Just because something’s important, does it also have to be serious?
I’ll give you an example.
I was teaching a presentation skills class a couple of years ago. We were exploring how to inject humour and theatre in to the communication.
A few people asked me “If we’re too lighthearted about it, won’t that just diminish the
importance of the message?”
importance of the message?”
What they were essentially saying is ‘if something is important it should be communicated in a more serious way’.
First, let’s be clear about the difference.
Important = significant, worth paying attention to, of value
Serious = requiring concentration, earnest, sober, solemn, subdued
So I challenged their notion by asking
“Are there examples of important things you’ve
learnt or heard that were communicated with a light touch or a sense of humour?”.
learnt or heard that were communicated with a light touch or a sense of humour?”.
Of course they had many examples from their teachers at school through to TV advertising.
Just because something’s important or significant, doesn’t mean you have to get
serious about it. On the contrary, if we want people to listen, remember or
take action, sometimes the best approach is to lighten up and stop taking ourselves
so seriously!
serious about it. On the contrary, if we want people to listen, remember or
take action, sometimes the best approach is to lighten up and stop taking ourselves
so seriously!
One Comment
Hello! Just want to say thank you for this interesting article! =) Peace, Joy.