Posts Tagged ‘comedy’

Fry & Laurie–more communication lessons from comedy

Monday, February 7th, 2011

This lovely sketch is so funny because there isn’t one but two parallel conversations going on.  Here it is full of fabulous double entendre and laughs, but in real life it is usually far less obvious and the impact is often not in the least bit funny.

I talked elsewhere in this mini-series of communication lessons about how we hate to be wrong, and often we will sense that we have missed something that the other person has said, or at least not fully understood them.  They might say something like “You know Mr Wilberforce..” and we don’t but we don’t like to admit it, or interrupt them and we hope it is either unimportant or we might catch-up with them later.  Sometimes this works fine, but when it is important, you really need to clarify that you are both on the same page and both singing from the same song sheet,

Other comedy lessons:

  1. Morecombe & Wise
  2. Two Ronnies
  3. Rowan Atkinson
  4. Fawlty Towers

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Fawlty Towers offering further comedy lessons in communication

Monday, February 7th, 2011

The characters here are priceless and the scene is so beautifully scripted and constructed, but what does it tell us about successful communication?

Everyone here arrives with their own set of expectations and their mind full of their own issues.  We all do this all the time.  When these individual vectors collide we get fabulous comedy here but in real life there is just misunderstanding, and feelings of being badly served and/or misunderstood.  This is a real issue as most of us have a deep desire to be understood, and when we are put into situations where this occurs emotion usually flares, and the Flight/Fight response usually dictates that we either withdraw or get angry.

We have to make time to set expectations, to understand the other person’s position and needs and to communicate our desire to help, but within the parameters that we set.

Other comedy lessons:

  1. Morecombe & Wise
  2. Two Ronnies
  3. Rowan Atkinson

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Fork Handles and more lessons in communication from comedy

Sunday, February 6th, 2011
Fork handles

Following Ruth’s comments on yesterday’s blog I thought that I’d look at some more comedy clips and examine the lessons they offer in communication.  This gem from The Two Ronnies is fabulous viewing, but what does it teach us?

The reason this is so funny is that the sounds of the words is identical in both sets of words, so “fork handles” sounds very similar to “four candles”.  You need context to help you understand which meaning is right.  Successful communication lies in checking that we are sharing the same context and checking our assumptions.  You may feel that you know what they are talking about, but do you really?  Take a little time to question them and check your understanding.  It not only reduces frustration and potentially costly errors but also makes the person feel that you are listening and care.

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Posted in Business Change, Communication, Hints, Tips & Techniques | 2 Comments »