On Humor

Access Japan & China

Newsletter for Effective Cross-cultural Business

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HUMOR FLIES OR FLOPS

The room full of stoic Japanese businessmen burst into laughter when the interpreter put the final touches on the opening joke. Jack, the regional sales director who used the joke in his initial sales presentation to the group, grinned with satisfaction.

The other "little gems" that Jack had worked so hard to pepper throughout his presentation, however, went unnoticed.

Though attentive throughout the presentation, to the presenter's surprise, after the presentation his potential customers asked few questions and showed little interest in his product line.

Why the Fizzle?

After the meeting, he turned to his Japanese associate and pondered, "I wonder why things fizzled? I thought I had them with that opening joke!

The associate explained, "The translator didn't translate your joke. What he said was, 'It's customary for Americans to open their presentations with a joke. But if I translate this one, it makes absolutely no sense at all. I'd appreciate it, however, if you'd oblige me and laugh now."

I suspect that Jack did better with his next presentation.

He learned that business in Japan generally starts off in a more formal manner than we are used to in the U.S.

Thinking Twice

Also, as translators and interpreters are all too aware, we have to think twice before using humor across languages and cultures. It seems that there is the universally understood type that flies, as well as the linguistically or culturally specific type that flops.

It has been our collective experience that the universal type humor can be as good as gold for lightening up a tense moment and making business in Japan or China more pleasant and enjoyable. In Japan, however, I’ve had more success reserving it for after the ice breaking.

We’d like to hear from you at editors@jdbnetwork.com

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