Are you stepping on your own toes?
If crowds are the key to engaging your guests and starting conversations, how do you build crowds?
In last week's email, I mentioned five event "trends" that are actually preventing crowds from forming at your events.
Here are three of the five things you need to create crowds:
1) Performing Surfaces and Gathering Points.
If we don't have a central point that guests can gather around, it's difficult for a crowd to form. That's why I always have one of those large black pads in front of me when performing. It tells people, "This is where the show is happening."
Tables help a lot, too. Anything from a 36" high top to a full-sized 10-top dining table works, but the audience needs a piece of furniture they can gather around. Bigger tables naturally allow bigger crowds to form.
If people don't have a piece of furniture or a specific spot that functions as a "stage" or central point, it's very difficult to get them to organize into a crowd. There are solutions from street performing that will overcome the lack of tables, but they are inelegant and mostly inappropriate for nice events.
2) Appropriate Sound Levels.
The DJ, the band, and the echoes in the room can prevent your success for two important reasons.
First, people must hear what's happening to remain engaged in the crowd. The jokes and interaction are what make the show interesting and engaging. Naturally, I have some voice training and can project my voice into a crowded room.
If people can't hear each other talk from 10 or 15 feet away, crowds won't form. Don't let your band or DJ dominate the room.
Second, people will leave their tables and crowd around me if I ask them to, but I can't ask them if they can't hear me. Often, I'll entertain one table, and the nearby table will start craning their necks to see what I'm doing. I can instantly start a crowd by inviting those nearby to join us. Other people will see that it's okay leave their tables and join us, too, which builds larger and larger crowds.
3) Anticipation
In strolling situations where the performer is traveling group-to-group at a cocktail party, it really helps if people at the event know that there will be entertainment. When they hear the applause and cheers, they recognize that a performance is happening and they can choose to join in.
I started creating "anticipation" videos for my clients a few years ago. These short, 90-second clips explain who I am and give guests a glimpse of the magic. They're a huge help.
I was entertaining at the Medinah Country Club a few years ago, and 75 players got up from their tables, walked onto the front porch, and surrounded me for a full hour. They all said they'd heard about the magic from the video and came outside to see it for themselves.
AND… The “Secret Sauce of Crowd Building.”
There are two more "secret sauce" components to building crowds, but I don't have time or space to put them here.
I DID, however, include them in this month's Reading Mike's Mind newsletter, which we sent to our VIP client list (for free).
If you'd like to learn the inner secrets our clients use to get more engagement and participation during their events (and therefore better accomplish their larger event goals), reply to this email with your mailing address or visit MagicMeansBusiness.com/contact and sed us your contact information.
Until next week,
Mike Duseberg
Mike
PS: Did you take our holiday party survey yet?
PPS: If you see the value of crowds at your event, and you’re open to a conversation give a call at (561) 596 3877 or set an appointment at the button below. I’ll ask a bunch of questions about what you’ve done in the past, what worked, what could be better, how you measure success, and what you hope to accomplish next year. Based on what you tell me, I’ll tell you what other people have done in your situation.