Kidding – An occupational hazard

Service club, supper club and semi-social audiences enjoy a bit of merriment after their dessert. Every speaker has some distinct physical characteristics, character indicia or idiosyncrasies, either visible or known. Whether they are good or bad, take a bit of a poke at them to satisfy the audience’s mood for fun. A speaker who takes this ribbing well, soon holds the audience in his hand.

A public speaker recognizes kidding as an occupational hazard; it’s never fatal and a chronic kidder isn’t vicious-it’s just that he enjoys making a goat of someone. Consider kidding a badge of confidence, and it’s easier to take.

“Kid” Moore was an Oklahoma City Commissioner some years back. When any civic project fell below par or a new underpass became a puddle after a rain, Moore came in for some rough ribbing. A pal asked him how he managed to go along with it as well as he did, and Moore explained a bit of philosophy we could all bear in mind:

“When people like you, they kid you. When they give you an icy stare-beware!”
Ribbing the principal speaker is one thing, but taking a dig so deep in the introduction that he loses his dignity, is a different matter. The same old “market letter double talk” applies here; play the game according to the lay of the land.

Tags: public speaking

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