[00:03.99]2002 Text1
[00:11.17]If you intend using humor in your talk to make people smile,
[00:16.11]you must know how to identify
[00:18.34]shared experiences and problems.
[00:21.06]Your humor must be relevant to the audience and
[00:24.18]should help to show them that you are one of them
[00:26.81]or that you understand their situation and are in sympathy
[00:30.74]with their point of view.
[00:32.75]Depending on whom you are addressing,
[00:35.07]the problems will be different.
[00:37.38]If you are talking to a group of managers,
[00:39.61]you may refer to the disorganized methods of
[00:42.23]their secretaries;
[00:43.84]alternatively if you are addressing secretaries,
[00:47.67]you may want to comment on their disorganized bosses.
[00:52.21]Here is an example, which I heard at a nurses' convention,
[00:55.94]of a story which works well because the audience all shared
[00:59.47]the same view of doctors.
[01:01.99]A man arrives in heaven
[01:03.90]and is being shown around by St.Peter.
[01:07.04]He sees wonderful accommodations, beautiful gardens,
[01:10.97]sunny weather, and so on.
[01:14.09]Everyone is very peaceful, polite and friendly until,
[01:19.45]waiting in a line for lunch,
[01:21.78]the new arrival is suddenly pushed
[01:23.78]aside by a man in a white coat,
[01:26.09]who rushes to the head of the line,
[01:28.11]grabs his food and stomps over to a table by himself.
[01:32.71]"Who is that?" the new arrival asked St. Peter.
[01:36.24]"Oh, that's God," came the reply,
[01:39.57]"but sometimes he thinks he's a doctor."
[01:43.12]If you are part of the group which you are addressing,
[01:46.14]you will be in a position to know
[01:47.91]the experiences and problems
[01:50.43]which are common to all of you
[01:52.85]and it'll be appropriate for you to make a passing remark
[01:56.48]about the inedible canteen food
[01:58.90]or the chairman's notorious bad taste in ties.
[02:02.52]With other audiences
[02:04.85]you mustn't attempt to cut in with humor
[02:07.48]as they will resent
[02:08.44]an outsider making disparaging remarks
[02:11.07]about their canteen or their chairman.
[02:14.50]You will be on safer ground
[02:16.42]if you stick to scapegoats like the Post Office
[02:19.64]or the telephone system.
[02:21.66]If you feel awkward being humorous,
[02:24.58]you must practice so that it becomes more natural.
[02:27.71]Include a few casual and apparently off-the-cuff remarks
[02:32.24]which you can deliver in a relaxed and unforced manner.
[02:36.17]Often it's the delivery which causes the audience to smile,
[02:40.51]so speak slowly and remember that a raised eyebrow
[02:43.93]or an unbelieving look
[02:46.05]may help to show
[02:47.26]that you are making a light-hearted remark.
[02:50.60]Look for the humor.
[02:52.11]It often comes from the unexpected.
[02:54.63]A twist on a familiar quote
[02:57.56]"If at first you don't succeed, give up"
[03:01.10]or a play on words or on a situation.
[03:04.82]Search for exaggeration and understatements.
[03:09.15]Look at your talk and pick out a few words
[03:11.88]or sentences which you can turn about
[03:13.79]and inject with humor.
