Laughter – A Key to Understanding

Hello, I am Jamie Stebbeds with Innocorp, Ltd., makers of the Fatal Vision® Impairment Simulation Goggles.

We sometimes hear the comment from customers that, “their students or participants have too much fun with the goggles.”

I asked an educator for her reaction to those comments, and her feedback was enlightening. “laughter,” she said, “can be the key to understanding.”

Now, what does that mean?

We’re not advocating a carnival atmosphere; but, we do want to engage people with these tools. If participants laugh, it may be an indication that they are paying attention. Attention is the springboard to the most critical part of your presentation, engagement. If your participants are engaged, they will ask questions! We’ve heard from customers that it’s quite typical for students to approach them after a presentation and continue asking questions after the session is over.

We know that people learn when information is “pulled from the presenter,” that is, participants, ask for the information, rather than having it “pushed” at them from the presenter in the form of lectures or slideshows.

The key can be as simple as asking this question, “this demonstration may be funny to you because we’re in a safe environment; however, imagine that you are driving a car in this condition and that you have a loved one as a passenger in your car.” Suddenly a simple question turns that humor into an engaging moment that’s not quite so funny anymore.

You can also ask questions like, if the driver of the car you are supposed to ride with is impaired, what strategies or plans could you develop to get home safely?

Try this tip the next time you give a Fatal Vision presentation instead of asking, “Was that fun,” ask questions that engage your audience’s critical thinking.

How do you handle laughter in your presentations? We’d love to hear from you with ideas on this topic. You can email us at [email protected] or call us at 800-272-5023. Thank you.

Jamie Stebbeds
Sales and Marketing Manager