Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
By Larry Wilde
A bunch of San Quentin cons met in the recreation hall for their
evenings relaxation. Suddenly one prisoner stood up and exclaimed,
72! Everybody laughed.
Another inmate got to his feet and yelled, 53! All the men guffawed. A
third convict brought down the house just by shouting, 86!
Weasel McCall, a new arrival at the prison turned to Lefty Lanier, a
lifer, and inquired, Whats going on?
Were tellin jokes! he replied. Instead of tellin a yarn all the boys
already know, we just yell out a number from our joke books... Saves
time.
Anxious to get in good with the guys, Weasel stood up and shouted,
22! Nothing happened. Again he tried, 17! Silence.
So Weasel asked Lefty, How come they didnt laugh?
Kid, the jokes are all right, said the con, but you just dont know
how to tell them.
The old adage its not what you say but how you say it, is the very
essence of communicating humor. Tone of voice is all-important. People
respond more to the tone than to the words. The funniest joke in the
world will not receive its just due when obstructed by poor delivery.
Competency is conveyed.
The audience senses that the speaker knows what he or she is doing.
Self-assurance is perceived and the humorist gains respect. People
willingly dismiss whatever reservations or doubts they might have had.
They feel safe and comfortable. The presenter becomes their leader,
their guide, their guru, a person they can admire.
An audience will eagerly and anxiously surrender its emotions to
someone they trust. A strong, dynamic style captivates an audience. It
conveys confidence and believability. But most of all, good delivery
makes a statement: I am competent, skilled and gifted.
Of course, you just dont wake up one morning having automatically
acquired a good delivery. It doesnt happen overnight. It takes years of
concentrated effort and continuous rehearsal. However, there is a way to
speed up the process by learning and practicing four basic techniques
essential in achieving a good delivery: gestures, body movement, facial
expressions and vocal variety.
ELEMENTS OF GOOD DELIVERY
Gestures.
The calculated use of hands and arms is invaluable. Pointing a finger,
making a fist, holding up the hands or waving the arms at an appropriate
moment, helps to accentuate the meaning of what youre trying to
convey. The gesture is the speakers picture-painting device, and the
premiere technique for reaching across the distance between you and the
audience. Gestures demonstrate. They dramatically illustrate and
emphasize what you are saying. Gesticulating at the right time helps
generate bigger laughs.
For a real education in the art of gesturing, watch the great pantomimist,
Marcel Marceau. After an evening with this French virtuoso, youll very
quickly understand and appreciate the importance of movement. It is the
bodys silent articulation.
Body movement.
The acts of posturing, posing, strutting, staggering, shrugging,
bending, kneeling, leaning or bowing assist in creating the word pictures
you are trying to paint. Body language is the message behind the words.
Its been said that true communication is:
7% words,
38% voice quality,
55% body language.
Facial expressions.
The simple raising of an eyebrow, squinting, sneering, smiling,
grinning, or any use of facial muscles, provides an additional dynamic
dimension to what you are saying. You help the joke with action. An
animated, expressive face prompts listeners to laughter.
Vocal variety.
Lowering or raising the pitch of your voice, speaking louder or softer,
saying something sweetly, respectfully, angrily, shouting, whispering or
pausing for effect, are attention getters. Imagine how flat music would
sound if it had no dynamics no exciting crescendos or breathless
pianissimos. In the same manner that dynamics add fire to music, vocal
variety adds excitement to the spoken word. A well-modulated voice is
stimulating and evocative, whereas a dull monotone speaker is a boring
communicator with a ho-hum delivery.
Spending a few minutes every day on perfecting each of these
techniques will lead to a more polished and professional delivery.
However, theres still one other technical skill that is absolutely vital to
mastering the art of storytelling, and that is timing.
Joke telling requires good timing. Without it, the laugh could be
completely lost. On the other hand, when the audience is laughing, if
you start speaking before the laugh begins to diminish, the response will
be shortened, cut off. This is known as stepping on the laugh.
Good timing gets good results. Jack Benny, perhaps more than any
other comedian, was recognized as the master of this technique. In the
interview with Jack for my book, Great Comedians Talk About Comedy,
I asked him his thoughts on timing.
A good joke without timing means nothing, Jack replied. Very often
good timing is not so much knowing when to speak but knowing when
to pause.
The same question to Bob Hope produced this reply: At times I have
good material and at other times I have great material, but I know how to
cover up the merely good and make it sound great by timing.
Interest is aroused.
The way in which something is said directly affects how the listener
responds. When speech tempo is varied and significant pauses are
employed at the proper points, words are underscored and the listener
sees mental images more clearly. Good timing makes any speaker, even
a novice, more colorful, appealing and entertaining.
Articulate clearly.
Enunciate plainly and distinctly so that each member of the audience
can grasp every word that is being uttered. Slurred or mumbled words
confuse listeners. Good diction boosts the chances of getting big laughs.
Speaking so that everyone can follow from point to point insures that no
one will ever be forced to ask, What did he say? I didnt get it.
Shakespeare offers sound advice: Hamlet instructs a group of traveling
actors who arrive at the castle to perform before the king and queen,
Speak the speech, I pray you, trippingly on the tongue ... Nor do not
saw the air too much with your hand but use all gently ... you must
acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness.
In other words ...
These final words from the Bard of Avon: Brevity is the soul of wit.