We all know that humor is good for you. It is well known that lighthearted laughter will regulate one's blood pressure, accelerate recovery from illness and decrease stress in the workplace. In other words, laughter can be good medicine.

It's true that all cultures enjoy humor and laughter, but how people perceive humor is culture specific. With increasing cultural diversity in the workplace, we need to keep in mind that humor is meant to be funny, not insulting. What perceived as funny in one culture might not be understood or might even be insulting in another. Some cultures use sarcastic or put-down humor in conversations so as to tease each other. Other cultures do not use sarcastic humor and find this type of humor offensive. Often in a diverse gathering an inappropriate joke may misfire. So I do not recommend poke fun at other groups and individuals in professional and business gatherings.

How to determine what kind of humor is appropriate?

If you want some fun, have it at your own expense - the safest type of humor is self-depreciating humor. Do not tell jokes related to physical appearance like a person's height, weight or the size of their nose and the like. Keep in mind that humor does not translate well because very often it is based on word plays or puns, and these do not translate easily into another language. Do not tell political, religious, ethnic, racial jokes other jokes that ridicule peoples' beliefs or affiliations or even accents. In one organization, I recently presented a manager was demoted for repeatedly ridiculing an employee's accent. As you can see, sometimes "humor" is no funny business!

Know what, when, where, who, and how to kid around appropriately in the workplace.

Nara Venditti, Ph.D., is a platform speaker, educator and author. She is the president of Succeed in America, LLC and author of "How to Get A Job in the USA " and "Ameri$peak". She is an expert in foreign born employee development, cultural diversity, cross-cultural communication and business English and a frequent presenter at Conferences, Companies and educational institutions. She speaks on careers, communication and diversity.

She can be reached at +1-203-791-1107 or http://www.SucceedinAmerica.com.

Succeed in America Books http://www.succeedinamerica.com/books.html.

How To Get A Job in the USA: a step-by-step guide on how to get employed in the USA
AMERI$PEAK: The Most Important Words You Need to Know to Communicate Effectively in the American Business.