Some good advice from sales expert Tony Allesandra:
...why, then, that widespread error? None other, I am convinced, than the fact that the average man is far too stupid to make a joke.""Today, we generally equate seriousness with intelligence, or at least with importance. When you are in a crucial business meeting, or making a major sales presentation, it is not a good idea to act childish or tell many jokes, not even if they are funny. Actually, you may have noticed how there is almost a procedure for getting humor out of the way in meetings or speeches. Somewhere near the beginning, early on, you can tell a joke, or maybe even two: "A duck walks into Home Depot and says, 'Put everything on my bill!'" Then when that is over with, you can get down to the serious business at hand. A person who keeps being funny can be seen as destabilizing or even subversive. That is not good in our day and age. We do not have court jesters anymore and they will not be coming back any time soon.
Henry Louis Mencken, the 20th century essayist and critic, confrontedthe prejudice against humor very directly. He wrote, "What is the origin of the prejudice against humor? Why is it so dangerous, if you would keep the people's respect, to make people laugh? Is it because humor and sound sense are essentially antagonistic? Has humanity found by experience that the man who sees the fun of life is unfitted to deal sanely with its problems? I think not. However...
Humor is not just a way to break the ice at parties. It is a basic need for both the giver and the receiver. It is, or should be, a basic element of your interactions with other people. Humor is an instrument you should use, and you should learn to use it well. That does not mean you should memorize joke books. It does mean that you should see the necessity for a light and humorous touch."
I agree with Dr. T. It's hard to resist humor...we love to laugh, and love to do business with people we like. Sounds like a good way to guarantee sales leads to me!
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