Effective Communication - Emergency Management Institute ...

UNIT 6: EFFECTIVE ORAL COMMUNICATION
Caution
Effects of Failed Humor
When humor misses its mark, it can forge a terribly memorable link between
you, your message, and personal offense.
Consider the childhood joke below, told by a young boy, and heard very
differently by three adults: Jane, Charlie, and Natasha.
Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Ivan.
Ivan who?
Ivant to suck your blood (delivered with vampire body language).
Jane has two 6-year-old sons. This joke makes her groan with fond recognition.
She tousles the child’s hair.
Charlie smiles at the child, but as a vegetarian he finds the joke a little
uncomfortable and he finds a reason to move away from the child.
Natasha, a recent immigrant from the Ukraine, feels hurt by what she perceives
to be a joke at her expense. She patiently explains to the child that it is rude to
make fun of her accented English.
Using humor is risky because what we may and may not find humorous is
extremely personal. Our sense of what is funny reflects our culture, values, life
experience, fears, and imagination. Remember that when you tell a joke, no
two people hear it exactly the same way.
If humor is so risky, why use it? Because when you can make someone smile
or laugh, you make a powerful connection.
Effective Communication Page 6.18