If you intend using humor in your talk to make people smile, you must know how t

If you intend using humor in your talk to make peoplesmile, you must know how to identify shared experiences and problems. Yourhumor must be relevant to the audience and should help to show them that youare one of them or that you understand their situation and are in sympathy withtheir point of view. Depending on whom you are addressing, the problems will bedifferent.        

If you are talking to a group of managers, you may referto the disorganized methods of their secretaries; alternatively if you are addressingsecretaries, 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 thesame view of doctors. A man arrives in heaven and is being shown around by St.Peter. He sees wonderful accommodations, beautiful gardens, sunny weather, andso on. Everyone is very peaceful, polite and friendly until, waiting in a linefor 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 tableby himself. "Who is that?" the new arrival asked St. Peter. "Oh,that's God." came the reply, "but sometimes he thinks he's adoctor."

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 commonto all of you and it'll be appropriate for you to make a passing remark aboutthe inedible canteen food or the chairman's notorious bad taste in ties. Withother audiences you mustn't attempt to cut in with humor as they will resent anoutsider making disparaging remarks about their canteen or their chairman. Youwill be on safer ground if you stick to scapegoats like the Post Office or thetelephone system.

If you feel awkward being humorous, you must practice sothat it becomes more natural. Include a few casual and apparently off-the-cuff(即兴的)remarks which you can deliver in arelaxed and unforced manner. Often it's the delivery which causes the audienceto smile, so speak slowly and remember that a raised eyebrow or an unbelievinglook 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 andunderstatements. Look at your talk and pick out a few words or sentences whichyou can turn about and inject with humor.

1.To make your humor work, you should ________.

A. take advantage of different kinds of audience

B. make fun of the disorganized people.

C. address different problems to different people.

D. show sympathy for your listeners.

2.The joke about doctors implies that, in theeyes of nurses, they are ________.

A.impolite to new arrivals.      

B. veryconscious of their godlike role.

C.entitled to some privileges. 

D. verybusy even during lunch hours.

3.It can be inferred from the text that publicservices ________.

A. havebenefited many people.    

B. arethe focus of public attention.

C. are aninappropriate subject for humor.　

D. haveoften been the laughing stock.

4.To achieve the desired result, humorousstories should be delivered ________.

A. inwell-worded language.　            B. as awkwardly as possible.

C. inexaggerated statement.         D. as casually as possible.

5.The best title for the text may be ________.

A. UseHumor Effectively.           B.Various Kinds of Humor.

C. AddHumor to Speech.                D. Different Humor Strategies.

试题答案

【答案】

1.C

2.B

3.D

4.D

5.A