Sherry Taylor

Q: New VA research says that when you’re meeting someone for the first time or trying to repair an old friendship, you should do this?

A: Make them laugh

Here is a fun and easy little trick to be the person everyone likes: Share a laugh. Whether you’re meeting someone for the first time or want to strengthen an existing friendship that has faltered, say something that will make you both laugh. That’s the word from researchers at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, who analyzed more than 5,500 social interactions and determined that sharing a laugh with someone now is an excellent predictor of social rewards later whether it be a friendship or a relationship between work colleagues, reports Prevention magazine. while using laughter as a foundation for a healthy relationship is old hat, what’s new about this research is that it focuses on how today’s laugh can impact something that may happen a month from now. For example, share a laugh with a client today, and you may have a better chance of closing the deal next week.

Latest Stories

7 hours ago in Entertainment, Music

YouTube sensation Ms. Rachel announces debut album with Mr. Aron, ‘I’m So Happy’

Parents of toddlers everywhere, prepare yourselves. YouTube sensation and music teacher Ms. Rachel and her husband, Aron Accurso, will release their debut album, the 23-track "I'm So Happy," on Sept. 25.

7 hours ago in Entertainment, Music

Blues ‘enthusiast’ Morgan Freeman’s album covers 100 years of the genre

It happened out of necessity. Academy Award-winner Morgan Freeman was in Clarksdale, Mississippi, 25 years ago when some out-of-towners asked where they could hear blues music. Musicians were abundant; venues were not.

1 day ago in Entertainment

Ben Jones, good ol’ boy ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ actor and 2-term US House member, dies at 84

Ben Jones, who played the good ol' boy mechanic in "The Dukes of Hazzard" TV series and parlayed his fame into a political career and two terms in the U.S. House, has died. He was 84.

1 day ago in Entertainment

Blink-182’s Travis Barker almost died. A new documentary celebrates his life before and after

The inferno rages onscreen three minutes into " Travis Barker: Louder Than Fear." Dashcam footage lifted from a police car shows the blaze: It's 2008, and Barker has survived a plane crash in South Carolina. Four others did not.