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Laugh at Yourself
Self-deprecation is a sort of humor in which people make jokes about themselves, their shortcoming, or their mistakes. It’s laughing at yourself without concern for damage to your own self-esteem.
Assignment
Think about ways you can laugh at yourself—and invite others to do so as well.
For example, we warm up to people who can say about themselves, “Yes, I’ve been very successful, thanks to sheer dumb luck!”
These kinds of statements also demonstrate an important trait for likability: humility. Humble people are more likable than arrogant people. Really! We’ve all heard about “that arrogant SOB,” but what about “that humble SOB”?
Laughing at yourself makes you human, and that makes you approachable—a good trait to show. ...

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