What’s Your Goal???
Goal-Talk
As we cruise into the new year, “goal-talk” is in the air. . .weight loss, exercise, making a bazillion bucks. You name it, we can turn it into a goal. Well, when you’re writing humor, you have to also ask yourself, what is your goal? Are you looking for a HUGE laugh to follow some big event or just a chuckle to get everyone relaxed? When I opened for Julio Iglesias this past year, I THOUGHT it was to warm up the crowd. One minute in, I realized I was there more to settle them down. People were still eating, the wait staff was clearing dishes, and basically I realized that Julio didn’t want to go out to that – that’s why they hired me. Once I realized the goal – that I wasn’t there to get HUGE laughs – I was able to settle down and just enjoy being on stage.
What do you want to doooo
So when you sit down to write some funny material, decide in advance what are you really trying to do? Some goals you might have for the joke: A transition from one speaker or segment of the program to another A tension reliever to get people to move on from a tough topic A stalling joke while people are finishing up dinner A killer line for following something really spectacular That doesn’t mean that you write lame jokes because you’re just looking for a tension reliever versus a killer line, BUT it will take the pressure off trying to come up with a killer line if you really don’t need one.
- Me & 3 nieces/nephew (Sandy, Patrick & Abigail) set a goal of cooking xmas eve dinner for 19. A success!
And, as you’re writing, you may realize that a chuckle line you came up with will suffice – so you can save yourself a little time as well!
Jan
My Best Tip For Humor Writing
I gave my Finding the Funny in Communications keynote yesterday, and once again I had to point out to people that you don’t have to be “born funny” to add humor to your communications. So many times we’re waiting for “permission” to use humor. . .when in fact most people will appreciate that you’re trying to use humor in your communications and lighten things up. . .even if it doesn’t hit. I had dinner with a friend I hadn’t seen in almost 35 years this week (thanks to Facebook!) and I was reminded that I was never the “class clown” in school and that “comedian” was not something people would have associated with me. And my friend was right – I wasn’t really funny, though I am now (even my friend said how funny I was).
Why did I do it?
That’s because I wanted to be funny, and I spent time learning about humor and how to do it. Using humor in written and verbal communications has soooo many benefits (to be addressed in a later blog), but many times because no one has told us that we’re naturally funny, then we don’t do it. Coming up with humor is more of a commitment to looking for the humor than it is a statement about “funny skills” you may possess. Hey I went to the same public high school in Virginia as Sandra Bullock, Shirley MacClaine and Warren Beatty, and I don’t think any of them won acting awards. . . though I could be wrong, but I remember teachers saying that warren was into sports (Sandra was a few years after me – but my younger sister Brenda has her signature in her yearbook!!!).
My biggest writing tip. . .
So my biggest humor writing tip would be to TRY IT. Don’t wait for people to tell you it’s okay. . . it’s funner to have them tell you how funny you are and that they never realized it. I had to sound like a commercial for a sneaker, but JUST DO IT! Jan www.JanBlog.com – read about my meeting with Liz after almost 35 years! www.TheWorkLady.com – my website with new pics of a program I did last week!
Joking About People
Thanksgiving & Your Crazy Relatives!
With Thanksgiving coming up, there is a TON of joke material that will write itself – just the crap that crazy/drunk/oblivious relatives are going to do, will keep you laughing for hours. Well, joking about people isn’t limited to drunk Uncle Charley passing out in the cranberry sauce. You can have fun with people at business events who aren’t related to you. Two groups of people we can joke about:
Vendors/sponsors.
They love it because they never get any recognition aside from like a sentence or two of “thanks” for sending a boatload of money. If you can work in something funny about their product, they will love you. A few years ago I had fun with Duke the Dog from Bush Beans fame. Later the VP caught up with me in the parking lot. As he rolled down the window of his stretch limo, I thought I was in trouble. Instead he was laughing. He said something to the effect of. . . thanks for joking about that dog, that dog has made us a lot of money. We appreciate the extra publicity.
Visible people/Management.
People who are visible in the organization, like volunteers who are elected for a term, or the staff in upper management are used to the limelight, and they even expect it. So having fun with them is usually okay. I’ve had CEOs thank me afterwards because my joking with them showed the rest of the staff that they are approachable and are a “regular” person. And the volunteer leaders usually enjoy the extra attention as well. . .hey, they got active because they WANT to be visible, so help them out a little.
Regular Employees.
I don’t joke too much with regular employees. They don’t want to look goofy in front of their boss, and generally if they’re being ribbed about some incident, they’ve probably heard it A LOT. This isn’t to say you can’t joke with them, but don’t wear the topic out AND be ready to abandon the jokes if the person looks too uncomfortable.
Goofing around with people is a great way to connect
Jan
The next blog entry. . .Now that it’s okay to joke about people. . .how do you write jokes about them.
I rarely pass along funny sites, but if you haven’t heard about Funny or Die, you’re missing out. Some of the videos are a little too riskee (spelling??), but they really do have some good, original stuff.
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