hey team,

Not sure how up to date your knock-knock knowledge is, but here's a classic in our family:
​Knock knock
Who's there
Boo
Boo who?
Don't cry it's just a joke​
​
Older Brother loves that joke. He is at the age where he's starting to discover cleverness. His face lights up when he gets to deliver the punchline. My favorite part is actually the second beforehand - I see the corners of his mouth begin to turn into a smile, his eyes starting to widen and it's like I can feel the joy he's about to feel.
​
It's the best.
​
Now, because it's the best, and because every adult overlaughs at Brother's delivery, Little Sister has begun to notice.
​
But Sis is not at the age where she's discovered cleverness. She sees only the reaction and thinks "oh those must be magic words that make people laugh."
​
And so, two-year-old, Tina-Fey-in-training Sis has inserted "don't cry, it's just a joke" into her everyday vernacular. Her wordsmithing is best appreciated in her own knock-knock jokes -

Knock knock
Who's there
Carrot
Carrot who?
Don't cry it's just a joke​
​
Or the Spidey and His Amazing Friends edition:

Knock knock
Who's there
Ghost Spider
Ghost Spider who?
Don't cry it's just a joke

It's spectacularly funny hearing this from someone shorter than your average cello. Same widening eyes, same big smile, same joy in hearing the punchline. Mostly I love thinking about her brain + how it believes "don't cry it's just a joke" to be these magical, invincible words.
​
Jess (wife) and I were laughing about this the other night when she asked me an important question:

What do you think the magic words for a presentation are?

[Note: phrases in italics may have been exaggerated for the purpose of providing a segueway for this email]
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While I don't know anything as bulletproof as Sis' magic punchline, there is a somewhat magical phrase:
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​I used to think
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​As in “I used to think ____ was true, but now I’ve seen the light: we need to go in a different direction.”
​
Or, "I used to think we should do Thing X. I've changed my mind on that. Let me walk you through it."

​
Other examples:

• I used to think presenting was all about showing how smart you are. Now I realize it’s about helping the audience.

• I used to think buying cheap was the way to go. After doing for years, I now know it's better to avoid the cheap version. As my father-in-law used to say, "buy it nice or buy it twice."

• I used to think I couldn't stomach any food with raw tomatoes in it. Now I know that, even if tomatoes themselves taste like poison, if they're buried beneath enough cheese I might not notice their taste after all.

Food rage example aside - raw tomatoes do taste like poison - I think you get the idea.

See how it makes the point gentler?
See how it's easier for an audience member to change their mind?
You're leading the way for them, but doing so without inviting aggressive conflict. That's what the audience is usually hoping for.

Take the phrase, use it, lead with it.
​
(And remember who told you about it)

Don't cry, it's just a joke,
​

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