Stop slogging through sterile and boring training! There is a place for humor. There is scientific proof that humor moves information from short term to long term memory - a fact useful in converting training and presentations into engaging, memorable and retainable experiences. With an agile practice, we must constantly learn -- let’s make it fun! This session won’t turn you into Jerry Seinfield or Amy Schumer, nor is it intended to advocate that your presentations should be a stand up routine. This session will introduce accessible techniques you can use to bring any training or presentation to life. These techniques have a basis in cognitive neuroscience and academic research. This workshop introduces and reviews the The 6 Trumps ® - six learning principles based on scientific prinicples that can be used in any type of training. It explores how the brain learns and how information converts from short to long term memory. Finally, it synthesizes these foundations and builds a new common thread: Humor Trumps All! Participants will acquire a strong understanding of the importance of humor and fun in training, and how, even if they don’t think they are funny, they can introduce these attributes to develop improved content and engagement techniques. Ultimately leading the attendees towards making more memorable and impactful agile learning. “The Human Race only has 1 truly effective weapon, and that is Laughter” - Mark Twain

1. Humor trumps All
How fun improves learning
Aloha! My name is Tamsen Mitchell

2. READ and DO - Introduce yourself to a neighbor

3. Share the most memorable learning experience you’ve had

4. The brain doesn't
pay attention to
boring
things
John Medina

5. 5
Humor Comedy
humor
noun hu·mor ˈhyü-mər, ˈyü-
a : that quality which appeals to a sense of the ludicrous or absurdly incongruous
b : the mental faculty of discovering, expressing, or appreciating the ludicrous or
absurdly incongruous
c : something that is or is designed to be comical or amusing

6. Trouble knocked at the door but
hearing
laughter
hurried away
Benjamin Franklin

7. The 6 Trumps ®
Use more senses:
The experiential education motto is that you learn
40% of what you hear
Judy Willis, M.D., M.Ed.
60% of what you hear and see
80%of what you hear,
see, and do

8. Moving trumps Sitting
To improve your thinking skills, MOVE1

9. © KT King https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Exercise boosts brain power
​ If you wanted to create an education environment that was directly
opposed to what the brain was good at doing, you probably
would design something like a classroom.
​
c John Medina

10. Oxygen

11. 11
SIT
STRETCH
THINK

12. STAND
STRETCH
SPEAK
12

13. 13
Talking trumps Listening
The person doing the most talking is doing the most learning2

14. Jay Cross
We humans exist in networks. Learning is
social We learn from, by, and with other
people

15. 15
Pair Share and Teach Back

16. 3 Cognitive Neuroscience:
How we take in, store, retrieve, and use information
3
Images trump Text

17. 17
O - C - E - A - N
W - A - V - E - S

18. 18

19. Vision trumps all other senses
The more visualthe input becomes
the more likely it is to be
recognized and
recalled

20. …photos, props, icons, cartoons, graphics, videos, other visual aids…
Images are anything visual

21. Wolfe, Pat. Brain Matters: Translating Research into Classroom Practice. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2001.
Writing trumps Reading
Writing serves as a tool for refining thinking4

22. Quick Write

23. Before the 1st quarter-hour is over in your presentation,
people have usually checked out.
5
Shorter trumps Longer

24. Re-Engage listeners every 10 minutes

25. The human brain is hard-wired to notice differences and to screen
out things that remain the same
6
Different trumps Same

26. 26
Any stimuli introduced into our
immediate environment which is
either
new (novel)
or of sufficiently strong
emotional intensity
(high contrast)
will immediately gain our…
... attention

27. ​ The brain quickly learns to ignore anything that is
§ Routine,
§ repetitive,
§ predictable,
§ or just plain boring.
Put another way:

28. Laughter is the
shortest
distance
between two people
Victor Borge

29. Brain
Works
Shift
Happens

30. Pinky Brain
30

31. Novelty

33. Meaning

34. Emotion

35. Inside
your
Brain

36. The
Limbic
System

37. Downshifting

38. Dopamine-Reward Theory

39. Laughter
​ Henri Bergson
cranks
is a corrective force
which prevents us from becoming

40. Humor trumps All
INTRODUCING! Plan to make it fun7

41. QUICK
DRAW

42. Get Past
the
auto pilot

43. jolt
43Medina, John Brain Rules. Edmonds, WA. Pear Press; Second Edition edition (April 22, 2014) © KT King https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

44. 44
J o l t

45. 45

46. Breathe

47. Humor is a funny thing
If people are laughing
they are listening
If I am laughing,
I’m relaxing
If I’m relaxed,
I’m connecting
Sir Ken Robinson

48. 48
K r a z y G l u e

49. 49

50. I don’t
trust
anyone who doesn’t
laugh
Maya Angelou

51. 51
B r a i n

52. 52

53. hershey
53Medina, John Brain Rules. Edmonds, WA. Pear Press; Second Edition edition (April 22, 2014) © KT King https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Dish
out
Dopamine

54. 54
H e r s h e y ’ s
K i s s

55. 55

56. 56

57. The Penny Drops

58. 58Medina, John Brain Rules. Edmonds, WA. Pear Press; Second Edition edition (April 22, 2014) © KT King https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
But…
… I’m not funny

59. Copyright © 2016 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. All Rights Reserved
Epic Burndown Chart

60. 60Medina, John Brain Rules. Edmonds, WA. Pear Press; Second Edition edition (April 22, 2014) © KT King https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Break
the
4th
wall

61. The human race has only one
really effective
weapon
and that is
laughter
Mark Twain

62. TICKET OUT
​ WOW !
​ HOW ABOUT ?

63. Hit Me!

64. Always live your life to tell the best story
Tamsen Mitchell

65. thank y u
CONNECT: LinkedIn tmitchell@salesforce.com or @franklinminty

66. Major Citations
Bowman, Sharon. Preventing Death by Lecture!: Terrific Tips for Turning Listeners into Learners. Glenbrook, NV: Bowperson Pub., 2001.
Bowman, Sharon L. The Ten-minute Trainer: 150 Ways to Teach It Quick and Make It Stick! San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer, 2005.
Brown, Peter C., Henry L. Roediger, and Mark A. McDaniel. Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 2014.
Carey, Benedict. How We Learn: The Surprising Truth about When, Where, and Why It Happens. Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2015.
Cross, Jay. Informal Learning: Rediscovering the Natural Pathways That Inspire Innovation and Performance. San Francisco: Pfeiffer/Wiley, 2007.
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper & Row, 1990.
Jensen, Eric, and Eric Jensen. Brain-based Learning: The New Paradigm of Teaching. Thousand Oaks, CA.: Corwin Press, 2008.
Medina, John. Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School. Seattle, WA: Pear Press, 2008.
Nihill, David. Do You Talk Funny?: 7 Comedy Habits to Become a Better (and Funnier) Public Speaker. BenBella Books, 2016.
Pasricha, Neil. The Happiness Equation: Want Nothing Do Anything = Have Everything. G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2016.
Pink, Daniel H. A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age. New York: Riverhead Books, 2005.
"Radical Pedagogy.” Accessed June 28, 2016.
http://www.radicalpedagogy.org/radicalpedagogy.org/Humor,_Analogy,_and_Metaphor__H.A.M._it_up_in_Teaching.html.
Robinson, Ken. "Do Schools Kill Creativity?" Ted Talk. Accessed June 29, 2016. http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.
Tarvin, Andrew. "30 Benefits of Humor at Work." Humor That Works. Accessed June 28, 2016. http://www.humorthatworks.com/benefits/30-
benefits-of-humor-at-work/.
"Why Clowns Taste Funny: The Relationship between Humor and Semantic Ambiguity." The Journal of Neuroscience. Accessed June 29, 2016. http://
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21715632.
Willis, Judy, M.D., M.Ed. "Research Based Strategies to Increase Content Knowledge Understanding Through Inquiry and the Tools of Technology and
Engineering." Accessed June 22, 2016. http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/DownloadTrackPreview/tbr.k12.edu.
2005965961.02005965963.2004069602.pdf.
Willis, Judy. Research-based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning: Insights from a Neurologist and Classroom Teacher. Alexandria, VA: Association for
Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2006.
Wolfe, Pat. Brain Matters: Translating Research into Classroom Practice. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 01.