top 10” speakers lists; they are often asked to come back to present at the same conferences due to their popularity, and their sessions are standing room only. If you want to see how humor in safety is really done, check out any SafeStart consultants’ sessions.
Videos.
YouTube is a video-sharing website that hosts a wide range of clips, videos, trends and channels uploaded by individual users. This is a good place to find relatable material for the content you’re delivering. You can subscribe to channels that you find useful for the ease of sharing their content in the future. If you need a video clip to support your topic, YouTube probably has something for you.
Don’t forget: A lot of times, the stuff you find on the internet is protected by copyright. If you’re not sure, ask for permission to use it and cite the source.
Television, movies and print.
When you can relate to the audience through something they’re interested in, you instantly develop a connection with them. Since pop culture is a way to connect with your audience, movie references or clips will help you do just that.
Situational comedy easily lends itself to training sessions. So take a page from sitcoms (yes, that stands for situational comedies) like Modern Family, The Big Bang Theory or Brooklyn Nine-Nine, or go back to some older ones like Seinfeld, How I Met Your Mother or Friends. Remember to gauge your audience; if they aren’t in the right demographic to have watched the television show, you won’t be able to relate to them.
Relevant books, magazines, newspapers or other related print can also speak to your audience on a level they didn’t expect. “I read this article the other day…” Once that bond is established, you have their trust and they will look forward to the material you deliver.
You can often find clips from sitcoms on YouTube if you need a little help demonstrating your point.
Social media.
No matter what your social media preference is, there are a lot of outlets for funny material. X (formerly Twitter) can be a great source for hilarious content. Have you ever seen celebrities read mean tweets? In theory, it shouldn’t be as funny as it is. To look for helpful material, you can follow funny people on social media or peruse the numerous websites and feeds dedicated to humor. Some of them even focus on safety, so it’s not that hard to find something that speaks to a wide range of humor tastes.
The whole point of humor in safety presentations is to introduce a little fun. While it may not specifically be humorous, adding a fun element to your presentation will have the same effect. Games are a great way to inspire retention and also add a positive, fun element to the training. Look for free game show templates online or other free training games. Or make your own game like “Caption This,” putting related safety activities, concepts, or catch phrases to pictures, is a fun way to get the audience to retain the information you’re delivering.
To give yourself a jumpstart on infusing presentations with fun, you can check out some free training games online or, if you’re in the mood to play the role of TV host, use a gameshow template.
Don’t be afraid to step outside of what you’ve been told a traditional presentation should look like. Unexpected elements are what engage the audience and help them retain the information you’re trying to convey. Give folks a laugh when you’re delivering your next presentation and they’ll reward you with their attention.
This blog post is an excerpt that was adapted from Seriously Funny: How to Use Humor in Safety, which reviews the what, where, why and how to do humor in safety presentations in an easy-to-digest guide. Download it for tips, tricks and useful advice to add humor to workplace safety presentations.