A follow up to my post about "Mis-Managing Expectations," how the misdirecting DNA of Surprise is closely related to humor...and vice-versa. This example captures both the spirits cleanly, concisely and cleverly. An example I'll be using in my live Pow! speeches, but yours as an explanatory preview:
Dan
was a single guy living at home with his father and working in the family
business. When he found out he was going to inherit a fortune when his sickly father
died, he decided he needed a wife with which to share his fortune.
One
evening at an investment meeting he spotted the most beautiful woman he had
ever seen.Her natural beauty took his breath away.
“I
may look like just an ordinary man,” he said to her, “but in just a few years,
my father will die, and I'll inherit $65 million.”
Impressed, the woman obtained his business card and three days later…
...she became his stepmother.