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If you intend using humor in your talk to make people smile, you must know how to identify shared experiences and problems. Your humor must be relevant to the audience and should help to show them that you are one of them or that you understand their situation and are in sympathy with their point of view. Depending on whom you are addressing, the problems will be different. If you are talking to a group of managers, you may refer to the disorganized methods of their secretaries; alternatively if you are addressing secretaries, you may want to comment on their disorganized bosses.
Here is an example, which I heard at a nurses' convention, of a story which works well because the audience all shared the same view of doctors. A man arrives in heaven and is being shown around by St. Peter. He sees wonderful accommodations, beautiful gardens, sunny weather, and so on. Everyone is very peaceful, polite and friendly until, waiting in a line for lunch, the new arrival is suddenly pushed aside by a man in a white coat, who rushes to the head of the line, grabs his food and stomps over to a table by himself. "Who is that?" the new arrival asked St. Peter. "On, that's God," came the reply, "but sometimes he thinks he's a doctor."
If you are part of the group which you are addressing, you will be in a position to know the experiences and problems which are common to all of you and it'll be appropriate for you to make a passing remark about the inedible canteen food or the chairman's notorious bad taste in ties. With other audiences you mustn't attempt to cut in with humor as they will resent an outsider making disparaging remarks about their canteen or their chairman. You will be on safer ground if you stick to scapegoats like the Post Office or the telephone system.
If you feel awkward being humorous, you must practice so that it becomes more natural. Include a few casual and apparently off-the-cuff remarks which you can deliver in a relaxed and unforced manner. Often it's the delivery which causes the audience to smile, so speak slowly and remember that a raised eyebrow or an unbelieving look may help to show that you are making a light-hearted remark.
Look for the humor. It often comes from the unexpected. A twist on a familiar quote "If at first you don't succeed, give up" or a play on words or on a situation. Search for exaggeration and understatements. Look at your talk and pickout a few words or sentences which you can turn about and inject with humor. |
如果你想在談話中用幽默來使人發(fā)笑，你就必須知道如何發(fā)現(xiàn)與聽眾享有的共同經(jīng)歷和共同問題。你的幽默一定要與聽眾有關(guān)，能夠向他們顯示你是他們的一員，或者你了解他們的情況且贊同他們的觀點(diǎn)。根據(jù)與你談話對(duì)象的不同，問題也應(yīng)有所不同。如果你在和一群經(jīng)理談話，你就可以評(píng)論他們秘書的工作方法雜亂無章；相反，如果你在和一群秘書談話，你就可以評(píng)論她們老板的工作方法如何雜亂。
下面舉一個(gè)例子，是我在一個(gè)護(hù)士大會(huì)上聽到的故事。這個(gè)故事效果很好，因?yàn)樗械穆牨妼?duì)醫(yī)生都有同樣的看法。一個(gè)人到了天堂，由圣彼得帶領(lǐng)他四處參觀。他看到了豪華的住宅、美麗的花園、晴朗的天氣等等。大家都很安靜、禮貌和友善。然而當(dāng)這位新來的人在排隊(duì)等候午餐時(shí)，突然被一位穿白大褂的人推到一旁。只見這人擠到了隊(duì)伍的前面，抓起他的食物，噔噔地旁若無人地走到一張餐桌旁吃起來。"這是誰啊？"新來的人問圣彼得。"哦，那是上帝，"他回答說，"但有時(shí)他也覺得自己是一名醫(yī)生。"
如果你與聽眾們來自同一個(gè)群體，你就能夠了解你們所共有的經(jīng)歷和問題，你就可對(duì)餐廳難以下咽的食物或者總裁在選擇領(lǐng)帶方面差勁品味加以評(píng)頭論足。而對(duì)于其他聽眾，你就不能試圖貿(mào)然地講這種幽默，因?yàn)樗麄円苍S不喜歡外人對(duì)他們的餐廳或總裁作如此微詞。如果你選擇去評(píng)論郵局或電話局這樣的替罪羊，那就比較安全。
如果你在使用幽默時(shí)感到很別扭，你應(yīng)該進(jìn)行練習(xí)以變得更加自然。你可以用輕松的、不做作的方式說一些很隨便的、看上去是即興的話。使聽眾發(fā)笑的往往是你的說話方式，因此要說慢一些，并且記住揚(yáng)揚(yáng)眉毛或者做出一種不相信的表情，這些都會(huì)向人們顯示你正在說笑話。
平時(shí)要留意幽默，它常常是在出其不意的時(shí)候出現(xiàn)。它可以是對(duì)一句常言的歪曲，比如"你要是一開始不成功，就放棄"，或者是戲謔語言和情景。留意夸大其詞和輕描淡寫的話。考慮一下你的談話，選出一些詞匯和句子來，將它們顛倒秩序反復(fù)揣摩，并注入一些幽默。 |
