Former Community – We Moved

🆕 Coached community here, for posts & feedback public community here.

ForumPublic Forum: Social Life10+ Funny and Witty Answers to th …

Please or Register to create posts and topics.

10+ Funny and Witty Answers to the Question "How Are You?"

#1 · January 28, 2022, 2:36 am

Quote from Ali Scarlett on January 28, 2022, 2:36 am
Nick Kolenda shares a simple technique for giving yourself a small status boost.
Break the Greeting Ritual

https://youtu.be/ksP9L5lwLEc?t=20

Kolenda: "At the beginning of your sales call when prospects ask how you're doing, they're expecting you to say something like 'good' or 'fine'. So, instead, respond with something unique or different."
I believe this approach applies to more than sales calls, but all social interactions.
The main benefits of this technique I'm focusing on here are:
The Pique Technique: it's unexpected, which snaps them out of quick, mindless thinking and leads them to focus more attention on you and what you're saying.
The Red Sneakers Effect: whenever you break a social norm, people perceive you as having higher social status and competence (so long as it's not value-taking behavior, I'd imagine).
So, with that said, here are some fun, creative ideas on how to answer, "How are you?"
*Note: All ideas below are open to feedback.
"If I were any better, I'd be you (smile)": meeting up with someone who's far ahead in life, this can be a great way of building them up (so long as you do it without coming across as a low-value suck-up, of course :).
"Well enough to chat, if you want": could be a good way to segway into some rapport-building if done well and the situation is conducive to it.
"If I had a tail, I'd wag it.": unique and might sub-communicate a love for animals, what's not to love?
"I'm better than I was, but not nearly as good as I'm going to be.": could be a good way to nudge them to ask why that is and then share what you're most excited about in your life or work right now.
"Wondering how you are.": charmers focus on others and this might be a good way to do that (see "how to be charming").
"Imagining myself having a wonderful vacation.": an open invitation for some conversation about travel — and a potentially good way to move past the small talk phase faster.
"I'm busy taking over the world (smile). You?": go-getter, anyone?
More ideas:
"Living a dream, don't wake me (smile)."
"Incredibly handsome. You?"
You can find more ideas in this article.

Nick Kolenda shares a simple technique for giving yourself a small status boost.

Break the Greeting Ritual

Kolenda: "At the beginning of your sales call when prospects ask how you're doing, they're expecting you to say something like 'good' or 'fine'. So, instead, respond with something unique or different."

I believe this approach applies to more than sales calls, but all social interactions.

The main benefits of this technique I'm focusing on here are:

The Pique Technique: it's unexpected, which snaps them out of quick, mindless thinking and leads them to focus more attention on you and what you're saying.
The Red Sneakers Effect: whenever you break a social norm, people perceive you as having higher social status and competence (so long as it's not value-taking behavior, I'd imagine).

So, with that said, here are some fun, creative ideas on how to answer, "How are you?"

*Note: All ideas below are open to feedback.

"If I were any better, I'd be you (smile)": meeting up with someone who's far ahead in life, this can be a great way of building them up (so long as you do it without coming across as a low-value suck-up, of course :).
"Well enough to chat, if you want": could be a good way to segway into some rapport-building if done well and the situation is conducive to it.
"If I had a tail, I'd wag it.": unique and might sub-communicate a love for animals, what's not to love?
"I'm better than I was, but not nearly as good as I'm going to be.": could be a good way to nudge them to ask why that is and then share what you're most excited about in your life or work right now.
"Wondering how you are.": charmers focus on others and this might be a good way to do that (see "how to be charming").
"Imagining myself having a wonderful vacation.": an open invitation for some conversation about travel — and a potentially good way to move past the small talk phase faster.
"I'm busy taking over the world (smile). You?": go-getter, anyone?

More ideas:

"Living a dream, don't wake me (smile)."
"Incredibly handsome. You?"

You can find more ideas in this article.

Transitioned, Alex and Mats G have reacted to this post.

#2 · January 28, 2022, 9:52 am

Quote from Alex on January 28, 2022, 9:52 am
Quote from Ali Scarlett on January 28, 2022, 2:36 am
Nick Kolenda shares a simple technique for giving yourself a small status boost.
Break the Greeting Ritual

https://youtu.be/ksP9L5lwLEc?t=20

Kolenda: "At the beginning of your sales call when prospects ask how you're doing, they're expecting you to say something like 'good' or 'fine'. So, instead, respond with something unique or different."
I believe this approach applies to more than sales calls, but all social interactions.
The main benefits of this technique I'm focusing on here are:
The Pique Technique: it's unexpected, which snaps them out of quick, mindless thinking and leads them to focus more attention on you and what you're saying.
The Red Sneakers Effect: whenever you break a social norm, people perceive you as having higher social status and competence (so long as it's not value-taking behavior, I'd imagine).
So, with that said, here are some fun, creative ideas on how to answer, "How are you?"
*Note: All ideas below are open to feedback.
"If I were any better, I'd be you (smile)": meeting up with someone who's far ahead in life, this can be a great way of building them up (so long as you do it without coming across as a low-value suck-up, of course :).
"Well enough to chat, if you want": could be a good way to segway into some rapport-building if done well and the situation is conducive to it.
"If I had a tail, I'd wag it.": unique and might sub-communicate a love for animals, what's not to love?
"I'm better than I was, but not nearly as good as I'm going to be.": could be a good way to nudge them to ask why that is and then share what you're most excited about in your life or work right now.
"Wondering how you are.": charmers focus on others and this might be a good way to do that (see "how to be charming").
"Imagining myself having a wonderful vacation.": an open invitation for some conversation about travel — and a potentially good way to move past the small talk phase faster.
"I'm busy taking over the world (smile). You?": go-getter, anyone?
More ideas:
"Living a dream, don't wake me (smile)."
"Incredibly handsome. You?"
You can find more ideas in this article.
Very interesting and useful principle, thank you Ali!

Quote from Ali Scarlett on January 28, 2022, 2:36 am
Nick Kolenda shares a simple technique for giving yourself a small status boost.
Break the Greeting Ritual

Kolenda: "At the beginning of your sales call when prospects ask how you're doing, they're expecting you to say something like 'good' or 'fine'. So, instead, respond with something unique or different."
I believe this approach applies to more than sales calls, but all social interactions.
The main benefits of this technique I'm focusing on here are:
The Pique Technique: it's unexpected, which snaps them out of quick, mindless thinking and leads them to focus more attention on you and what you're saying.
The Red Sneakers Effect: whenever you break a social norm, people perceive you as having higher social status and competence (so long as it's not value-taking behavior, I'd imagine).
So, with that said, here are some fun, creative ideas on how to answer, "How are you?"
*Note: All ideas below are open to feedback.
"If I were any better, I'd be you (smile)": meeting up with someone who's far ahead in life, this can be a great way of building them up (so long as you do it without coming across as a low-value suck-up, of course :).
"Well enough to chat, if you want": could be a good way to segway into some rapport-building if done well and the situation is conducive to it.
"If I had a tail, I'd wag it.": unique and might sub-communicate a love for animals, what's not to love?
"I'm better than I was, but not nearly as good as I'm going to be.": could be a good way to nudge them to ask why that is and then share what you're most excited about in your life or work right now.
"Wondering how you are.": charmers focus on others and this might be a good way to do that (see "how to be charming").
"Imagining myself having a wonderful vacation.": an open invitation for some conversation about travel — and a potentially good way to move past the small talk phase faster.
"I'm busy taking over the world (smile). You?": go-getter, anyone?
More ideas:
"Living a dream, don't wake me (smile)."
"Incredibly handsome. You?"
You can find more ideas in this article.

Very interesting and useful principle, thank you Ali!

Ali Scarlett has reacted to this post.

#3 · January 29, 2022, 2:20 am

Thanks Ali - this would be good fun in your personal life - I'll be doing it and yes you definitely want to be memorable in sales and get past clients 'just another salesguy' perception. It would definitely fit in some people's power schtick too. I know a lot of digital show ponies who use that we're all just hanging out vibing approach to try and level up the hierarchy and shift the game to a more social/popularity contest focus. So if that's your style this tactic would be great.

If we're thinking about extending it into general work life for everyone @lucio I'd be interested on how this sits in your thinking. You've given some good advice:

It's normally best to be the rule rather than the exception. Be a steely player beyond reproach.

From what I've seen the steely players stick very much to the herd game and are just better at it. All the mangers are memeing away furiously on the group chat - celebrating international women's day - faking some interest in spotify playlists etc.

I've also heard things like ...he's a bit quirky but a solid guy. Play with a straight bat no flourishes etc. said by senior managers.

So this adds flavour to your work persona. I guess the discuss is how much flavour can you add before you get seen as a 'joker' or 'quirky' and people don't take you seriously? And is there any way you can frame it to have the best of both worlds? Or am I just out of date and in the new hyper social workplace is flavour now a big positive?

Lucio Buffalmano has reacted to this post.

#4 · January 29, 2022, 5:15 am

Quote from Lucio Buffalmano on January 29, 2022, 5:15 am
Kolenda is great.
But this one wasn't my favorite technique.
If delivered well, or in the right context, those sentences can probably work (but frankly you can say that for almost anything).
But most certainly not always, and probably shouldn't become your standard approach.
Also, I'd first like to hear someone doing it well and effectively, and so far I can't recall many people or situations where I thought that anything similar was "smooth and effective"
There are 3 reasons why I wouldn't recommend taking this over as your standard approach:
1. Rituals Are Social Foreplays (Don't F*ck People Dry)
Many social rituals are standard for a reason: it's because they're expected to be standard.
They're social balm, the equivalent of foreplays.
They serve to warm up and put people at ease.
They're supposed to be low cognitive and autopilot because they help people slide into the deeper or more taxing stuff that comes later -that's where "smooth" comes from, because it gets you there without jolts, jumps, or anything that feels "weird" and "off"-.
These ones do the opposite, they rob people of the comfort of the known territory and jolt them when they don't necessarily want to be jolted.
2. Try Hard (= Low Power)
Go through them and ask:
Would a high-power CEO use these?
They can feel like you're trying really hard to be "different" or smartass -very high investment-.
3. Power Moves: Covert One-Ups
And the last issue is that all trying hard can also feel like a one-up.
The receiver thinks:
OK, now this guy is so happy that he'd wag his tail. Is he supposed to now be better than I am because I'm just "good"?
And:
OK, he's such a smart ass. Am I supposed to be dumber or duller now because I stick to the stock sentences?
I'm always ready and happy to change my mind but for these reasons, for now, I'm not the biggest fan.
In-Between
Some middle ground might be better.
Such as, you start with the stock sentence or word, and then add one of those.
For example:
Him: How are you
You: Wonderful! If I had a tail, I'd wag it. And you?
Now it's bracketed with the expected social balms, so it feels more "normal" and less try hard.

Kolenda is great.

But this one wasn't my favorite technique.

If delivered well, or in the right context, those sentences can probably work (but frankly you can say that for almost anything).

But most certainly not always, and probably shouldn't become your standard approach.

Also, I'd first like to hear someone doing it well and effectively, and so far I can't recall many people or situations where I thought that anything similar was "smooth and effective"

There are 3 reasons why I wouldn't recommend taking this over as your standard approach:

**1. Rituals Are Social Foreplays (Don't F*ck People Dry)**

Many social rituals are standard for a reason: it's because they're expected to be standard.

They're social balm, the equivalent of foreplays.

They serve to warm up and put people at ease.

They're supposed to be low cognitive and autopilot because they help people slide into the deeper or more taxing stuff that comes later -that's where "smooth" comes from, because it gets you there without jolts, jumps, or anything that feels "weird" and "off"-.

These ones do the opposite, they rob people of the comfort of the known territory and jolt them when they don't necessarily want to be jolted.

2. Try Hard (= Low Power)

Go through them and ask:

Would a high-power CEO use these?

They can feel like you're trying really hard to be "different" or smartass -very high investment-.

3. Power Moves: Covert One-Ups

And the last issue is that all trying hard can also feel like a one-up.

The receiver thinks:

OK, now this guy is so happy that he'd wag his tail. Is he supposed to now be better than I am because I'm just "good"?

And:

OK, he's such a smart ass. Am I supposed to be dumber or duller now because I stick to the stock sentences?

I'm always ready and happy to change my mind but for these reasons, for now, I'm not the biggest fan.

In-Between

Some middle ground might be better.

Such as, you start with the stock sentence or word, and then add one of those.

For example:

Him: How are you
You: Wonderful! If I had a tail, I'd wag it. And you?

Now it's bracketed with the expected social balms, so it feels more "normal" and less try hard.

Transitioned has reacted to this post.

Community, new content and Confidence University now available here.

#5 · January 29, 2022, 6:48 am

Awesome analysis - if I had a tail I'd wag it 😎 And thanks again Ali for the techniques. Now we've got a few different ways/situations this could be applied. Personally, how I'll use this is stay vanilla most of the time and pull one out on a casual Friday or use it as an intro to publicising a good win for the team.

Lucio Buffalmano has reacted to this post.

#6 · January 29, 2022, 12:18 pm

LOL good one :D

Yeah, I like your takeaway approach

Community, new content and Confidence University now available here.