I spent my professional life of slightly more than four decades in two distinct halves - initially in the field of selling and sales management and later as a Prof in a B-school. In both these spheres, communication was intrinsic to my job. This blog is thus a reflection on something which I did, day in and day out, for about 40-odd years.
In both the types of jobs, I was right in the middle of the fray. In the former, for dealers or customers, I was the company while to the company, my role was to provide realistic reporting of what was happening in the field, good or bad, or to convey company policies to the other side. While teaching, my role was not only to convey the nuances of the subject in an understandable form to the recipient students but also to act as a medium of communication between the administration / management of the B-school and the students. Reasonably often, not very pleasant news or views would have to be conveyed from one end to the other. This is where I found, having a sense of humour helped, as it made the process smooth. As Julie Andrews sang in and as Mary Poppins, 'a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down!'
However, use of humour has to be cautiously done for a variety of reasons:
a) the joke could fall flat if the recipient doesn't understand the remark or the language and the context in which it was couched. Worse, in these hyper-sensitive times, one does not who is being offended when and with what
b) the audience remembers the joke, but not the important point which was being made. They might recollect the joke but not the joker and what he said!
c) the context has to be relevant. If the audience has never been to a McDonald's, it may find it difficult to understand a joke on fast food restaurants or even to relate to such joints.
d) especially while addressing a diverse group, one has to be extremely careful not to step into the areas of racism, gender issues, caste and community or even of off-colour stories.
This is why, while preparing for a lecture, the professor in me would think beforehand even of the jokes or the light remarks which I could use. Despite all this preparation, I did end up in embarrassing situations once in a while. The best solution of course was to apologise immediately to anyone I had offended.
Maybe this is the reason a student of mine gave me this lovely back-handed compliment " Sir, I loved your classes, but didn't understand a word of what you taught!"
In both the types of jobs, I was right in the middle of the fray. In the former, for dealers or customers, I was the company while to the company, my role was to provide realistic reporting of what was happening in the field, good or bad, or to convey company policies to the other side. While teaching, my role was not only to convey the nuances of the subject in an understandable form to the recipient students but also to act as a medium of communication between the administration / management of the B-school and the students. Reasonably often, not very pleasant news or views would have to be conveyed from one end to the other. This is where I found, having a sense of humour helped, as it made the process smooth. As Julie Andrews sang in and as Mary Poppins, 'a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down!'
However, use of humour has to be cautiously done for a variety of reasons:
a) the joke could fall flat if the recipient doesn't understand the remark or the language and the context in which it was couched. Worse, in these hyper-sensitive times, one does not who is being offended when and with what
b) the audience remembers the joke, but not the important point which was being made. They might recollect the joke but not the joker and what he said!
c) the context has to be relevant. If the audience has never been to a McDonald's, it may find it difficult to understand a joke on fast food restaurants or even to relate to such joints.
d) especially while addressing a diverse group, one has to be extremely careful not to step into the areas of racism, gender issues, caste and community or even of off-colour stories.
This is why, while preparing for a lecture, the professor in me would think beforehand even of the jokes or the light remarks which I could use. Despite all this preparation, I did end up in embarrassing situations once in a while. The best solution of course was to apologise immediately to anyone I had offended.
Maybe this is the reason a student of mine gave me this lovely back-handed compliment " Sir, I loved your classes, but didn't understand a word of what you taught!"
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