9 August 2016

Inspiration for good repartee and quick witted comments

We often miss an opportunity for good repartee and quick witted comments to colleagues and customers. Get some inspiration here for some really good ones!

Repartee conversation, or speech characterised by quick, witty comments and replies or good banter is something we rate highly in relationships, but the ability to diffuse a situation or add toa professional relationship in an appropriate way is of high value in business situations.

How often do we feel after the conversation we had a missed opportunity to say something? A lot of companies now look beyond academic qualifications and attach great importance to emotional intelligence.

'I think when you meet people you can tell their emotional intelligence relatively quickly and it's always better to work with people who have good repartee, who are good at holding themselves in a group, who are good at responding to questions, and who are curious as well’ says Tom Foster Carter/Entrepreneur and founder of Curve, a mobile payments start up.

Future skills as a result of the rise of smart machines taking away functional processes, greater programmable process driven services and ongoing development of supersized global networks will all bring about greater dependency on emotional and social intelligence skills.

The ability to understand the deeper meaning or significance of what is being expressed, the ability to connect with others in a deep and direct way, to sense and stimulate reactions in a meaningful way, proficiency of coming up with solutions and responses beyond that which is rote or rule based.

So championing ‘good’ repartee is a step towards this for good engagement where emotional intelligence and social intelligence are valuable skills. Here are some examples: 

Philip of Macedonia in a message to Sparta: “You are advised to submit without further delay, for if I bring my army into your land, I will destroy your farms, slay your people, and raze your city”.
Sparta’s reply: “If”. 

Abraham Lincoln, after being called ‘Two-faced’
“If I had two faces, do you think I’d be wearing this one?”

Mark Twain: “I’ve never killed a man, but I’ve read many an obituary with a great deal of satisfaction”

Reporter: “How many people work in the Vatican?”
Pope John XXIII: “About half”

Foreign Diplomat: “Mr President! You black your own boots”?
Abraham Lincoln: “Yes, whose boots do you black?

Reverend Edward Everett Hale when asked if he prayed for the Senators: “No, I look at the Senators and pray for the country”.

Benchley: “My good man, would you please get me a taxi?
Uniformed Man: “I’m not a doorman, I happen to be a rear admiral in the United States Navy”.
Benchley: “All right then, get me a battleship”.

Opera audience Member: “What do you think of the singer’s execution?”
Calvin Coolidge: “I’m all for it”.

Playwright Noel Coward: “Edna, you almost look like a man”.
Novelist Edna Ferber: “So do you”

Bessie Braddock: “Winston, you are drunk, and what’s more you are disgustingly drunk”.
Winston Churchill: “Bessie, my dear you are ugly, and what’s more you are disgustingly ugly, but tomorrow I shall be sober and you will still be disgustingly ugly”.

Henry Clay: “I would rather be right then be president”.
Thomas Reed: “The gentlemen need not trouble himself, he’ll never be either”.

Actress: I enjoyed reading your book, who wrote it for you?”
Author Ilka Chase: “Darling, I’m so glad that you liked it, who read it to you?”

Dorothy Parker: “Mr Coolidge, I’ve made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you”.
President Calvin Coolidge: “you lose”.

Mark Twain: “It is not that I believe that there are too many idiots in this world, just that lighting isn’t distributed right”.

Shaw: Have reserved two tickets for opening night.  Come and bring a friend, if you have one.
Churchill: Impossible to come to first night.  Will come to second night if you have one

Drunk man: “I can’t bear fools”
Dorothy Parker: “Apparently your mother could”.

Groucho Marx: “I never forget a face, but in your case I’ll be glad to make an exception”.

Actress Mary Anderson: “What is my best side Mr Hitchcock?
Alfred Hitchcock: “You’re sitting on it, my dear”.

NY Mayor Ed Koch vs Andrew Kirtzman: “I can explain this to you, I can’t comprehend it for you”.

Frank Sinatra on Robert Redford: “Well at least he has found his true love – what a pity he can’t marry himself”.

Senator Fritz Hollings when challenged by his republican opponent, Henry McMastor:“I’ll take a drug test, if you’ll take an IQ test”.

Ugarte: “You despise me, don’t you?”
Rick Blaine: “If I gave you any thought I probably would”.

Member of British Parliament: “Mr Churchill, must you fall asleep while I’m speaking?”
Winston Churchill:  “No, it’s purely voluntary”

Lady Nancy Astor: “Winston, if you were my husband, I’d put poison in your coffee”
Winston Churchill: “Nancy, if you were my wife, I’d drink it”.

Reporter: “What do you think of western civilization?
Mahatma Gandhi: “I think it would be a good idea”.

Sources: https://business.bt.com/solutions/see-what-happens/connecting-london-recruiting/

http://ricklochner.com/we-live-in-an-information-rich/