Three Funny And Fun Ways To Talk That Undermine Truth

Funny and fun ways exist to undermine truth. While speaking, three common ones are rhymes, humor and exaggerations. Fun relaxes people. It makes them more receptive to the message replacing truth.

Three Funny And Fun Ways

Rhymes

“You snooze, you lose.” “See you later alligator.” “April showers bring May flowers.” “Good night, sleep tight.” All are examples of rhymes. Yet, this one from the O.J. Simpson trial made legal history: “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.”

Now, the link to this quote is an interview with one of O.J. Simpson’s defense attorneys, Carl Douglas. He tells of the conscious intent behind this rhyme. When they came up with it, they knew instantly they had a winner. In other words, they saw the power in a rhyme to persuade.

Humor

Laughter lightens people. It shows they’re at ease. The tough part is that humor varies by the person. So, for a large or unknown audience, the humor has to have general appeal. However, if the audience is small or known, more tailored humor can work.

For example, most high-pressure sales pitches use humor. At one they played old Johnny Carson takes beforehand under the pretense of waiting for all attendees to show. People know they will receive a hard sales pitch, so they’re tense. Getting them to laugh relaxes them. It makes them more receptive to the pitch.

Now, this isn’t the video they used. The compilation they had was void of references to slang, religion, cursing and sex.  It would not have surprised me if they had it specifically made for their purposes. After all, they were asking for $6,000 plus from each of ten people.

Exaggeration

Exaggeration is the third of the funny and fun ways to undermine truth. It occurs when one overstates or understates reality, making something better or worse than it is.

As examples, advertisements often exaggerate. They embellish the good and discount (or ignore) the bad. Ads become more attractive, simple and lively.

While it’s easy to understand exaggeration, it’s harder to fully appreciate its impact. Seeing how animators use it allows us to see it in action.

We can use exaggeration to make the truth look worse than it is and our message better than it is. Exaggeration directly targets and pulls the emotional triggers we’ve identified. It magnifies them.

Integrating The Three Funny And Fun Ways

Rhymes, humor and exaggerations are powerful tools in getting people to walk away from the truth.

Now, if you’re thinking, “Mike, any good presentation will use these ways,” then you are right. Think of them as a hammer though. One can use it to build things or to destroy them. These ways are tools. They work the same way, for good or ill.

So, to integrate them, find any guide on making good presentations. There are tons. I don’t need to repeat them here. The process remains the same whether it’s to promote truth or to undercut it.

However, whereas truth often can stand on the facts alone, undermining it can’t. Therefore, I can guarantee that anyone seeking to undermine the truth will use these ways to do that.