I have lost a lot of listeners. My arms waving around wildly as I talk is just too damn distracting. In headshot videos, I blink so often that certainly people watching are just counting all the blinks knowing I am going to blink over 60 times per minute. Faculty peek into the workshop door to see a long haired and heavily bearded dude in a Captain Kirk outfit. Or a damn red rain suit. People walking into presentation rooms ready to learn and see a hippie in a tie-dye shirt and they get an earful of “You say, well woo, ain’t there nothin’ I can take? I say woo, woo, to relieve your belly ache, you say ya ya, ain’t there nothin’ I can take?”
I don’t know. I can’t help it.
But I do know I lose people. Too much novelty is like a sugar high. You get: Laugh. Laugh. No so funny anymore.
I suppose for me, it is like challenging myself in the art of public speaking. Terrified, I make some ridiculous idea I have into a simple challenge. Will you actually do it Todd? Well….
I suppose we all find that balance moving through our lives. How we choose to stand before others, how we behave, and the tone and words we choose can make or break our message. We have all witnessed the many ways people speak with us. Mannerisms, pitch of voice, and those weird little habits of speech that drive you crazy. How are we seen in classrooms? In meetings and presentations? Happy go lucky? Stern? Empathetic? Caring? Strange? What do we do to improve our performances to be more effective?
It is something to ponder. For me anyway.
Just today, I wonder if I am being too silly as we launch our “5 Day Canvas Workout.” Participants are urged to listen to Richard Simmons as they practice adding images to Canvas pages to enhance the aesthetic appeal to students? What the heck? Last week we finished our Canvas, Coffee, and Cookies, so in the announcement for the 5 Day workout I leveraged the vast number of cookies we had consumed last week to inspire faculty to do some strenuous workouts this week. Ha ha…
Well, I was in it for the cookies anyway. I ate most of them and I certainly drank most of the coffee. I don’t know…
And I don’t know if it helps or hurts, but I usually like it. And I suppose that is enough. I think I’ll continue with a little silly and hope I get through to those that are still in the room.
What do you think is the ideal percentage of silliness in your work? 25%?
Well, I have a bit, or a lot, of math anxiety so I am not sure I want to talk about that… The non-mathematical answer comes from my dad. He once told me, “You are the silliest damn kid I ever seen.”