RELATIONSHIPS Humor and Relationships Whether it’s doing an icebreaker for a new team or sharing a story with just one other person, humor can help foster and strengthen relationships. Humor helps build rapport and trust among individuals and groups and also makes your day a little more fun. For this book, we’re going to think about relationships in the context of how they are created, built, and maintained, as defined below: • Icebreakers – Activities used to help make introductions, to turn strangers into acquaintances. • Networking – Activities used to further introductions beyond a one-time meeting, turning acquaintances into contacts. • Community Building – Activities used to build the overall sense of community within a large group of people or company. • Team-Building – Activities used to build the relationships within a team to improve overall effectiveness through strengthened personal connections. • 1on1 – Activities used at the most intimate level, helping to build and continue a relationship once it has been established. With these contexts in mind, here are 100 ways to use humor to build relationships. 61