The second was at The Comedy Attic, in Bloomington. Low ceilings (it is an attic, after all), and is so "not clean" that they have a cloud of dust as their logo.
They PACK the crowd in like 3rd class on the Titanic.
And it's one of the leading comedy clubs in the United States.
Physical space matters SO MUCH to performance, especially comedy. Laughter is contagious, so the closer the audience is to one another, the better it works - all else being equal.
I've learned a lot about performance after ~ 850 keynote presentations, so here are 5 ways you can improve your own events, and even virtual meetings like Zoom calls.
1️⃣ Don't provide too much space
Just like in comedy clubs, speakers don't want extra space in the room. Too
much space in front of the stage, extra space at the back and sides? All of it dissipates energy.
Same way with seating. I would very much prefer
theater style seating to round tables, because the audience is physically much closer together (see contagion of comedy).
Virtually, it's WAY better
if each participant is on their own computer, rather than the "let's all get in the conference room and have one camera on in there" alternative.
2️⃣ Audio is the most important element
Sub-standard visuals (lighting, terrible camera, et al) are problematic, but can be overcome.
Bad audio? Pack it in, it's over.
Scratchy microphone, too much echo, feedback, dog barking? All of that is MASSIVELY distracting in a live or virtual meeting.
On-stage, I always use a handheld microphone. Better audio, easier to adjust, and if you have to cough or sneeze you don't blow out the eardrums of the audience, which can happen with a lapel microphone.
In the office or at home, many folks spend money on a fancy Webcam for Zoom, when they'd be better off using the same funds on a better microphone.
3️⃣ Body language is crucial
Yes, audio is more important than visuals, but visuals DO MATTER.
It's why I insist on having
cameras on in all virtual meetings. The ability to convey and receive body language cues adds so much information, much of it sub-consciously.
Research of sales negotiations found that body language significantly influences face-to-face outcomes, whereby telephone negotiations rely mostly on strength of argument.
It's not a coincidence that so many podcasters have moved to creating YouTube versions of their shows.
4️⃣ Support multiple learning styles
I'm big on screen sharing.
Not because I think meeting participants can't understand without looking at a document, but I want to make certain that people who learn better visually have an option to do so.
Same rule applies in live presentations.
When I'm making a key point, I say it verbally but accompany it with similar words on a slide.
Not because I'm reading my slides, but because some members of the audience learn better with visuals (and all people learn better multi-modally).
5️⃣ When the room is big, play it small
This is a common mistake newer speakers make, and it happens often in virtual meetings, as well.
In large rooms with a huge stage and hundreds of chairs, speakers might make their gestures and inflections BIGGER and BOLDER to "fill the space" from a performance
perspective.
This backfires.
In those big rooms, many members of the audience are watching screens to see the speaker, rather than watching the speaker on the stage. This use of image magnification (IMAG) means that a lot of the audience is essentially watching television while inside a
ballroom.
Thus, the physical room is big but the functional distance between the speaker and audience is tiny, due to the video closeup. So big
gestures look comically large and out of place.
Assuming there is IMAG, the bigger the room, the smaller the gestures must be to feel
contextually appropriate.
The exact same principle works in virtual meetings.
Sorry for the departure from my usual marketing, customer experience, and AI lessons, but I hope those five tips were useful for you.
Feedback? Follow up questions? Just reply.
And of course, if you want to see me do this stuff on YOUR stage, stroll on over to my website to put a date on
hold.
