Use the puns and Note the laughing mood that misses the serious points

A pun is a play on words, words that have the same sound but a different meaning. Or a pun may involve different applications of a word.

A nightclub comic will use every wile to capture his audience, even the lowly pun: “Our next number is entitled, ‘Suffering In The Wigwams,’ or ‘Her Torture Was Intense!’ ” and “Or as one strawberry said to the other, ‘If we hadn’t been in the same bed together, we wouldn’t be in this jam now.’” The pun is sometimes referred to as the lowest form of humor. That’s because it traps the listener. To some degree it makes a dupe of him. A pun goes over best if related to the sentence preceding it. Regardless, it takes a very high degree of skill to use a pun effectively. Even the professional comedians often fall flat. Therefore, go easy on the puns.

Be careful of the tendency to associate

A speaker might pop three or four funny stories in a row. This causes the audience to become more and more relaxed. People laugh harder when they’ve been put in a laughing mood. But look out! When you leave the humor, the audience may snicker at something of a serious nature. That’s because they’re in a laughing mood-you’ve put them there. Thus, your transition to something more serious should be clearly understood.

For example, it could be prefaced with something like, “We can laugh all we want to. But seriously, folks . . .” By bringing them back down to earth before getting serious, you avoid the embarrassment of people laughing in the wrong places.

There’s also another tendency to associate. The tendency to associate actions and props with those previously used. For instance, a speaker started his talk, while wearing an old looking hat. He cracked several jokes about it. Then he bridged into his point skillfully. And, as he became serious, he removed the hat. Near the end he donned the hat again. This was a mistake. The audience associated it with the funny stories told earlier. They laughed just as he was restating his point with a plea for action. The result was a poor ending to an otherwise excellent speech.

So be certain that the serious sections of your speech are sufficiently disassociated from the humor. A laugh in the wrong place makes the speaker look weak. Additional tips on humor are contained in the chapter on “How To Emcee A Sales Meeting.” Some vital suggestions can be found there.

How to put humor in a speech?

* How to Tell Stories Effectively
* Use the Four Basic Platforms for Humor
* Have a Double Barrel Appeal
* Where to Find Funny Stories
* How to Relate Humor to the Rest of Your Speech
* Go Easy on the Pun Be Careful of the Tendency to Associate

Keywords: Sales, Marketing, Business, Sales Training

Tags: sales meeting

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