Dolphins, MC's and the Woo-niverse

Today’s feature article is a little different in that I do not pretend to have the answers, but I think there is great value in finding the right questions.

I write this as I am ‘coming down’ from a three-day online event which I spent almost 30 hours attending. I was amazed and impressed by the skill and experience shown by Tom Matzen, who hosted the event and had all of us engaged and inspired to the very last minute.

But before I make some observations about what Tom did over the past few days, I want to talk a little bit about the role of the MC and why it is unlike any other speaking role.

The Role

The Master of Ceremonies (MC) is responsible for shepherding the audience through multiple talks. The challenge is that the talks change, but the audience doesn’t. Usually, there is some sort of theme, but this still incorporates several different styles and aspects of the theme.

Let me give you a couple of actual examples.

1. TEDxRuakura

I shared responsibility for curating the events we ran. This includes finding the speakers (and the topics) and then putting them in the right order. Just as each individual talk takes the audience on a mental and emotional journey, the event as a whole needs to take the audience on a mental and emotional journey.

A simple example of what I mean is that we don’t want to put two heavy emotional talks in a row. We would want to separate them with some lighter talks in between. Similarly, we want some mentally light talks interspersed between heavier mental talks.

But the challenge with TEDx is that although we have one audience in the room, TED represents different things to those people. Some people are there for science, others for social justice, arts, business or education etc.

So, the challenge we faced when MC’ing TEDxRuakura was to keep a thread of a theme running through these disparate talks to make for a cohesive event. While the event's theme will help, most of this will depend on the ability of the MC to carry the thread from one talk to the next, into the break, and resume after the break.

2. HaHaHamilton

I have attended every local monthly HaHaHamilton Standup Comedy event since its inception 18 months ago. While the commonality is that the audience is there for comedy, each comedian has their own style, their sets have their own themes, and they have very different sense of humour.

I have had a front-row seat to some very competent comedians having a go at MC’ing the event and realising it is hugely different from the skills of presenting their own set. The ability to keep the audience engaged and laughing and guide them from one comedian to the next, building the event's momentum throughout, is incredibly rare and valuable.

More specifically, it is a different skill than presenting. It can be learned but is not often considered because many people haven’t considered what we discuss today.

Lessons I Took From Tom

Now we have set the stage, let’s return to the Strategic Alliance Summit that I attended this week and look at what lessons I can share from my observations of Tom Matzen’s virtuoso performance as MC.

The first was his skill in creating and weaving a theme into the event. This event was less about speakers and more about splitting into breakout rooms to engage in tasks collaboratively. Without a strong theme and direction from the MC, this could quite easily fall apart.

Tom’s first strategic element to build consistency and cohesion was to use of symbolism. In this case, the symbol was dolphins: playful, loyal, working together to defeat foes. The “attitude of the dolphin” was repeated frequently but subtly throughout the event.

It is also important to have the antagonist, which was symbolised by the much-maligned shark, who thinks of nothing but themselves, works alone and is ruthless. -The symbolism works. I quite like actual sharks, though.

This symbolism was important to keep people ‘playing’ in our breakout challenges. Especially as it was quite a diverse crowd from every corner of the world, made up of people who made their money from technology, spiritual healing, finance, digital marketing, art, faith, business education, health & fitness and virtually everything in between.

But symbolism was only one element that kept everything in order. Rules were also important; these were stated clearly and often, and any transgressions were quickly jumped on.

As the MC, Tom made a promise at the beginning of the event, skillfully guiding us towards that outcome throughout the event, reminding us of the goal and marking our progress towards it. This built our trust in Tom as the MC and our faith in the event, and so each participant was willing and able to put more effort in and willing to be more vulnerable and push a little further as the tasks became more challenging.

The other major tool that Tom used masterfully was the regular session-by-session feedback, which built stronger connections between all attendees, ensured that lessons were learned from different perspectives, and included a skill practice with its own inherent value -the Intromercial™.

Conclusion

I believe it is important to realise that the role of MC differs from that of a speaker (or comedian) and that those skills need to be identified, valued and practised.

A great MC has the ability to remain energetic throughout the event, building momentum from one talk or exercise to the next. They must be able to weave in a theme, which can be aided with symbolism. They must set the rules, get agreement on them and ensure they are consistently applied.

They must share the spotlight graciously and lead in a supportive manner because your MC is your event's visible leader.

Snippets is a section where I take some interesting text I have come across in the previous week and comment on it.

Like much of this issue, today’s snippet item came from the three-day Strategic Alliance Summit event I attended this week. I already talked about the symbolism of the Dolphin, which was used strategically as a focus for the event. But another term came up organically and was embraced over the three days.

Woo-niverse

This was mentioned as a catch-all for the spiritual / metaphysical / faith group of participants. This side of things is outside my comfort zone and not an area I choose to play in. But I respect everyone’s path, and who knows, I may be missing out.

However, the point I want to make is that this was brought up organically and adopted by those who self-identified in the group. This term was then used frequently at the event and, in effect, became branded to the event for many participants.

I mention it here as it exemplifies a very powerful phenomenon.

If you have a tribe, group or audience who comes up with a unique name or concept they self-identify within the event, double down on that. That organic branding is powerful because it is not something you have imposed on them. It is something they have collaboratively created.

It is often said that companies do not own their brands. Their customers own the brand. The companies benefit from it. If your audience creates a brand of their own, align with it. Support it. Build it with them. This will become far more powerful than something you might have created yourself.

Unpacking Wisdom is a weekly section where I dive into a famous (or not so famous) quote and explore how this can apply to the Compelling Communicator.

Wisdom can be gleaned even from dubious sources, so we won’t waste time on the source of this quote and focus specifically on the words.

I believe the key here is that everything begins with an idea. This is not controversial. The real value is in how this can be applied. Effectively, if all achievements and riches begin with an idea, we could be seeding our achievement or wealth every time you and I communicate.

My best friend Sam is a world-leading expert in growing giant pumpkins. His website shows the care with which you should handle and prepare a seed, including sanding the right edge and keeping moist. The better you treat the seed, the more likely it will be that you will grow a giant pumpkin.

Equally, the more carefully you prepare your communication, whether a talk, a post or an article, the better the chances that your seed of an idea will grow into the desired outcome.

Too many people speak haphazardly, like someone throwing seeds carelessly on the ground. There is a chance that something will grow. But if you care about your outcomes, you want to spend a little time preparing your idea seed with care to achieve the best outcome you can.

This takes a little more work but is far more efficient because when you have the right opportunity to speak in the right place in front of the right audience, you want to plant the absolute best seed you can. Because you can’t guarantee you will ever get that opportunity again.

What I am up to this week…

Professionally:

After this week’s event, I have a ridiculous amount of work to do and people to catch up with.

Recreationally:

Ha! See above 😉.
But I am looking forward to the Misty Flicks Film Festival coming up.

What I am watching:

I look forward to some Harley Quinn animated series in my downtime to recharge.