There is a message in the silly game, said Joel Zeff, a motivational speaker brought in to rally Lennox's annual sales meeting at Paris Las Vegas: Pay attention to details.

"If you're in the moment, you're going to know exactly what information they (clients, employees, etc.) need to be successful," he said. "What makes them happy, what makes them work? What do they need? That's what good, detailed information is about."

Although Zeff's bespectacled, clean-cut demeanor is unassuming, he is reminiscent of Dana Carvey of TV's "Saturday Night Live" fame. He started out as a newspaper reporter in Dallas, moving later into public relations, then advertising. He's written "Make the Right Choice: Creating a Positive, Innovative and Productive Work Life."

Throughout the hour, Zeff communicated his message through comedic improvisation, pulling volunteers from the audience to give examples of the messages he wanted to relay.

Although his message was tailored toward Lennox's sales team, in many ways, it could apply to just about any workplace.

Following Zeff's lead, the audience, with their hands open and palms facing forward, collectively placed their thumbs to their temples, turned to each other and said, "Bunny, bunny, bunny!" (Keep in mind, these are grown-ups we're talking about.) Just about every person in the room participated.

"Because we're all supporting each other and didn't judge each other, that's how we did it," he said. "We created an environment of support and it's a really powerful thing. If we work together and we build these bonds ... we really can accomplish a lot of things."

This includes giving yourself a pat on the back for a job well done. "As soon as you get to work, say, 'Boy, am I good!' " he said. "Hopefully, every day you go to work, somebody gives you a round of applause.

"We all want to be happy and energized and have passion. If we don't have any passion, we don't have any fuel."

Another one of Zeff's skits involved two Lennox workers puppeteering another colleague and Zeff, acting as cooks, who could only move as their puppeteers moved them.

Following the skit, Zeff brought forward another of his messages: As long as you stay in the game, you will be successful. As soon as you quit, the game falls apart.

"Staying in the game is hard. Quitting is easy," he said. "Don't be afraid to take a risk, don't be afraid to try something different.

"But some days you get frustrated, you're just hating it, you build stress. The next thing you know, you've got that stress and that frustration.

"(If) we don't have any passion, we don't have any people. We don't have any people to make it happen."

The first exercise Zeff led the group in, following the bunny incident, involved three colleagues and Zeff acting in an improvised skit involving an imagined car and exaggerated emotions assigned to the four players. The audience howled in laughter as the quartet spoke off the cuff.

"I gave them something, and you gave them something," Zeff said following the skit. "I gave them opportunity. Opportunity to work together as a team, opportunity to be creative, opportunity to communicate, to be successful."

And the audience?

"You gave them positive support. Your laughter and applause helped build their confidence. Did you notice the more you laughed and applauded, the more they did? And did you notice the more you laughed and applauded, the more productive they became? It's a pretty amazing chemistry."

And really, Zeff said, that's what we all want in the workplace.

Nevada's unemployment rate reached 5.8 percent in December, its highest since April 2002, when the national unemployment rate was 5 percent, Bill Anderson, chief economist of the state's Employment, Training and Rehabilitation Department, said in a release.

"Although population growth in the state has slowed, Nevada's labor force has increased by about 25,000 since June," Anderson said. "The economy has been unable to absorb the new workers, however, and the ranks of the unemployed have swelled by about 14,000."