It’s not what you say it’s HOW you say it

Laughter is contagious.

In October I performed stand-up comedy in Bucharest, Romania while in town to facilitate a workshop. The hosts and the other comedians performed in Romanian and I was the only English act.

Thankfully the audience understood English and my set went fine - even the untested material on Romania.

Here’s what was interesting: I don’t speak a word of Romanian and still laughed throughout the show. Why? Because laughter doesn’t only come from the words someone says. It’s HOW they say it, and the cue from others.

When the punchline SOUNDED funny based on its pace, pitch, tone and physical gestures and the whole audience burst out laughing it was hard to not chuckle myself.

I often created my own narrative for the jokes and found out I was WAY off when chatting to the comedians after the show. I also misunderstood the slagging the host gave me after my set (during which I just smiled and nodded).

The takeaway: be intentional about HOW you articulate your most important messages - it makes a difference. Also, it helps to have some people in the audience who laugh loud and often to spread the laughter contagion 😀!