Performing
I'm a performer. I'm one of those crazy people that actually likes being on stage. I like performing for a crowd, be it 3 or 300.
Seriously? 3? Of course. Haven't you ever heard, "3's a crowd"? Sorry..couldn't resist.
Do I ever get nervous? Yes, sometimes. I get a little nervous if I'm trying out new material, be it new music, or a new topic for a seminar. Or I will definitely be nervous if I don't feel like I'm totally prepared. I also get nervous if I forget why I'm there.
For instance, as a musician, I'm there to entertain, to encourage people to come along for the ride, to engage the audience...it actually depends on the venue. If I'm playing in a dance band, the "goal" is for people to dance and participate in that way. If I'm playing with a rock band at a bar or nightclub, the "goal" is to fill the room with people, and for them to buy lots of food/drinks. That's the measure of "success" for any band in that venue. If the owner has a killer night, then the band is a "success", even if they really stink it up musically. I know...all my musician friends are cringing. I've listened to a couple of those kind of bands, too. You go into a place, it is absolutely packed, the bar is killing it, and the band really...well, has some artistic challenges and opportunities. And you wonder how this band keeps getting gigs. Well, it's because they have a "following" of about 200 friends/relatives that show up whenever and wherever they are playing. And when they show up, they spend money. And the club owner has a great night financially, so they keep hiring the band. It's simple economics. A club owner doesn't mind paying a band $1,000 for a 3-hour gig if they can turn $5,000 in revenue during that 3 hours.
As a seminar leader, I'm there to make people think. Now I know sometimes people show up at a seminar expecting some wizard to teach them a revolutionary concept about X and the participants will all walk out of the seminar being "enlightened". Well, when I lead a seminar, I don't approach it that way. I realize that what I present in seminars is simple "a" way to look at things. Not "the" way, but simply "a" way. My goal in a seminar or workshop is simply to get people to be open to looking outside their preconceived and pre-programmed boxes. I generally start a seminar or workshop with a banana.
Yup, a banana. Sometimes, two bananas.
I tell the story of a missionary who went to South America to minister to one of the tribes in the jungle. One day, he took a banana and, like most of us, snapped off the stem and starting peeling the fruit down and eating it. The children around him started snickering and pointing at him. He was confused by this, so he went to one of the elders and asked why the children were laughing at him. The elder said that the kids were laughing at him because they were wondering why he was eating a banana like a monkey, instead of like a man. The minister was confused, so the elder picked up a banana, and holding the stem in his hand, proceeded to tell the minister that the way a man eats a banana is to hold the neat little handle that the Creator had made, push the little black button on the "top" of the banana,which would split the skin, peel the banana that way, eat it while holding the neat little "handle", and it was cleaner and easier.
At this point, I tell participants that there are many paths up the mountain, but the view from the top is the same. What I am going to present to them is not designed to teach them "the" way to do something, but give them the opportunity to look at the way they learn, look at their personal behavior patterns, and then look at what other opportunities and avenues exist. I ask people to "suspend their disbelief" long enough to see that Perception is Reality, and an individual's perception can be changed by language, perspective and new information.
So as a seminar/workshop facilitator, I help people explore themselves, as well as explore the "main" topic (usually martial arts, in my case) by looking at it differently. I make a point of nudging people out of their preconceived and personally-imposed limitations.
Now, as a "performer" (or presenter, or facilitator, or whatever you call it), what I present to the people I'm in front of is a mere slice of "me". They see that one little piece that is "Larry the keyboard player in the band" or "Larry the trumpet in the back row" or "Master V the seminar facilitator". They don't get to see all the other slices of me that exist.
Do I have "multiple personalities"? I don't think so. At least, none of them have complained about not getting equal air time yet. But I do have "multiple facets". Some of them are more appropriate in one place than they might be in another. My "Master V" facet probably wouldn't work well at my day-job. My "deer hunting" facet is likely not going to be horribly motivational if I'm playing in a band.
But one thing I am trying to do more and more is to incorporate more of these "facets" into who I am, more completely, more of the time. Does that make sense? I'm probably not explaining it well.
Sometimes, I feel like I'm "performing". And there are specific times when I need to do that. But more and more often, I really prefer to NOT be "performing", I just prefer to be me. All of me. (Yes, another great song). Perhaps that is what some people mean by "being authentic". I'm not sure, I haven't completely wrapped my head around that.
But I really prefer that every time people see me, interact with me, work with me, whatever...what they get is "me". Not the performer. Today, that's what I'm going to focus on. Trying to bring all of "me" to the table, all of the time.
Yes, it's scary. What if there are parts of "me" that people don't like? Well...so be it. I'm still going to be me. Once again, I need to grasp the truth of the statement that "God doesn't make junk."
My two cents worth today.
Seriously? 3? Of course. Haven't you ever heard, "3's a crowd"? Sorry..couldn't resist.
Do I ever get nervous? Yes, sometimes. I get a little nervous if I'm trying out new material, be it new music, or a new topic for a seminar. Or I will definitely be nervous if I don't feel like I'm totally prepared. I also get nervous if I forget why I'm there.
For instance, as a musician, I'm there to entertain, to encourage people to come along for the ride, to engage the audience...it actually depends on the venue. If I'm playing in a dance band, the "goal" is for people to dance and participate in that way. If I'm playing with a rock band at a bar or nightclub, the "goal" is to fill the room with people, and for them to buy lots of food/drinks. That's the measure of "success" for any band in that venue. If the owner has a killer night, then the band is a "success", even if they really stink it up musically. I know...all my musician friends are cringing. I've listened to a couple of those kind of bands, too. You go into a place, it is absolutely packed, the bar is killing it, and the band really...well, has some artistic challenges and opportunities. And you wonder how this band keeps getting gigs. Well, it's because they have a "following" of about 200 friends/relatives that show up whenever and wherever they are playing. And when they show up, they spend money. And the club owner has a great night financially, so they keep hiring the band. It's simple economics. A club owner doesn't mind paying a band $1,000 for a 3-hour gig if they can turn $5,000 in revenue during that 3 hours.
As a seminar leader, I'm there to make people think. Now I know sometimes people show up at a seminar expecting some wizard to teach them a revolutionary concept about X and the participants will all walk out of the seminar being "enlightened". Well, when I lead a seminar, I don't approach it that way. I realize that what I present in seminars is simple "a" way to look at things. Not "the" way, but simply "a" way. My goal in a seminar or workshop is simply to get people to be open to looking outside their preconceived and pre-programmed boxes. I generally start a seminar or workshop with a banana.
Yup, a banana. Sometimes, two bananas.
I tell the story of a missionary who went to South America to minister to one of the tribes in the jungle. One day, he took a banana and, like most of us, snapped off the stem and starting peeling the fruit down and eating it. The children around him started snickering and pointing at him. He was confused by this, so he went to one of the elders and asked why the children were laughing at him. The elder said that the kids were laughing at him because they were wondering why he was eating a banana like a monkey, instead of like a man. The minister was confused, so the elder picked up a banana, and holding the stem in his hand, proceeded to tell the minister that the way a man eats a banana is to hold the neat little handle that the Creator had made, push the little black button on the "top" of the banana,which would split the skin, peel the banana that way, eat it while holding the neat little "handle", and it was cleaner and easier.
At this point, I tell participants that there are many paths up the mountain, but the view from the top is the same. What I am going to present to them is not designed to teach them "the" way to do something, but give them the opportunity to look at the way they learn, look at their personal behavior patterns, and then look at what other opportunities and avenues exist. I ask people to "suspend their disbelief" long enough to see that Perception is Reality, and an individual's perception can be changed by language, perspective and new information.
So as a seminar/workshop facilitator, I help people explore themselves, as well as explore the "main" topic (usually martial arts, in my case) by looking at it differently. I make a point of nudging people out of their preconceived and personally-imposed limitations.
Now, as a "performer" (or presenter, or facilitator, or whatever you call it), what I present to the people I'm in front of is a mere slice of "me". They see that one little piece that is "Larry the keyboard player in the band" or "Larry the trumpet in the back row" or "Master V the seminar facilitator". They don't get to see all the other slices of me that exist.
Do I have "multiple personalities"? I don't think so. At least, none of them have complained about not getting equal air time yet. But I do have "multiple facets". Some of them are more appropriate in one place than they might be in another. My "Master V" facet probably wouldn't work well at my day-job. My "deer hunting" facet is likely not going to be horribly motivational if I'm playing in a band.
But one thing I am trying to do more and more is to incorporate more of these "facets" into who I am, more completely, more of the time. Does that make sense? I'm probably not explaining it well.
Sometimes, I feel like I'm "performing". And there are specific times when I need to do that. But more and more often, I really prefer to NOT be "performing", I just prefer to be me. All of me. (Yes, another great song). Perhaps that is what some people mean by "being authentic". I'm not sure, I haven't completely wrapped my head around that.
But I really prefer that every time people see me, interact with me, work with me, whatever...what they get is "me". Not the performer. Today, that's what I'm going to focus on. Trying to bring all of "me" to the table, all of the time.
Yes, it's scary. What if there are parts of "me" that people don't like? Well...so be it. I'm still going to be me. Once again, I need to grasp the truth of the statement that "God doesn't make junk."
My two cents worth today.
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