Practical Storytelling

On the one hand, story-telling is a pastime or a form of social intercourse, associated with leisure, gregariousness, and travel. On the other hand, it may have a practical application, enforcing a point and enlivening a discourse with a parable or example. Because wit and humor add an extra seasoning to the sauce of narrative, the humorous anecdote has always been effective for the purposes of homiletic or forensic illustration, as demonstrated by the popularity of collections of stories and jokes for speakers. Thus the medieval Latin collections of exempla, or illustrative stories for use in sermons, which drew upon the storehouses of classical legend, fable and merry tales, served as a link between the folk literatures of ancient and modern times as a forerunner of the jest-book. (from A Treasury of American Folklore edited by B. A. Botkin, page 407)

Anecdotes and jokes make up an important part of the folklore for any culture. When most people hear the word 'folklore' they probably think 'folktales.' They think of Johnny Appleseed or Brer Rabbit; characters with full length stories attached to them. Anecdotes and jokes are different in format from folktales and it is because they serve a different purpose.

Botkin describes this purpose as illustrating a point. Anecdotes and jokes are not meant to be used alone, but woven into a larger argument. For example, if I am making the argument that jokes are funnier when told aloud, I might illustrate my point with this joke:

'Ask me what the secret to comedy is.'
'What's the secret to...'
'Timing. '

My argument would conclude: part of what makes a joke (or anecdote) effective is how you tell it. And in making this argument I have demonstrated how jokes and anecdotes are meant to be used in a larger context.

Notice that Botkin specifically mentions the use of anecdotes and jokes in speeches. This book may have been published in 1944, but there are plenty of professions in which public speeking is an essential skill today. In his introduction to 'Anecdotes and Jests,' Botkin goes on to talk about Abraham Lincoln as a lawyer and polititian. Plenty of writting goes into lawyering, but once a case is in the courtroom, it is effective storytelling that is going to sway the jury. And as for polititians, they have to convince us to elect them, and alot of that convincing is done in speeches.

I have previously stated that some words mean more when they are spoken aloud. Jokes do. And when someone is trying to earn our trust, tyring to get us to believe in them, their words do, too.