Description

Min Liu – The Hank Moody Guide To Wit

Technique #1: Greetings

When was the last time you had this type of -conversation with someone?

Even though this website is dedicated to teaching people to excel in verbal skills, I will admit to having this type of conversation way too many times with someone I don’t know very well:

Bob: -Hi.

You: -Hey, how’s it going?

Bob: -Good, how about you?

You: -I’m doing alright.

(Awkward silence)

You: -Well, I need to go now, talk to you later.

Bob: -Yep, talk to you later.

Wow, that was painful. Yet, we continue to have these non-connecting conversations over and over, like a recurring nightmare. Am I right?

Now, Hank NEVER has this type of conversation with anyone.  If you watch him closely, you will see that he NEVER utters the words -Hi or -Hey or -Hello.  His greetings are ALWAYS non-generic.

It takes creativity and effort to come up with so many different ways to say the most mundane thing (like hello), but if we want to excel in verbal skills, the bar has been raised.

At 0:54 and 1:09 in the  video, you will find examples of non-generic, creative greetings used by Hank to address others.

If you have any creative ideas to say hello or hi without using those words, please share them with everyone in the comments!

Technique #2: Pop Culture References and Metaphors

If you’ve followed me for any amount of time, you will know how much I emphasize the importance of incorporating  metaphors  and figurative speaking into our daily conversation.

Again, metaphors are a type of -wrapper by which we deliver an argument or statement in a way that people are less likely to reject or ignore.   And, by doing this, we are more able to influence others when compared to direct/literal arguments or statements.

Now, Hank Moody uses a specific type of metaphor more often than other types of metaphors, which is the pop culture metaphor or the pop culture reference (there is one other type, which you can read about in  The Hank Moody Guide To Wit, which you will learn more about below).