All right! So hopefully,
you watched the Louis CK -
How Louis CK tells a joke.
You've gotten this idea about
the three big things that we're going talk about
and that is pausing
or they said timing.
The way that Louie CK has a small pause
after he gives the punchline
we talked about pausing for the punchline.
And you noticed, he also has his hand gesture.
They showed the hand gesture.
You notice that he repeats his punchline.
He doesn't say the exact same words
but he uses a different word
to say the same thing.
He says something like - the loss is,
it's a dark loss. It's heavy.
Both things refer to the same loss.
One time he says it's dark.
One time he says it's heavy.
It's important to have good vocabulary.
That was my point.
We're not going to be talking about
Louis CK, how he tells a joke.
The point is that you see a comedian.
He's super professional.
He's practiced it a million times
and he's perfected his style.
He has a certain style.
All that being said, put that aside
Then come back to us.
We are not going to tell jokes
and we are not going to be stand-up comedians.
That's not what we're here for.
We're here to practice using humor
as a way of getting our information across
In a way that's not stiff
and it's not too in a box.*
We talked about if you're always doing the same thing
then it gets boring for the audience
and they just stop listening to you.
We also talked about timing
and how it's very effective
in refocusing people's attention.
We also talked about hand gestures
and how those are a good way
to keep your pace, to keep you focused.
Keep your audience able to see that
you're paying attention
to what you're saying -
So they should pay attention to what you're saying.
It also keeps their attention on you
because you're using your hands,
you're not just a square robot,
who does nothing and
speaks in a monotone.
When we talk about using humor --
now I'm going to tell you a joke. [laughter]
Even though the advice for this lesson says,
don't tell jokes, it's not about telling a joke.
Here's my thing.
My thing is sometimes, you know -- ,
First of all, it's clean, not a dirty joke.
A dirty joke means a joke about sex.
Like Louis CK was talking about
playing Monopoly with his children.
So a clean joke.
First of all, it has to be a clean joke.
Second of all, your joke, just like your
anecdote
has to have a purpose.
When I talked to you about sensitive topics,
I told you about being Jewish.
I told you it doesn't mean anything and (so on).
I'm going to tell you a joke
to try to explain to you --
I've told this joke
every time I explain what being Jewish is like.
I tell the same joke.
My mom bought me two shirts,
two brand new shirts.
They're so nice, they're so fancy.
They're not this shirt - this is a cute shirt,
she bought me super fancy shirts.
So nice of her.
She was so kind.
The next day I woke up
and the first thing I did
was I put on one of the nice new shirts,
so she'd see - thank you I'm so thankful.
I come out to breakfast
and she takes one look at me
and she says,
'What was wrong with the other shirt?
You didn't like it?'
That's the joke.[laughter]
I don't know if your mom is like that.
Maybe she's like that,
but that is what we consider a typical Jewish mother.
Nothing is good enough, nothing.
She will not  -- if she gives you
two pieces of food and you start eating one,
she says, 'What's wrong with the other one?
You don't like?
I'll make you something else!
Just tell me what you want...'
It comes from a place of love
but it's somehow also a criticism.
My joke is --
this really basic basic joke about being Jewish.
Number one -  it's an ethnic joke.
I am Jewish so I can tell that joke.
If you're not Jewish, don't tell Jewish jokes.
If you're Korean, tell Korean jokes.
If you're Chinese, tell Chinese jokes -
Asian jokes, if you're Asian,
you can tell Asian jokes.
But if you're Jewish then you can tell Jewish jokes.
Notice, I'm not making fun of a different culture.
That's a big no-no.
Don't make fun of other people's cultures.
But I can make fun of my own culture.
That's fine.
One thing - it's ethnic but it's clean.
I'm that ethnic(ity).
That's my background so I can tell that joke.
The reason to tell that joke is to
explain something to my friend.
They don't know many Jewish people.
They don't understand - what does it mean?
What kind of people are they?
All they know is maybe oh they're rich...
I mentioned this before, oh they're rich...
A lot of people have a connection
between Jews and money,
but it's not usually a nice one.
I tell my students don't say that.
But I tell them this joke.
Because I think it illustrates very well
the kind of --  the Jewish mother,
the traditional Jewish mother.
I think perfectly describes my mother.
Perfectly describes a lot of Jewish women that I know.
In a conversation about being Jewish,
I would use that joke.
It has a reason for being there.
Don't just tell a Jewish joke just for no reason.
And don't tell a joke, if you're not Jewish.
If you're worried that your joke
may be about a sensitive issue - don't tell it.
The saying goes 'if in doubt, leave it out.'
Just don't do it.
It's better to be boring than to be offensive.
Offensive is very bad.
When you are thinking about using humor
I don't think you need a joke,
if you don't have a clean joke.
If you're worried you joke maybe too offensive,
don't use it. Just use anecdotes.
Anecdotes are, we talked about this,
anecdotes are moments from your life.
When something funny happens to you
write it down in your anecdote list, record, log.
Use the anecdote instead of a joke to convey humor.
Think about the Louis CK story.
He's a comedian so he can make anything funny.
But he's talking about playing
Monopoly with his daughters.
That's something that happened to him
He turns that into a little funny thing.
But instead of turning
something normal into a funny thing.
If something funny happens to you
then you tell the anecdote as a funny thing.
You have to have a log
or a chart or list so that you can match
the information and the anecdote,
so that they are connected.
If they're not connected, it doesn't make sense.
I don't expect you to be Louis CK.
I don't expect you to be a comedian.
When you are going into a room,
using humor, it's not just about jokes.
It's not just about anecdotes.
It's more of a way to make
the people listening to you feel more comfortable.
When you come into a room.
Look at your audience.
If you see -- if it's a nice day and
everybody's in there and they're all refreshed
and everyone's great say, 'Everybody here
looks so beautiful and healthy. I'm so surprised... etc.'
Acknowledged the audience.
Comment about the audience.
It makes them feel better.
If it's a rainy day and everyone looks so gloomy,
be like, 'I'm sorry you guys have to be here.
It's terrible weather we're having.'
Just acknowledge the fact that it's wet outside
and people look so unhappy
and promised to be to give a short introduction
or be brief and then do it.
Be brief. Let them go early or something.
Just be there for the people who are listening to you.
Include the audience in your idea of what you're saying
because that's who's listening to you.
That's who's getting the information you want.
Last thing I want to mention is
that you don't need to expect people to laugh.
Even if you use a joke,
even if you have a really funny anecdote
that you've practiced and you've tried it out
and everybody you've told it to thinks it's hilarious -
just let go of this idea
that people are going to laugh out loud.
Use the anecdotes or use the tools
to make an interesting presentation.
Don't worry too much about
people actually laughing out loud,
like showing their--
how excited they are
to be listening to you.
Having that expectation
will make you feel bad,
if it doesn't come out or
if you don't notice it or something.
Just let it go - feel the crowd
and be appreciative that they showed up.
What's worse than a crowd
that's not laughing at your jokes,
is nobody showed up to your lecture
or your seminar or your presentation or the meeting
You're alone there and there's no one to talk to.[laughter]
I'm laughing because I I don't have an audience.
I'm hoping this is going out to people
and I'm hoping it's helpful
but I have no idea.
I hope you enjoyed Louis CK.
I hope that you will continue to watch comedians.
Pay attention to their pausing,
their hand gestures and their funny noises.
They're using all of that stuff for a reason.
You can learn how to do that, it's not impossible.
A lot of it has to do with creating an emotion
and then doing whatever you have to do
to make the audience feel
that emotion with you.
We can get good at that,
it has to do with changing your tone,
with making silly noises and
not being afraid of that kind of stuff.
It has to do with sometimes using
really big hand gestures when you need them.
It has to do with being in a good mood, I think.
If you're in a bad mood,
it's very hard to be funny.
So remember to smile.
Remember to try, make mistakes and keep going.
We have one more lesson.
I'm going to talk about TED talks
and what makes them so great.
What makes them so great?
Hopefully you will be practicing
all of these different things, all the tasks I've given you.
You can let me know, next class,
how much you think you've improved.
Until then guys, have a great day week!
