Tag: Second City Communications

Compliance and Humor

At the Compliance Week 2010 Conference I was surprised to discover that the improv comedy group, Second City, had dived into the world of compliance and ethics awareness. They debuted three of their awareness videos during the conference keynotes. They are now available on their Real Biz Shorts website:

The big question is whether humor is appropriate for ethics and compliance?

Second City has a response in their FAQ:

“Well we believe that this programming is too important to be delivered in a way that doesn’t connect with employees. And humor is a great tool to address tough subjects and break the ice, allowing people to dialogue about the issues they face. In the comedy business there is a saying, “things are only funny when they’re true.” Humor for humor’s sake doesn’t work in ethics and compliance, but humor as a way to get to truth is invaluable.”

Tom Yorton, the CEO of Second City Communications, stated four things that comedy pros can teach compliance professionals in an article in the May issue of Compliance Week: Winning Your Audience.

  • Humor Gets to the Truth
  • Dialogues Beat Monologues
  • Foster Open Communication
  • Say It, and Say It Again

Check out the videos if you’re feeling down at your compliance job and need a chuckle. If this sounds interesting, they also offer a free demo with four other high-quality videos.

Now if I could just be funnier…..

Second City on the Stage at Compliance Week 2010 Conference

Get ready for a fun, interactive, high-energy conference closer from Second City Communications, the business solutions division of the world-famous comedy theatre. Using observations, ideas, and insights garnered from the entire three-day conference, Second City Communications will play back what they’ve heard, offering a real-time wrap-up of key conference takeaways, and providing a host of ideas you can bring back to your company.

Tom Yorton is the CEO of Second City Communications. He is the suit and probably the least funny person in the organization. (or so he claims.)

They supplied some of the Second City “talent” to help take a look at some tough issues. Lee Smart came back on the stage with two others, taking suggestions from the audience. The first was a funny skit laced with compliance buzzwords.

They played a video from my earlier session at the conference: Second City and Compliance. They then used those compliance challenges in an improv skit, with Lee and the talent back on stage.

Rule 1:  Things are only funny when they are true.

Laughter comes from shared recognition. There is a different between making issues accessible as opposed making light of them. There are risks with comedy, but it’s riskier if not grounded in reality. Use humor to get to the truth. Comedic messages are better retained, noticed and shared.

Rule 2: Dialogues are better than monologues.

One way communication has a limited feedback loop. You want to give the audience a greater stake in the outcome. He also pointed out how the web and social learning make dialogues possible.

Rule 3: Foster an Open Environment.

Humor can make leaders and issues accessible. You can pop the tension bubble around legitimate challenges. Listen to understand, not just respond. You want to affirm and build on ideas.

Rule 4: Say it, and say it again.

You have to fight for attention. In a noisy environment, reinforcement and repetition is key. Think about a daily vitamin instead of an annual inoculation.

It was a highlight of the conference. If you want to see some more you can see the video below and other stuff at the Second City Communications website.

When you make people laugh, you make people think.

Video

During The Second City’s 50th Anniversary, The Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch visited with Second City Communications to learn how we use improv techniques to train corporate workers :

Second City and Compliance

One of the surprises of Compliance Week 2010 is the attendance of Second City. I only thought of them as the comedy improv troupe working in Chicago and Toronto. Second City has a long history of great comedians learning their craft and performing for them. Gilda Radner, John Belushi, Tina Fey and Chris Farley are just a few of the stars and superstars that have come through Second City.

About 15 years ago they launched a corporate communications division. Their approach? Humor is an effective device for addressing tough subjects and improvisation is great tool for open, honest communication, creativity and professional development.

I was able to attend a closed door session at Compliance Week 2010, working on personal communications. It was an interesting, informative and fun session.

Engage and Connect: Improvisation as a Tool for Open, Honest Communication: For many companies, a common ethics and compliance challenge is in finding fresh ways to make important topics relevant to their employees—engaging individual contributors and management in the conversation and creating a willingness to discuss tough subjects and grey-zone issues. Second City Communications, the business solutions division of the world-famous comedy theatre, will discuss how they’ve successfully utilized improvisation, humor, and learning methods to help clients improve ethics/compliance education and awareness. This session will include interactive exercises, small-group work, facilitated discussion, and multimedia to showcase how to create conversation, gain stronger insights, and make ethics and compliance topics more relevant for your global workforce. It featured Second City Communications Producer and Director of Learning Sarah Finch and Lee Smart.

Second City Communications has a new line for ethics and compliance. (See Second City Ethics and Compliance FAQ)

We’ll see more of them when they are on the main stage for the closing wrap-up.