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Sunday, November 8, 2009

Yes, And...

In standup comedy, one of the learned skills is entering during someone else’s monologue. That can mark the end of a routine, or using more firepower with dual monologues.

I attended a class for comics and the most valuable thing I learned was that when entering someone else’s performance, the correct thing to say before launching is

“Yes, And…”

That phrase has since worked really well for me in many different types of meetings.

Try it.

Comments?

3 comments:

  1. Agreed. "Yes, and . . . ." works for any improvisation. Along time ago, someone taught me that "Yes, but . . . " = "no." I try to avoid using that, and prefer just to say "no." It works much better.

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  2. Making a segway comment is always important. It makes the sudience feel like the flow is stil going instead of being interrupted.

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  3. In sales, I learned not to say "But..."

    As you observed, "Yes,And..." is a great way to handle an objection.

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