Is Your Entertainment Entertaining?

A lot of people tell me they’re afraid they’re going to hire a “bad” act, so they’re constantly watching videos, reading reviews, getting referrals… trying to make sure they get “good” entertainment.

Can I tell you a secret? 

It’s not what the act does, it’s whether or not they can entertain with their performance.  I know magicians who can make the simplest trick into a show-stopping miracle, and I know performers who can literally make a minute feel like an hour.

I spent about twenty years of talking with entertainers and event professionals, and I have come up with my own definition for entertainment.

This is the definition that still guides my own performances whether I’m close-up or on stage, and it’s how I evaluate other performers as well.

I”m looking for three things:

First, the performer has to have the ability to capture attention.

I’ve seen people blow whistles, bang a stick on a table, jump up and down, play music, and even yell… but every performer has to have the ability to let people know he’s going to perform, and he must compel people to invest their attention in his performance.

This is more craft than art - there are certain tricks of the trade that help performers break into a group of people at a cocktail party or build a crowd on a trade show floor, and stage performers have a variety of ways they capture attention as they walk from the wings to the microphone.

Second, the performer must be able to focus attention.

Really great entertainers know how to make the rest of the world disappear while they’re performing.  They can make an hour feel like 15 minutes, and people are so engrossed in what they’re doing they simply can’t look away.

At bare minimum, an entertainer makes the audience focus their attention on what he’s doing.  The audience isn’t playing with their phones, eating their dinner, or talking to their friends while they sort of watch the performance out of the corner of their eye.

Third, the performer must have the ability to direct attention.

On a very basic level, an entertainer must be able to change topics during the performance and have the audience come with him.

Jerry Seinfeld, for instance, might start talking about losing socks in his dryer, and then switch to talking about a marble rye bread, and finally finish talking about a lost rental car reservation.  As an entertainer, he can direct the audience’s attention through the topic shifts, so each joke feels meaningful and relevant.

Not only can he change topics, a great entertainer can affect how the audience feels and what they do.  He can direct their attention to a new product or a new company executive, or he can make the audience think about a problem they might be having at their business back home.  He can suggest they start conversations with salespeople and executives at an event, and he can even encourage guests to tell their friends about the event and start referral conversations.

At Magic Means Business, we believe that once you can capture, focus, and control audience’s attention, there are lots of ways you leverage that attention to achieve your business event’s objectives.

Curious about whether or not your entertainment is really entertaining your audience?

Wondering how you can leverage entertainment to achieve your business objectives at your event?

Might be worth a conversation. 

Give me a call at 561 596 3877, or visit our website at MagicMeansBusiness.com/contact