So you're smart, intense and really good at your job.

But can you laugh in the face of the really stupid stuff that life tosses your way?

Try to learn to, even if it's Just because you think it'll help your career.

'People who enjoy working with you will help you be successful, ' professional speaker Jeanne Robertson said, in an encouraging, southern accent sort of way.

Robertson, in town talking about this very topic, says you could have a problem if your co-workers don't much like being around you.

Don't think !t matters? Think of that moment when everyone is stressed out, working overtime things are not going well. Somebody really blew it, and now everyone else is paying for the screw-up. Consider this a leadership opportunity.

"The leader can either get angry or fall apart,.. or see the humor in It and keep going." said Robertson. "That will influence people. And you'll get your job done"

Robertson takes her own sense of humor all over the country to business groups who've probably attended more serious sessions -- perhaps on maximizing their sales potential or learning the latest advances in desktop PC technology - but who need a short refresher course on a true survival skill.

Today, members of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Public Relations Society of America will get the refresher course when Robertson addresses the group at the Engineers' society of Western Pennsylvania, Downtown.

Robertson doesn't care if you can't tell jokes. All she asks is that you be able to laugh at yourself and find the humor in stressful situations.

A woman who rose to 6-feet-2 at age 13, Robertson figured out early that you just can't change some things so you might as well chortle about them. These days, she gets a chuckle because she still gets noticed for being Miss Congeniality .in the 1963 Miss America pageant even though she's spent a lot more time working as a teacher, speaker and author.

There's hope for the humor-impaired. The first step in THE recovery process is to take a look at yourself and accept the things that you're stuck with, Smile and move on.

Next, try to find something funny every day. 0h, go ahead, try. If you work with people, there has to something silly going on.

Robertson sometimes tries to see the events around her as scenes in a TV sitcom. There's usually plenty of Material.

You don't have to do this alone. She suggests finding a humor buddy. "You begin thinking, 'Wait until I tell her about this, Instead of getting upset

Perhaps the real tragedy is that not enough people are teaching this skill to their children. Robertson suggests parents spend a little less time asking about the spelling test and a little more asking if anything funny happened at school today. It may not be good for only the kids, but also for their parents careers, too.

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