Sales Meeting

To become skilled at telling a funny story, one should know the basis for humor. He should know why people are expected to laugh at a joke. Armed with this knowledge, he can more effectively appeal to the reason for laughing.

The basis of nearly every joke will fall in one or more of four categories:

1. Man’s inhumanity to man.
2. A natural target.
3. The unexpected.
4. Sex.

Let’s discuss each of these. First, what is meant by man’s in¬humanity to man?

Man’s Inhumanity to Man

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 hit 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 laugh 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 laugh 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 salesperson 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 salesperson 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!
 
The Unexpected

People can be made to laugh when surprised. Apparently it’s fun to be fooled, because the unexpected has been the basis for many jokes. For instance . . .

“A man was on top of a tall building, ready to jump off. A policeman saw him and said, ‘Hey, wait a minute! You don’t want to do that. Let’s talk this thing over.’
“So they talked it over for three or four minutes. Then they both jumped off!”

OR

“A sales trainer had finished a lecture and was attempting to start group discussion. He asked for questions or comments, but none were forthcoming. Again he asked, ‘Questions or comments, if you will please.’ But a deadly silence ensued.

“When everyone became a bit embarrassed, the trainer quipped, ‘All right. Thank you very much for all those fine questions and comments. Now we’ll go on to the next subject.’
“The audience laughed. The tension was broken. A lively discussion followed, simply because the trainer had said the unexpected.

Another illustration: “Everyone on this side of the room who likes pie, please raise your hand … if you like ice cream, raise your hands.” The speaker points to one side of the room, then the other. “I now pronounce you pie a la mode!”

They’ll laugh gustily, since it’s the unexpected.  When selling a laugh on this basis, make the turn of events as completely unexpected as possible. Phrase your remarks in such a way that the audience is taken fully by surprise. You then have maximum effectiveness.

Sex

Since the day of Adam and Eve, sex has served as the foundation for funny stories. The sex urge is both fundamental and intriguing. Since you’ve doubtless heard many jokes on the subject, elaborating hardly seems necessary.
 
Here’s one that regales an audience: “Years ago I was working in a little country store when a lady came in, who wanted to buy a dress. Having selected one, she asked if she might try it on.
“As I said, it was a little country store. We didn’t have a dressing room. We had simply a curtain in the rear of the building.

“The lady stepped behind the curtain, and I handed her the dress. At that moment the boss walked up and said, ‘Bill, if I catch you trying to peek while this lady tries on that dress, I’m going to fire you!’
“Now, after I lost that job . . . (!)”

The foregoing leaves something to the imagination. This is much preferred to an uncouth story or one containing profanity. Vulgarity cheapens any story. In effect, it weakens the position of the speaker; it depreciates him in the mind of the audience.

A professional speaker has often told of a food salesperson, a liquor salesperson, and a mattress salesperson. The food salesperson said, “I hate to see a woman dine alone.” The liquor salesperson said, “If there’s anything I hate, it’s to see a woman drink alone.”
And the mattress salesperson said not a word!

Sales Meeting Speaking

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