I love the image of the fantasy eager student in Cathy Moore’s Dump the Drone. This learning nerd looks blissfully at his computer screen and exclaims, “I love to sit at my computer and read read read!”
If only training were that easy. Whether it’s online or on-ground, for most training sessions, the audience is a little lower down on the engagement scale. They may be skeptical that the session will be of any benefit to them; or they may feel obligated but not motivated to be there. I’ve been cogitating on just that kind of situation, fretting about an upcoming presentation. I want to prepare myself and my audience in advance to set the stage for success. I wondered what would Seinfeld do? Or what would any comedian with years of experience in front of tough audiences do? So, I googled for lessons from the world of comedy. Whether or not these comedians are memorable, their advice is:
1. Where’s the passion?
If passion is contagious, the converse—a passionless presentation—is deadly. If you’re not jazzed about delivering your material, how can you expect your audience to be? Simon Dunn says, if you’re dying on stage, “you’ve only got yourself to blame.” Vince Martin tells wannabe comics that you need to bring the energy to the audience yourself, “to give away as much energy as you can.”
How to surface your enthusiasm? Back in December, Peter Bromberg (who’s a bit of a comic himself) blogged about Kevin Eikenberry’s post on Unlocking the Passion Paradox. Read it and then go look for your passion. “Passion is something we want, but we don’t always know how or where to find it.”
2. You talkin’ to me?
When asked by Larry King what makes a comedian really good, Seinfeld replied that it was a comedian who cared about his audience. Comedians will often sit at the back of a club before their act just so they can watch people enter and note their dress, demeanor, and demographic. The more you understand about your audience, the better prepared you are to play to their diversity, arouse their attention and respond to their tough questions. But Seinfeld didn’t say “understand,” he said “care” about the audience.
Trainers often have an advantage over stand-up comics in that they know ahead of time who is registered for the event; you can do your audience analysis before the moment when you’re standing in the spotlights. You can look for their commonalities, their differences, anticipate potential questions and formulate answers. But take it a step further and try to imagine their frame of mind when arriving at the training. What might they be expecting, what might disappoint, how will they have the opportunity to interact and make the material their own?
John Cleese says, “If you get too neurotic about making mistakes, you’re unlikely to make anything.” Anticipating a tough audience or a difficult training can be stifling. The fear of not connecting, not achieving learning objectives, and basically “bombing” makes it hard to prepare for a presentation. You need to let go of some control. Be prepared to be flexible in response to your audience and to change gears when it’s clear that something’s not working. Vinnie Favorito is known for extemporizing with his audiences. He’s also been known, when meeting with tepid response and weak laughs, to stop his routine and ask “Guys, what’s the matter? What’s going on?” It’s more important to admit that there’s a disconnect and enlist the audience to help fix it than it is to stick to a script.
Well, that’s three good pointers to calm my trepidation and help me prepare. There’s a whole other set of lessons on how to pull off the live performance. That will require a lot more study and practice.
Thanks Betha – I think the last point really hit home for me. I’m always trying to get ready for the negative moments, but that can stifle the process for sure!