Why You Should Consider Using Humor In eLearning Content!

Why You Should Consider Using Humor In eLearning Content!
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Summary: It is very easy to create eContent, as we live in the age of eContent revolution, but it is not easy to create content that stands out from the crowd. In this article, we will discuss the reasons that lead you to add a sense of humor to your eContent, and how the sense of humor enhances eLearning.

Stand Out By Using Humor In eLearning Content

You may think that when it comes to your eContent, humor is not the best thing to use. But while you think of humor in terms of exaggeration or fabrication, effective humor can be just as much about engaging learners by taking them someplace they don’t expect to go and subtly choosing metaphors and words that make learners smile; and a smiling learner is one who’s paying attention and eager to keep watching the course.

Why Should You Add A Sense Of Humor To Your eContent?

There are 5 main reasons to add a sense of humor to your eContent, as it:

1. Keeps The Learner Engaged

Take a moment and think about how you’d feel if everything in a long course is always serious. Too bored, aren’t you? A positive sense of humor engages learners, as it helps them to follow up the course with enthusiasm and keeps them hungry to learn more and more.

2. Makes Your eContent Memorable

Learners always recall information when it is interjected with jokes about relevant topics. Humor goes a long way to making a short phrase memorable… and you want your course to be memorable!!

3. Releases Tension

If you’re presenting a topic or making a long presentation, breaking up the content with humor will keep your audience focused and interested. In eCourses, effectively-used metaphors say volumes with a few words. Using a word or phrase that usually means one thing to refer to something else is one of the most effective ways to make learners laughing and put them at ease.

4. Increases Enthusiasm

If your learners are delighted, they will have more passion for what they do and their enthusiasm will likely be contagious. It's a win-win for you and your learners.

5. Can Allow Your eCourse To Stand Out

It can help eCourses to stand out and be recommended by the learners to their colleagues, and it can get a lot of shares and retweets. If you want your eCourses to stand out, using a sense of humor is an effective way.

Humor has been around since the cavemen. It’s something that’s ingrained in our nature. But always remember there is a big difference between an eLearning course with fun flavor and an aggressive eLearning course.

Some Tips And Tricks To Use Humor Effectively

1. Don’t Be Offensive

You must take into consideration the cultural difference when using humor in your eContent especially when your course is being watched by many learners from different countries around the world because funny things at one country can be considered offensive at another one so awareness with cultural differences is a crucial factor.

2. Don’t Repeat Yourself

Don’t try to be funny for the sake of it, because when learners hear the same joke, again and again, they become bored especially when it’s not funny in the first place, so don’t repeat yourself and think of creative and new jokes to make your learners glad.

3. Don’t Overuse It

Too much humor in your eCourse will distract your learners and make them lose concentration, and this also makes you seem amateur. So make sure that you select the best and most suitable jokes when you come up with something that sounds funny. And always remember humor needs to evolve and present itself naturally.

4. Consider The Placement Of Humor

The placement of humor has a significant impact on your eContent an example of that is: if the content "recall" is a goal, there is an evidence to support the use of contiguous humor over integrated. You can also use humor at the start and end of your eCourse to increase interest and motivation, but avoid using it for key instructional points.

A Final Note

Always remember that you don’t have to be a standup comedian to add humor to your content. You don’t have to leave your audience rolling on the floor laughing, all you usually have to do is get them to smile, and that’s enough because if you can win them over with humor, this should allow you to make a strong connection and leave them more open to exploring your eCourse.

Originally published on June 21, 2018