Networking With The funny
Networking can be BORING . .
especially if you’re giving out the same information and asking the same standard (read: dull) questions. When you meet someone, or introduce a new employee or hand an award to someone, what’s the first bit of information we tend to give out? Jobs, colleges, years with the company, snoreeeee. Yeah, nobody remembers that stuff. So this blog will be a four part blog with, you guessed it, four questions you can ask and/or 4 things you can tell someone about yourself that is funny and that they’ll actually remember.
Question 1: Do they (or you) have interesting, fun
hobbies? Some people really do more than just work. A lady at my program the other week raised Llamas and last week a woman collected tissue paper. The Llamas I kind of understand, but the tissue paper, well, that was a little weird – thanks for sharing! But I guarantee that everyone in the room, including ME,
remembers these women because of their unique hobby.
I watch the Animal Planet show Fatal Attraction.
It’s about people whose hobby is raising exotic animals like monkeys and alligators. That’s fun and memorable, though they usually start with a close-up shot of the person, and then by the end of the program we see a long shot where the person is missing arms and legs. . . but still it’s an interesting show. These animals usually attack, by the way, so I don’t recommend it.
But wouldn’t it be really cool if you found out
that the person you’re talking to is sleeping with a REAL cougar??? Way better than finding out they majored in accounting.
So next time you’re networking, bring up hobbies you’ve
had or ones you know about, and ask the other person about theirs. Funnier
questions = funnier answers.
Stay tuned for the next blog on other funny questions.
Jan
Twist an Idiom
No, not IdioTS,
that’s IdioMS. Those aren’t the people you work with who don’t “get it,” . . .idioms are sayings that we hear constantl. Things like “a penny saved is a penny earned” or “a fool and his money are soon parted.” People are familiar with these sayings, so if you want to do some quick, recognizable humor, then twist them around and have some fun.
A quick Google search
will give you lists and lists and lists of these sayings. Twisting them to mean something else gives people a quick laugh and it’s EASY humor for you. A few idioms that I’ve had fun with as examples in my groups, include:
“A Penny Saved Is A Penny Earned.”
“Hold Your Horses.”
“Rome Was Not Built In One Day”
“Idle Hands Are The Devil’s Tools”
“Money Doesn’t Grow On Trees.”
“A Fool And His Money Are Soon Parted.”
“Everything But The Kitchen Sink.”
“Great Minds Think Alike.”
“It Takes Two To Tango”
“You Can’t Take It With You”
“Pass The Buck”
“Practice Makes Perfect”
Take a problem you’re dealing with
and make your point by twisting an idiom. For example, a technology group I was speaking to had 2 headaches – 1. getting staff to go to training and 2. getting staff to realize that they can’t use unsecure “cloud computing.” So I showed them how to have fun with these idioms, grab people’s attention AND perhaps even get people to listen to their message.
“Idle Hands Are The Devil’s Tools. Come to the technology meeting and be saved!”
“A Penny Saved . ..means you’re not using the newest software. Let us upgrade your system and you’ll save more.”
“Hold Your Horses. We just want you. . .to attend our technology meeting.”
“Rome Was Not Built In One Day. . .probably because they didn’t attend computer training. Come to our meeting and learn!”
“Outdated software usually involves A Fool And His Money. . .meet with us so we can update your computer.”
“This new software has Everything But The Kitchen Sink. . . actually we can probably program it to do your dishes too!”
“Great Minds Think Alike. All others use unsecure cloud services.”
“It Takes Two To Tango . . . it only takes one person to teach you how to use the new technology. Please give me 5 minutes of your time!”
“You Can’t Take it With You. . .but once you learn this cool new software, you might try!”
“Pass The Buck. . .but don’t pass up this tech meeting to learn the new software!”
Once you get the hang of it, you can have a blast changing around idioms.
Jan
Gifts and Jokes
Yes laughing is a gift. .
and sometimes you can use a gift to get a laugh. I don’t mean laughing at gifts people have given you. . .I learned my lesson about that 35 years ago when video cameras first came out. My brother and I stood around the tree on Christmas morning – he filmed while we both cracked jokes about some of the gifts (my mom got a Salad Shooter from my dad – how romantic). Then of course we realized that we couldn’t take it OFF the tape. . it wasn’t digital. . . so nobody could see our work of art! Luckily my dad didn’t know how to run a video camera, so I’m sure our humor is buried in a box in their attic somewhere.
But there are some gifts you CAN have fun with.
I went through an exhibit hall recently in which some exhibitors were giving out pins that had a flashing, strobe-ish light on them. I brought one back to my room that night and then realized a few hours later that there is no place to hide it – it was flashing all night in my room. I finally covered it in a towel, put it in the bathroom trashcan and closed the door. . . unbelievable. BUT the good news was, I had fun with it that night when I emceed the event. I told the exhibitors that it was going to cause us all to have a seizure, and then I described how I hid the light in the towel. . .the audience cracked up. I had hit a nerve because apparently many of them had brought these flashing lights back too . . . and then realized at 3 a.m. that it wasn’t going to stop flashing.. and had then wrapped it in a towel and put it in the bathroom.
And speaking of pins,
I did a show for a group who received pins, and their boss mentioned the surplus in the budget. I had some fun saying how, since they have a surplus, they should have gotten gold bullion in their packets, not pins.
So pay attention to gifts that are being given out to mass groups of people. Chances are, others in the group are having the same experience with the “gift” that you are, and you can have some fun with it.
Jan
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