Chapter 11 Chapter 10 The Art of Humor: Humor Brings Good Mood and Luck

Most people like to get along with humorous people.In the West, a person without a sense of humor is simply a pronoun for unattractive and stupid.Humorous leaders are more likely to bond with subordinates than staid and serious managers.Experienced leaders know that in order to make subordinates around them work together with them, it is necessary to make their image more friendly through humor. Humor can not only bring laughter and joy to our lives, but also enable us to broaden our interpersonal relationships, increase our talents, and achieve success in the course of life.American psychologist Herd True wrote a book called "Humor is Power".Humor, he argues, is the art of using your sense of humor to improve your relationships with others and increase your honest evaluation of yourself.

Humor can play the following roles in management work: 1.Can strengthen faith, boost morale, lift spirits, and dispel doubts During the American Civil War, when McClellan's troops suffered consecutive defeats, in order to revive the military, Lincoln visited the troops in person to comfort the officers and soldiers.Lincoln learned that officers mistook the enemy for three times as many troops as they did, and they were discouraged and lacked confidence.Therefore, at the officer meeting, when a reporter asked how many people the enemy had, Lincoln replied without hesitation: "1.2 million!" The reporters and officers were all surprised: "Where did the 1.2 million come from?" Lincoln explained. : "Whenever our generals lose a battle, they always think that the enemy's strength is three to four times that of ours. Now our strength is 400,000. Then, if we calculate by three times, isn't it 1.2 million?"

Lincoln implicitly and tactfully criticized the officers for their blind complaints and panic, helped the generals understand the situation, and inspired everyone's determination to defeat the enemy and defend the federal government. 2.Increase the prestige of the leader Humor not only brings us joy and laughter, but also contains a power that helps to enhance the prestige of managers. At a press conference of Premier Zhou, a western reporter asked maliciously: "Mr. Premier, are there prostitutes in China?" "Yes." This answer caused a commotion in the audience, and Premier Zhou continued: "In Taiwan Province of China." As soon as the words fell, the audience burst into applause.This kind of witty and humorous answer not only showed the ingenuity of a politician, but also won honor for the Chinese people in foreign affairs.

3.Regulate interpersonal relationship There is no world without contradictions, and in interpersonal relationships, contradictions and conflicts are inevitable.When there are some unpleasant things between subordinates and subordinates, proper humor skills can sometimes quickly resolve such conflicts and make interpersonal relationships harmonious and smooth again. Humor is the expression of a person's wisdom, and it is the crystallization of talents in cultivation, knowledge, and character.Don't underestimate those short and humorous impromptu sentences, which contain the speaker's hard work, studiousness, extensive knowledge, and accumulated hard work.A manager can only truly learn the art of humor if he is good at learning, observing, accumulating, constantly enriching and enriching himself.

Many important figures in American history, such as Lincoln, Roosevelt, Wilson, etc., are humorous people.Once, Lincoln was walking and talking with a friend. When they walked to the corridor, a group of soldiers who had been waiting for a long time to receive the president's speech cheered in unison.The friend hadn't realized that he should back away. At this time, an adjutant stepped forward to remind him to back away. At this time, he realized his impoliteness and blushed immediately, but Lincoln smiled and said: " Mr. Brand, you have to know that maybe they still can't tell who is the president!" Such a simple sentence immediately broke the awkward atmosphere of the scene.

People should be kind to themselves, to others, to the failures, pains, and even physical defects in life.If you look at it from another angle and treat it with a relaxed attitude, it may brighten your life and make your originally melancholy mood as clear as the dark clouds in the sky being blown away.A fat female politician in the United States made fun of herself in her campaign speech: "I once wore a white swimsuit and swam in the sea, but I attracted Soviet bombers, thinking they had spotted an American warship." The audience laughed loudly. laugh.As a result, obesity became her hallmark, giving her an edge in the race.

Intensified competition, economic turmoil, corporate employees are facing extraordinary pressure.How to maintain the morale of employees while stimulating their creativity and "thinking outside the box" is more important than ever for companies. Using humor to manage, managers can often achieve very good results.Some well-known multinational companies, from the president to the general department managers, have begun to integrate humor into daily management activities and use it as a new training method. Everyone likes to get along with people who are humorous. In the West, without a sense of humor is simply synonymous with unattractive and stupid.A humorous supervisor is more likely to bond with subordinates than a staid and serious one.Experienced executives know that it is necessary to humanize their image through humor in order for those around them to work with them.How can I make myself a humorous supervisor?

Read widely and broaden your knowledge.The more knowledge you have accumulated, the more confident you will be when you come into contact with all kinds of people on various occasions. Cultivate noble tastes and optimistic beliefs.A narrow-minded, negative-minded person does not have a sense of humor; humor belongs to those who are broad-minded and zestful about life. Improve observation and imagination, and be good at using associations and metaphors.As a business executive, you must consciously train your response and resilience to things.Participate in more social interactions, get in touch with all kinds of people, enhance your social interaction skills, and enhance your sense of humor.

As an excellent and healthy quality of managers, humor can be used properly to motivate employees to spend every day with you in a cheerful atmosphere.Of course, humor is a creative skill, and it needs to be adaptable, according to the object, the environment and the atmosphere at the time. At the same time, the following skills should be paid attention to: (1) Don't be casually humorous.Humor can not be used anytime and anywhere, it should be used in certain occasions and conditions.For example: In a formal meeting, when your subordinate is speaking, you suddenly say one or two funny words, maybe everyone is amused by your humor, but the subordinate who made the speech must think that you do not respect him , was not interested in what he had to say.

(2) Humor should be elegant. (3) There is no need to insist on humor.If the conditions at that time are not available, but you try your best to show humor, the result must be reluctant. Should you laugh or not?This will put each other in an even more awkward situation. Emerson believed that if you want to dominate the world, you must first make the world fun.Likewise, if a leader wants to make his speech attractive, he must make his speech lively. Lin Yutang, a well-known humor master at home and abroad, once said: "A philosophical outlook on life, a straightforward and honest attitude, coupled with proficient skills, and then expressing your opinions in a relaxed and pleasant way, this is humor."

Humor is not funny, it is not mean, it should contain intelligence, kindness, sincerity, and a rich human touch.A person with a sense of humor, his greatest charm is not limited to his witty conversation and ability to talk, he can also show wit in an emergency, treat people with an understanding and understanding mood, and resolve deadlocks. A member of the California State Assembly in the United States was reprimanded by the other party to "fuck off" for advising a member of the congressman who was giving a long and boring speech to end his speech.He angrily complained to the speaker, who said: "I have checked the code, you really don't have to go away!" Humor, unlike taunting, can boost a person's self-esteem.Giving both parties a pleasant feeling is a kind of equal interaction of personality exchange; mocking will strengthen a person's inferiority complex and make the other party feel frustrated, which is an unequal interaction. For example, when saying to a subordinate: "Do you not have a coat? Since you came to work a month ago until now, I have seen you wearing this one 'every day'; and it smells 'strange', is it not washed?" Have you passed?" All the colleagues roared with laughter, but this subordinate blushed with embarrassment and felt ashamed. This is of course not humor, but a mockery.It brings an uncomfortable feeling to the subordinates.However, it would be humorous if the leader could smell his only coat, which smelled bad! The performance of humor often brings encouragement in a timely manner, creating a fresh mood and courage. When an employee makes a mistake and blames himself or feels annoyed, or when he encounters a difficult problem and feels restless, the superior is always used to saying: "Come on! 'Who is afraid of whom', turtles are afraid of hammers, cockroaches are afraid of slippers. Let’s come together! Let’s think about how we can solve this problem!” In an instant, everyone burst into laughter, and the self-defense and tense atmosphere of the employees quickly disintegrated. Humor represents the leader's crisis handling ability and witty response; it not only transcends difficulties, but also reveals an open-minded, elegant, free and easy self; turning "passive" into "active", thus driving the whole team to rekindle fresh and vigorous fighting spirit . A humorous leader is one who is able to put down his posture easily and naturally, gossip with employees, get along with each other, and even make some harmless jokes. Some American business executives even call on employees of their units to engage in a "basket throwing contest" during "tea time" or "stressful hours"—throwing balls of paper into trash cans accurately, so as to relieve stress and generate humane emotions. interactive. There are also leaders who like to post humorous and interesting words, pictures or cartoons on their office doors, so that employees who want to see their superiors often can't help laughing, and communicate with their leaders in a relaxed mood. Management in the 21st century is no longer the layer-by-layer authority structure of "monarch, minister, minister, father, son and son".Employees like to work with humorous and lively leaders instead of submitting to domineering and authoritarian leaders all day long. Humanized management is a leadership model that leaders in the new era must work hard to learn; and humor is its powerful medium of interpersonal interaction. Humor can sometimes feel mysterious.Some people want to learn, but can't learn; some people don't learn much, but blurt out.Is humor innate and gifted?After research, it is found that humor is a unique temperament of human beings, and it is human instinct just like games.After studying some people with a sense of humor, it was found that humor does have some kind of genetic presence.Hou Baolin, a well-known cross talk performing artist in our country, and his two sons, and Chen Qiang, a famous comedy performing artist, and his son Chen Peisi can all be said to prove that humor is a talent.While there is a genetic component, there is nothing mysterious about a sense of humor.It is mainly cultivated and trained in acquired social practice. The study of humor begins with subtlety.Humor is supposed to make people laugh, but good humor is best made to be memorable.Humor is short-sighted. Here is a story about George Bernard Shaw.A friend invited Bernard Shaw to a banquet, hoping that Bernard Shaw would give his daughter who played the piano some good words so that he could become famous all over the world.As soon as Bernard Shaw arrived at a friend's house, the girl couldn't wait to play.After playing for a long time, Bernard Shaw didn't say a word, so the girl could only speak first: "I didn't hinder you, did I?" Bernard Shaw said nonchalantly, "It doesn't matter, you are finished playing." Bernard Shaw's humor is simple and implicit, with overtones.You have to think about it to understand what he means. Humor must be creative and image thinking, so association and imagination are indispensable.Not only should we study the works of famous humorists and humorous masterpieces from the folk, but we should also have a broad understanding of various art forms, enhance our artistic sensitivity, and train ourselves to build imagination between images from the outside to the inside. ability. Of course there are no rules, and there are no ready-made patterns for humor to follow.We are facing a constantly changing crowd, so humor can only be effective if it varies from person to person. For leaders, humor has an important meaning: friendly humor can express the sincere friendship between people, can communicate hearts, narrow the distance between people, fill the gap between people, It is an indispensable thing to hope to establish a good relationship with others. Especially when a person wants to express his inner dissatisfaction, if he can use humorous language to give advice, others will hear it more pleasantly.Humor can be very persuasive when one needs to change someone's attitude from negative to positive. When the relationship between one person and another is tense, even at the critical moment, humor can make each other calmly get rid of unpleasant situations or resolve contradictions. If language is the bridge of the soul, then humor is the fastest train on the bridge. It shuttles between this shore and the other shore, expresses a certain intention sometimes clearly and sometimes implicitly, and reaches people's heart in the fastest way. soul. Some people say that humor is the spice of life.Some people simply say that humor is the salt in life, with it, life itself sometimes becomes interesting and magical. Humor can make the sad face smile, and it can make the tearful laugh; it can bring vitality to the lazy, and it can also dispel the fatigue of the hardworking; There is no one in life who does not like humorous language.The reason why cross talk skits have always been one of the most popular programs in traditional Chinese cultural evenings is that its expression is inseparable from humor. The humorous language strongly infects the hearts of the audience, and humorous words can capture The heart of the audience can calm the audience, and it can also make some profound thoughts more vivid and vivid. In his later years, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty hoped that he could live forever.One day he chatted with a courtier: "It is said in the photo book that the longer the 'renzhong' under the nose of a person, the longer the life span; if the 'renzhong' is one inch longer, he can live a hundred years. I wonder if it is true or not?" After hearing this, Dongfang Shuo knew that the emperor was dreaming of immortality again, so a sneering smile appeared on his face.Seeing that Dongfang Shuo seemed to be mocking, the emperor shouted, "How dare you laugh at me?" Dongfang Shuo replied respectfully: "How dare I laugh at the emperor? I'm laughing at how ugly Peng Zu's face is." Emperor Wu of Han asked, "Why are you laughing at Peng Zu?" Dongfang Shuo said: "It is said that Peng Zu lived to be 800 years old. If it is true that the emperor said that the "human middle" is one inch long, Peng Zu's "human middle" should be eight inches long. Then, how is his face? Isn't it too ugly?" Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty couldn't help laughing when he heard this. In this story, Dongfang Shuo used humorous language to persuade the emperor by laughing at Peng Zu.The whole critique was witty, implicit and witty, which made the furious emperor turn into joy and happily conceded defeat. This little story vividly illustrates the essence of humor.From this, we can see that humor has a quality, a quality of inducing joy and entertaining people in a pleasant way; a sense of humor is a kind of ability, a kind of ability to understand and express humor; humor is an art, a kind of The art of using humor and a sense of humor to enhance your relationships with others and to be honest about yourself. Once, executives of 329 large companies in the United States participated in a humorous opinion survey.The results show that: 97% of business executives believe that humor has considerable value in the business world; 60% of business executives believe that a sense of humor determines the degree of success in a person's career.This shows that humor is very important to modern people. Modern people need humorous language, just like fish and water, trees and sunshine, life and salt.Having a sense of humor and the power of humor is one of the qualities that modern people should possess. There are many ways to acquire humorous language. 1. Use the "interesting way of thinking" to capture the comedy factors in life "Interesting thinking" is a kind of "misplaced thinking", which does not follow the thinking of ordinary people, but "forks" to the interesting side. 2. Work hard on instant ideas and master the necessary skills Humor is a kind of "quick language art", which breaks through the inertial thinking, follows the abnormal principle, thinks quickly, speaks quickly, touches the scene, makes things interesting, unexpected, and reasonable. 3. Pay attention to the flexible use of rhetorical techniques Extreme exaggeration, abnormal metaphors, smooth metonymy, implicit irony, as well as comparison, personification, transference, connection, and duality can all constitute humor. 4. Pay attention to collecting materials Our life is rich and colorful, providing a lot of interesting materials, and many of these materials have entered our memory warehouse unconsciously. If we are "caring people", we will enrich our language materials. Humor can make people laugh, but it is a smile that enlightens people's mind and a flash of wisdom.Humor can express the speaker's thoughts, feelings and attitude towards life, and can reflect the speaker's gentleness and tolerance. It is a skill for the speaker to express his ideas. During World War II, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill came to Washington to meet with then-US President Roosevelt, asking the United States to join them in fighting German fascism and providing material aid to Britain.Churchill was warmly received and arranged to live in the White House. One morning, Churchill was lying in the tub, smoking his oversized cigar.The door opened, and it was Roosevelt who entered.Churchill had a big belly, and his belly was sticking out of the water... It was a bit embarrassing for these two leaders to meet at this moment.At this moment, Churchill had an idea, threw the cigarette butt away, and said: "Mr. President, I, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, is really open and honest in front of you, and I have nothing to hide." After finishing speaking, the two laughed loudly.Subsequently, the talks between the two sides were successful. Here we cannot say that Churchill's humor played a huge role in the success of the talks, but his "no concealment at all" not only alleviated the plight of individuals and the country at that time, but also implied frank help and mutual trust.How could Roosevelt not feel it? The former Soviet psychologist Platupov said: "Humor hides a serious attitude towards things behind laughter, but irony hides jokes behind serious forms." The characteristics of humor are sharp and mean, playful but not explicit, and contain the speaker's kindness and kindness and superb language art.Some people even distinguish the levels of people in this way: if they can laugh when they listen to others, this person is a normal person; if they can tell jokes and make others laugh, they have a sense of humor; Self-deprecation is the highest grade of humor. The most important factor in creating humor is limited language. Absurd contrasts, suspense, reversal mutations, and recognition can be used to create a humorous mood that contains complex emotions, is full of fun and intriguing. In the art of speaking, humor is an expression technique that uses meaningful language to reproduce comic features and phenomena in real life to convey a special message.People who know how to be funny and humorous in their daily life are often full of wit and wit in a few words, which not only makes people laugh, but also makes people understand the wisdom and philosophy contained in it. According to the different means of rhetorical expression, there are four common types of humor, and we will illustrate them with examples one by one below. 1. Exaggeration Exaggeration means exaggeration, and it is a common rhetorical technique in daily life. When Ronald Reagan ran for governor of California, he lashed out at rising prices in response to the state of California's economy at the time. He said: "Ladies, you all know that lately when you stand in front of the asparagus counter at the supermarket, you feel like you are eating money." Cheaper than eating asparagus." Another time, he said: "Do you remember when you thought there was nothing that could replace the dollar? Today the dollar really can't replace almost anything." 2. Allegory The so-called allegory is a fictional story that is full of wit and humor and embodies profound philosophy to clarify a certain truth. There was a unit that organized retired veteran cadres to travel by bus. When getting on the bus, they gave way to each other, which wasted a lot of time.After driving, an old comrade joked loudly: "Let me tell you a story for fun: Once upon a time, there was a woman who gave birth to twins after 10 years of pregnancy. When asked why the twins refused to appear, they said that according to etiquette, the elder should go first, but The two of them didn't know who was the elder brother, so they gave way to each other for 10 years, delaying the birth of the mother." These words caused the veteran cadres in the car to look at each other in blank dismay, and then roared with laughter. 3. Imitation Imitation is a way of expression that deliberately imitates and uses existing fixed language forms to narrate. Its main feature is to use existing language forms such as words, sentences, and articles to reveal the internal contradictions of the things described and create new artistic conceptions. Su Shi had a friend surnamed Liu. Due to illness in his later years, his temple hair and eyebrows all fell off, and the bridge of his nose was about to be broken.One day, Su Shi had a drink with many friends. The friend surnamed Liu suggested that everyone quote the ancient sayings.Su Shi said to this friend surnamed Liu: "When the wind blows, the eyebrows are flying, and the strong man is guarding the bridge of the nose." The audience laughed. Su Shi imitated the first and last two sentences of Liu Bang's "Great Wind Song", "When the wind rises, the clouds fly, the Vega rises and the sea returns to his hometown, and the warriors guard the four directions". The contrast between the two is very interesting. 4. Reflection Reflexion is to use the other party's words on the spot to tease and refute the other party. It is a kind of language return, and the purpose is to treat the other party in the same way as the other party. Little John came back from school and handed the report card to his father. Seeing that he had failed two subjects, his father shouted angrily at John, "You know what? Washington was the best student in the school when he was your age. " John replied unhurriedly: "You know, Dad, when you are your age, Washington is already the President of the United States." Humor gives people a calm and unhurried attitude, and it is also a symbol of a mature and witty leader.You don't have to worry about your lack of words, you can also become a humor expert by mastering the following humorous methods. 1. Create suspense When you narrate an interesting story, don't rush to show the result, you should hold your breath, show the power of humor with a unique tone and a dramatic plot, and create a sense of humor in the audience before the most crucial sentence is spoken. suspense.If you can't wait to tell the result, or show it through changes in facial expressions and movements, it will be like a broken dumpling, and the humor will lose its effectiveness and can only disappoint. 2. Punctuate the Humor When you tell a joke, every pause, every particular tone of voice, every corresponding expression, gesture, and body posture should contribute to the power of humor, making them punctuated by humor.Important words should be emphasized, and the use of stress and pauses to promote the audience's thinking and deepen the audience's impression. 3. Be humorous in a relevant way No matter how many Coca-Cola jokes and witty language you have in your belly, you can't pour them out indiscriminately in order to show your humor.The funny and humorous language must be used according to the specific object, specific situation and specific context, instead of making the spoken words out of date.Otherwise, not only will the desired effect of the conversation not be achieved, but it will cause trouble, and even hurt the feelings of the other party, causing troubles. Therefore, if you have a joke now, no matter how funny it is, but if it may touch some hidden pain or defect of the other party, then you should make an effort to swallow it in your stomach without saying it. as well. 4. Use humor in moderation Some people use too much humor when they do the work of persuading others, and often joke after joke, with endless articles, like a cannonball.In this way, the content of the conversation often deviates from the topic, and it is difficult to achieve the purpose of persuading others.When the other party sounds, he will also feel clouded, not knowing what you are going to say, and even think that you are showing him your humor! 5. Be “serious” when it comes to humor The least popular form of humor is laughing out loud before, during, or just after a joke is told.If you laugh first, you can only swallow the humor.The best way is to make the audience laugh and not laugh or smile yourself.That is to say, adopting "serious" expressions and "introducing traps" is the correct way to exert the power of humor. 6. Say goodbye with a laugh Ideally, at the end of each speech, it will inspire a heartfelt smile from the entire audience.Give it a try, tell a short story in a witty tone or say a quip or two, a pun, or a humorous well-wishes, all are great endings. In short, you want to try to say "goodbye" to the audience's laughter, and let your audience leave the meeting with a smile and satisfaction. As a leader, there will inevitably be some unnecessary embarrassment in dealing with others. If you can calmly make a joke in those situations, I believe the tense atmosphere between you and others will disappear. Without a trace, your subordinates will be attracted by your charm, moved by your broad mind, then admire you, and finally follow you.Most people who are good at humor can use the power of humor very freely, authentically and naturally.As a result, when they make a joke, others don't feel sensationalized or sensationalized, but just entertained.