How to Leverage Go To One Liners in Your Conversations - 007

Go-To One-Liners 

Here we go with my Top 20 go-to-one liners…

• Husband of one, father of five 
• Not smart enough to take that personally  
• Visual of the suspect 
• Thanks for coming but most of all, thanks for leaving 
• Just between us girls 
• Eating the best of the king's food and drinking the best of the king's wine 
• Questions, comments, or snide remarks? 
• Lies! Nothing but lies! (Usually when someone says they heard something positive about me.) 
• Love to stay and chat (Jokingly trying to end a conversation where a tough question has been asked.) 
• With all due disrespect 
• Sharp as a bowling ball 
• Clear as mud 
• I live in a small midwestern town… (dramatic pause) called Chicago! 
• Trying to get my girlish figure back 
• If I want to be ignored, I’ll just go home 
• In-and-out so nobody gets hurt 
• You can't prove that! 
• I make fun of that guy and now I’m that guy!
• Who’s who in the zoo
• Let’s land this plane

Who cares if everyone has heard the lines over and over. If the expressions produce a smile, laugh, or response, they work! I've found no matter how often someone hears a funny one-liner, they often enjoy it just as much the next time. 

Top Five Ways to Make Your Own List:

1.  Find a place where you can keep an ongoing list. For me it was the notes app on my phone. The location doesn’t matter as much as easy access and only that one location. You may need to experience where is best to create your list and that’s fine but once you find a good rhythm, stick with the best location for you.

2. As soon as you hear yourself make a potential one-liner that elicits a response from someone, write it down immediately or as soon as you can. Now, if you’re anything like me, I have the best of intentions to remember and write it down later, and never ever comes and I lose that one-liner. So, if you say it amidst a conversation, I’ve literally asked the person I’m speaking with for some grace to write something down real quick then immediately jump back into the conversation. This ALWAYS works much better than going to my phone without asking permission which just flat out looks rude.

3. Practice these new one-liners the next time you’re with someone that your one-liner fits the context. The keyword is practice. It must come out naturally otherwise it will receive a “meh response.” Now, that doesn’t mean the one-liner is bad, it may be the delivery. You just need some practice.

4. I usually leverage the one-liner

Resources to Use:

The System Elite Connectors Use to Remember Names

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Episode zero zero seven of the Elite Business Connector Podcast. Welcome to the Elite Business Connector Podcast, where we believe how you interact with people will make or break your opportunity to develop a real and influential connection. Now, whether you're a rookie or a rock star with people, you're in the right place right now. Let's do this. Welcome to the Elite Business Connector Podcast. I'm your host, Brian Paul Buckley, husband of one, father of five, and on a mission to help you develop and master your business social skills. Today's focus area is communication, which is all about me. And that's okay because how you communicate is how you connect, and when you connect, you influence, because it all begins with communication. It's okay to be selfish when you're seeking to improve yourself to improve your conversation. In fact, mad kudos for doing so. But it's not okay when you monopolize the conversation and make everything only about you. Wrong podcast man, we're about the self-improvement business connector. James took a sip of his coffee and scanned the hotel lobby, feeling a bit out of place amongst the sea of suits. He had been looking forward to this conference for months, but his stomach nodded with dread at the thought of attempting to network. What am I even supposed to say to all these successful people, he thought? Just then, a confident looking woman came up to talk to him. Hi, I'm Stephanie, she said with a warm smile and a firm handshake. Instantly put James at ease. Over the next few minutes, she asked James questions about himself, had just the right one-liners that brought a smile to his face, and told relatable stories that had James captivated. After just a few minutes, he felt like they had met before. As she excused herself, he was amazed at how she seemed to effortly build rapport, if only knew her secrets. Truth is, James, it wasn't some mysterious gift that Stephanie was born with. She simply had a few well-crafted one-liners and conversational pieces in her back pocket book. So she was prepared for a genuine interaction like this one with James. One of the most powerful ways to influence someone else is to prepare to make an impact in your conversation. This alone will set you apart from almost everyone else in the room. Did you catch that last line? Let me do a repeat and no additional charge. One of the most powerful ways to influence someone else is to prepare to make an impact in your conversation. This alone will set you apart from almost everyone else in the room. Well, why? Because most business professionals just show up and wing it. If you have some success, but not anywhere close to the person who prepares. The focus area of communication rises or falls with one word, preparation. The more prepared you are in your communication during a conversation, the more confident you will become. And it starts with the four communication tools. Most of us have been where James was, walking into a networking event or meeting and feeling underprepared to make a true connection. We fall back on some safe small talk or rambling about work or personal life. Sometimes it works out fine, but often the conversation hits an awkward rut. The good news is with a bit of purposeful preparation, you can enter just about any situation armed with content that will captivate attention and take communication from that surface level to genuine engaging. Over years of practice, I've developed an arsenal of these four communication tools that allow me to make consistent impact even with complete strangers. First one is go to one-liners. Second, signature stories. Third, key questions. And fourth, the elevator pitch. These battle-tested tools turbocharge your ability to not just communicate, but create a two-way conversation, the kind that build a relationship and finds some common ground quickly. Now, when you have these four tools in your utility belt, now not to be confused with your Batman utility belt, and know how to use these tools skillfully, you'll be amazed at how they can kickstart and open the door for stronger connections. I should point out too that while these tools allow you to feel more confident in your communication in a business context, they can really apply to any conversation that you have no matter what the context. So let's dive into the first of the four indispensable tools for elite communication in this podcast episode. Go-to one-liners. The more you observe your favorite person, which by the way is you, you'll notice certain phrases that you use often. These one-liners, if used properly, are meant to break the tension or bring a smile to someone's face and who doesn't like a surprise smile, right? A go-to one-liner creates interest back from the other person and encourages some sort of response and usually takes a moment to actually get your one-liner. I like to say a different time zone. Not only is this fun to watch, wait for it, but it creates an instant connect when they do, quote, get it, end quote. You have your own, I'm sure, though you may not always be aware of them just yet. Or you may be thinking, I don't have a single one-liner, and that's okay. I got you. So to get your creativity going, let me give you a bunch of my one-liners. These have taken a while to find, but they've proven to work over time. So feel free to use any of my one-liners to see how they feel on you, especially as you start to begin to develop your own. So here we go with my top 20 go-to one-liners. Husband of one, father of five. Have you heard that one before? Not smart enough to take that personally. Visual of the suspect. Thanks for coming, but most of all, thanks for leaving. Just between us girls. Eating the best of the king's food and drinking the best of the king's wine. Questions, comments, snod remarks? Lies, nothing but lies. Love to stay in chat. With all due disrespect. Sharp as a bowling ball. Clear as mud. I live in a small Midwestern town most of them never heard of. Called Chicago. Trying to get my girlish figure back. If I'm gonna be ignored, I'll just go home. In and out, nobody gets hurt. You can't prove that. I make fun of that guy, and now I'm that guy. Who's who in the zoo? Let's land this plane. Now, who cares if everyone has heard the one liner over and over? If it produces a smile or gives a laugh or a response, they work. And I found no matter how often someone has heard the funny one-liner, they enjoy watching the other person have their response. I was at a rooftop function for one of the major telecommunication carriers, and I was introduced to the vice president. Now, we only had a few moments together, so my goal wasn't to try to impress him, which is the most natural thing for us to do. I wanted to get him to smile or laugh. So he asked me a question of where I was from, and I responded with, well, guess which one-liner. So I mentioned that I was from a small Midwestern town, dramatic pause. Most had never heard of it. Another pause, wait for it, and he asked where. So I told him, Chicago. He responded, nicely played. But I didn't stop there. I said, Well, but we need to keep that between us girls. Now, between those two interchanges, that made the VP laugh, and he asked he actually asked if he could use that one liner. I told him, of course. And he was relaxed and we started an unexpected conversation, which was a lot longer than most VPs would do in this type of interaction. Do you know what just happened? A VP from a massive company who's used to getting his ego stroked felt a lot more comfortable just an average conversation that brought a smile to his face and a laugh, and something that he felt like he could use material for the last time. Do you see how that worked? So, how do you come up with your own one-liners? We'll find out after this short break.

SPEAKER_00 8:20

Some people are just naturally funny. They get laughs without even trying. You know, that guy. Then there's the rest of us. But what if there were ways to learn how to add humor into your conversations and not just any conversations, but your business conversations? It's possible, and you can learn how with one simple action step. Download a copy of Brian Paul Buckley's bonus chapter, not found in his book, Elite Business Connectors. So, where do you find this bootleg never seen before chapter? Well, you can try and remember the URL, but honestly, it is just way too long. So go to the show notes to get your copy today.

SPEAKER_01 8:59

Top five ways to make your own list. Number one, find a place where you can keep an ongoing list. For me, it was the notes app on my phone. The location doesn't matter as much as an easy access and only that one location. You may need to experience where it's best to create your list, and that's fine. But once you find a good rhythm, stick with that best location for you. Number two, as soon as you hear yourself make a potential one-liner that elicits a response from someone, write it down immediately or as soon as you can. Now, if you're anything like me, I have the best of intentions to remember and write it down later. It never ever comes, and I lose that one-liner. Ah! So if you say in a midst of conversation, I've literally asked the other person I'm speaking with for some grace to write something down real quick, then immediately jump back into the conversation. This always works much better than going to my phone without asking permission, which just flat out looks rude. Number three, practice these new one-liners the next time you're with someone that your one-liner fits the context. Don't force it. The key word here is practice. It must come out naturally, otherwise it'll receive a meh response. Now, that doesn't mean the one-liner is bad, it just means maybe it's just a delivery. So you're going to need some practice. Number four, I usually leverage the one-liner to ask a question after I get them to smile or laugh. For example, when they ask me where I'm from, I usually use my one-liner about the small Midwestern town, as you very well know so far. And I'll ask them where they're from to take the attention off of me and onto them. Once that happens, the conversation begins to flow so much easier. And number five, always remember the one-liner is meant to be a means to an end. You want them to smile or laugh so they become more endeared to you and invest it into the conversation. This is the first of four communication tools you'll build into your communication toolbox. Nobody knows. You're putting in the reps to make this toolbox. But it's exactly what elite business connectors do to become elite. So now you have a better context of the purpose of the one-liners. Let me repeat mine again and think about how you'd respond if I told them to you in a conversation. Husband of one, father of five. Not smart enough to take that personally. Visual of the suspect. Thanks for coming, but most of all, thanks for leaving. Just between us girls. Eating the best of the king's food and drinking the best of the king's wine. Questions, comments, or Snyder marks. Lies, nothing but lies. Love to sing and chat. With all due disrespect. Sharp as a bowling ball. Clear as mud. I live in a small Midwestern town. Try to trying to get my girlish figure back. If I want to be ignored, I'll just go home. In and out, so nobody gets hurt. You can't prove that. I make fun of that guy and now I'm that guy. Who's who in the zoo? Let's land this plane. Did you feel hearing one of my one-liners would be received in the moment? Then imagine if you could use one of mine in a conversation, how would that be received? Now I travel an absolute ton. In fact, I have three books written for business travelers, just saying. Which means I meet a lot of new people every single day from the airport to those in my trainings. And each interaction is an opportunity to sharpen these new tools. Just as a comedian who tries out new material to see if he can get a response, preferably a laugh, you're going to do the same. So here are my two challenges. One, begin immediately to start building your one-liner list. Start with my list and see what works, or you can start from scratch. Challenge number two, practice your one-liners every single chance you get and see how they're received, then write those one-liners down and perfect their delivery. Then, commit to using them consistently. So many times the delivery is a straight face, you have to nail the face. Another time it's the timing. You have to pause. For example, I live in a small town, as you very well know, most have never heard of it. Pause, wait for it, wait for it. It's called Chicago. You've got to make sure that you're pausing. It will feel like minutes, it's only seconds, but it'll make a huge difference if you know what I mean. Facial expressing and timing is everything in your delivery, guys. Nothing practice can't solve, and nothing that can not make it perfect. If your one-liner fails, check your delivery before assuming that it's actually the one-liner before you toss it to the curb. One-liners are an art, they're not a science. It is an art. Work with it. Conversations will feel less forced and more dynamic if you use the one-liners. You'll build valuable rapport and it covers surprising commonalities. And most importantly, you'll position yourself to form the type of meaningful connections that build new relationships and open doors. And in my book, I created what's called a conversational resume. It's all these top four conversational tools. And it's a tool that leverages the content from communication, which is all about me and prepares me to be at my best when I begin a conversation. To get your copy, pick up the book, Elite Business Connector: How to Develop and Master Business Social Skills, which you can find on Amazon. It'll be a much deeper dive into all things on the conversational resume. Closing comments and Snyder marks. Well, episode 007 is officially in the books. In and Out Nobody Got Hurt. If you're interested in my Lissa here of the top 25 one-liners, they're available in the show notes. And if you've not subscribed to the podcast just yet, please do. And if you've not rated the podcast, it would be greatly appreciated by yours truly. As my father used to say, thanks for coming, but most of all, thanks for leaving. I'm out, and you got this now. Now it's your turn to do something with this episode. And always remember your communication starts a conversation that can lead to a connection of influence. You got this.