Special Gifts, Devices, and Techniques : Page 137

The time to learn to tell jokes is at home in the family. If a person has to learn later among friends, he ought to beg their indulgence during the first few trials by saying with a smile, "The other day I read a good story on this matter we are discussing. With your permission I'll take a chance on telling it," and then try it. If it fails, he ought to laugh and say good-naturedly, "Well, I guess I did not get it across." Later he should try again. By and by will come confidence and some success. While there isn't space here for detailed instructions on how to tell an anecdote, yet do I want to impress two rules as imperative. First, never try to tell a joke unless you have the climax, the point of it, well and clear in mind; secondly, get over the preliminaries quickly but slow up as you reach the climax. Possibly even pause a bit before the crucial word, and then say it with a clarity and force which cannot be muffed. Our previous rules for effective pitch and tempo are never needed more than in anecdotage.