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Subject:Speaking with humor From:Geoff Hart <geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA> Date:Mon, 24 Mar 1997 12:59:09 -0600
I think the notion of starting a presentation to staff with
humor can be a good one provided you supply some substance
along with the frivolity. One approach that might work very
well is to use the 10 points as the outline of your
presentation: for each point, deliver the joke, then
explain the serious point that underlies it.
An editing example: I have this lovely quote, variously
attributed to H.G. Wells and Mark Twain, that says
(paraphrase) "The strongest urge is to
change/modify/revise/improve/change another person's
prose." (The / indicates delete the preceding word and
replace it with the next word.) I'd put this one up on
screen and then note that my job as an editor isn't to just
change words, it's to pick the right word for the job...
and sometime's the author's word really is the right word.
--Geoff Hart @8^{)} geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Disclaimer: Speaking for myself, not FERIC.
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