Joke Category - Man’s inhumanity, A Natural Target

Most of us like to laugh at the other fellow. It makes us feel superior and feeds our egos. Thus, most people laugh at the fellow who’s bashed in the face with a gooey pie or who’s the butt of a story. It’s a little cruel to laugh at the plight of the other fellow, but usually we do.

For example, there’s the story about a man who owed some money to his next-door neighbor. He couldn’t pay the debt so, naturally, he was worried. His wife kept telling him not to worry, but the man worried anyway. Finally the wife said, “You don’t have to worry. I’ll show you. . .” She went to a window and yelled to the neighbor, “Hey, Fred! Do you remember that $100 my husband borrowed from you? Well, he can’t pay you. He’s dead broke!”

She slammed down the window and turned to her husband. “See there? You don’t have to worry. Let him worry!”

An audience will roar at this joke. The laughter is basically directed at the neighbor. There’s no reason why the audience should dislike the neighbor. He had done nothing wrong. Yet the audience will howl at his dilemma. Why? Because of man’s inhumanity to man. Knowing why the audience laughs, you can tell a story more effectively. You can make the butt of the yarn look as ridiculous and stupid as possible. This increases the mirth!

A Natural Target

A tyrant is a natural target. For example, many stories belittling dictators have been told through the years. People laugh because of their contempt for the villain. They get pleasure in seeing him ridiculed.

Another example is a story on a mother-in-law. The latter is proverbially a meddlesome individual. Therefore, people laugh at seeing her taken to task: “I’m here before you with mixed emotions. Sorry about one thing and glad about another. I’m like the fellow who saw his beautiful new car roll off a cliff, with his mother-in-law inside!”

A competitor or his product is a natural target. A wise salesman won’t berate his competitor when talking to a prospect. But there’s nothing wrong with getting in a “dig” or two at a sales meeting.

For instance, “A salesman for one of those cheap imitative products dropped by the other day. He said, ‘The price you’re getting for your merchandise is atrocious!’ “I told him, ‘I can see why you think as you do. For merchandise like yours, the price we’re getting really would be atrocious!’” Adding more coals to the fire: “We know what our product is worth and it is priced accordingly. We presume that the imitators know what their merchandise is worth, and we give them credit for pricing it accordingly!”

Having fully realized that you’re aiming at a natural target, you can fire your guns more effectively. Your choice of words should show contempt. Your tone of voice should ridicule. The audience will be delighted! Be sure your natural target is not present at the meeting. For instance, at a department store sales meeting, the merchandise manager told a joke on an old maid (another natural target). Many people laughed. But the old maids didn’t!

Keywords: Sales, Marketing, Business, Sales Training

Tags: sales meeting

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