I was re-reading the latest edition of the Neuroleadership Journal this week.

There’s so much that interests me in this field. So much so that I’m heading off to the Annual Summit later this year in Boston.

The gem that stuck with me yesterday was the role of humour and fun in adult learning. I’ve always tried to make my client interactions fun and lighthearted. It reflects my own approach to life. If I’m not having fun, well then why am I doing it?

And it turns out that when people are having fun, it actually opens neural pathways in the brain that facilitate learning and take-up of information.  Conversely, it turns out that lectures where words are spoken sombrely, or the dreaded powerpoint presentation with slides full of bullets,  actually turn off our ability to learn.

So if you thought it was impossible for you to get a lot out of those kinds of interaction, there’s a physical reason why.

Meetings where people laugh and have fun will help people to listen and learn and lead to better outcomes with less effort.

Sounds like a no-brainer to me.