The Third Pillar of Communication: Why Attitude Beats Words
- Paul Speirs
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Hey folks
With summer in full swing, festival and Fringe season is officially upon us. Stage lights are hot, crowds are ready, and comedy is everywhere.
And it seems a good time to highlight a stand-up tip that can fit in the workplace too.
When we talk about joke writing, most people focus on the first two pillars: the Setup and the Punchline. But there’s a vital third pillar that turns a good gag into a great one: Attitude.
All jokes need a setup to frame the punchline. That’s just basic mechanics. Mark Simmons, a master of the one-liner, says he always looks for the shortest path to the punchline: the minimum number of words needed to reach "the funny."
Where does attitude fit in? It turns out that attitude is the shortcut.
"The joke lives in the body before it ever hits the mouth. Delivery isn't just what you say; it's how completely you embody the reaction." Logan Murray, Be a Great Stand-Up
Picture this: I’m sitting in front of my smallest audience ever.
Just one person!
In their living room, as I run through my script. That one person happens to be Logan Murray, the legendary comedy coach.
It is honestly frightening - how I ended up in this man's lounge is a story for another day.
Anyhow, I run through this setup:
The Set up: And the Doctor says, "Would you like the nurse to observe?"
"Ooh, yes please!"
The Punchline: "I’ll just check if Kevin is free."
It’s a solid gag, or so I thought. Then Logan gave me his feedback:
"Here’s a suggestion. Instead of using seven words, 'I’ll just check if Kevin is free', you could just use one: 'Kevin!'
"And give it attitude. Like this: Just as you're about to say the line, look to your left, lean back as though you are looking down an imaginary corridor, cup your hand to your mouth, and yell: 'KEVIN!'
"It accelerates the gag, creates an instant shift in direction, and heightens the moment for the audience.
You could try that, or... you could keep your seven words."
Wow! That was my instant thought. So simple. Seven words distilled down to one single word, layered with the right physical and vocal attitude.
In comedy, and in life, brevity opens the door, but attitude is what makes the moment land.
Can you find the attitude?
Fair play to Logan too, as he came to the gig where I debuted the gag to a slightly bigger sold-out audience in the Fallen Angel.
The Gesture Pivot
Aim: To use exaggerated gesticulation and physical reframing to demonstrate how different attitudes and non-verbal approaches can completely reshape the energy behind a single objective or message.
Outcome: Participants build physical expressiveness, break away from static or repetitive "podium posture," and learn how to adapt their stance and energy to make routine corporate messaging dynamic and engaging.
How it works:
Pair Up: Player A and Player B.
Initiate Action: Player A starts an exaggerated physical motion (e.g. small, frantic tapping in mid-air) backed by a specific attitude (e.g. satisfaction).
The Prompt: Player B asks: "What are you doing?"
The Non-Obvious Line: Player A reframes the motion with a creative, non-obvious activity:
Example: "I'm restoring a Rembrandt."
The Twist (Same Task, New Gestures): Player B must immediately take on the exact same task ("Restoring a Rembrandt"), but must execute it using completely different exaggerated gestures and attitude (e.g. standing tall with grand, theatrical sweeps of the arms and deep, confident breaths).
The Hand-Off: While Player B is performing this new physical version, Player A asks: "What are you doing?"
The New Line: Player B delivers a brand-new non-obvious line (e.g., "I'm recalibrating our five-year strategy").
Continue the Cycle: Player A takes on Player B's new task using fresh physical gestures, and the cycle repeats for 2–3 minutes.
Reflections:
On Physical Versatility: How did changing your gestures and posture shift the energy of the task, even though the objective ("restoring a Rembrandt") stayed the same?
On Breaking Habits: How often do you default to the same two or three hand gestures when presenting at work? What happened when you pushed your gesticulation into exaggerated territory?
Business Application: In business, teams often have to deliver the exact same quarterly update, sales pitch, or strategy brief over and over. How can intentionally changing your physical "stance" keep routine communications feeling fresh, confident, and persuasive?
