WATER COOLER COMEDY
Every workplace should be one where people look forward to going.
(Whether remote, in-person, or everything in between.)
ABOUT DAVID HORNING
Work can really suck, but it doesn't have to be that way.
I mean really think about the last time you woke up Monday morning with the same enthusiasm as getting that first drink with your friends Friday night?
What if you could look forward to weekdays more than weekends?
What if you looked forward to coming to work more than leaving work?
What if the tool you could use to do this is right under your nose?
Hint: it's not your mustache
For too long, management styles have been focused on meeting quotas and checking off to-do lists.
While this strategy generates short-term success, only focusing on these things actually hampers the long-term potential of your team and organization.
MY MISSION:
I believe your company can (and should) be a place people WANT to work.
So I teach leaders how to create standout cultures that attract, engage, and retain top talent by using humor as a tool to innovate problem-solving, improve communication and collaboration, and boost productivity while having FUN doing it.
Not only does laughing as a team break down social barriers at work, it has the potential to:
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Counteract stress-inducing cortisol with doses of dopamine, leading to fewer sick days
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Increase productivity
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Improve communication
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Create a psychological connection to the company's cause
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Enhance trust
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Make leaders more effective at motivating employees
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Positively impact shareholder returns
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Provide healthier perspectives of problems
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Generate creative solutions
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Inspire a more collaborative spirit
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Redefine your culture so people look forward to coming to work
You know what they say: "A team that laughs together kicks ass together."
And by "they" we mean the psychologists, neurologists, humor researchers, authors, leadership experts, and CEOs who have made humor a part of their cultures.
*They didn't actually say that word-for-word, but the experience they've had and the studies they've done have proven this time and time again.
WHO IS DAVID HORNING?
Like you, comedian, speaker, and leadership expert David Horning has watched the world undergo massive change over the past 5 years and saw too many leaders fight to get back to a normal that has long outstayed its welcome.
Why?
Are they worried their supervisory style of "leadership" is losing influence in an employee-driven market?
Are they uncomfortable with making mistakes or missing the mark on new initiatives in the face of change?
Do they think the cultures they've built can't be sustained with a distributed workforce?
Or is there a deeper story?
Unlike other leadership speakers, David's 12+ years of comedy and corporate training experience brings an outside-of-the-box, hands-on approach unafraid of helping leaders disrupt the status quo to face uncertainty, adversity, and change with resilient, empathetic, and open minds.
David's approach to his keynotes and training sessions has been called "surprisingly relevant," "an invaluable tool," and "an amazing, accurate breath of fresh air," fusing together real-life stories of mistakes, bombs, and lessons learned while swimming upstream with his sense of humor and conversational style to connect on a deeply human level with audiences across industries. His successes include Fortune 2000 companies, over 100 SHRM chapters, DisruptHR, and more. His work has been featured on HR.com and LinkedIn’s Daily Wrap.
Together with strategic communications firm and perennially top-rated workplace Peppercomm, David has helped develop training programs that combine a mix of stand-up and improvisation exercises to help teams build resilience, break down silos to communicate openly and collaborate without fear, and boost employee engagement. He was chosen to be part of the firm's Laughing Matters Council, a group of leaders from across the humor spectrum providing insights, expertise, and guidance on how to leverage humor in business, as well as helping to contribute to CEO Steve Cody's book, "The ROI Of LOL."
During the height of covid-19, David launched a podcast called “You Can’t Laugh At That,” profiling top comedians’ perspectives on why anything can be funny, and later expanded the humor umbrella to leaders at top-rated workplaces, proving that not only can humor be embraced in a professional setting, but it’s integral to building fast-growing, innovative cultures.
David has performed at comedy clubs and in comedy festivals across the country, including the New York Comedy Festival. As the founder of Water Cooler Comedy, he also produces private, customized stand-up comedy shows featuring some of the national comedy scene's top up-and-coming talent, and is the co-founder and lead booker of Secret Society Comedy, a Cleveland-based pop-up comedy club.
