The Power of Comedy in Events: Insights from Speaker and Emcee Lauren Ansley

In this episode of The Event Pro Show, we welcome Lauren Ansley, a professional speaker, corporate emcee, and presentation skills trainer who brings a unique twist to the world of corporate events with her background in stand-up comedy. Join...
In this episode of The Event Pro Show, we welcome Lauren Ansley, a professional speaker, corporate emcee, and presentation skills trainer who brings a unique twist to the world of corporate events with her background in stand-up comedy. Join us as Lauren shares insights into making events memorable through interactive enhancements, the role of humor in creating engaging experiences, and how comedy has influenced her approach in the corporate sector. Discover the value of taking creative risks, involving audiences, and the power of connecting people through laughter. Whether you're looking to reinvigorate a stale event or simply want to inject some levity into a high-pressure environment, Lauren offers expert advice applicable to event professionals of all kinds. Tune in for this conversation that champions the balance of professionalism and fun in the event industry.
Resources:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurensansley/
The Event Pro Show is a production of LEMG.
LEMG is a leading event production company known for delivering exceptional experiences. From site planning and event design to technical production, staging, lighting, sound, and more—we do it all. As a second-generation company, we’re proud of our rich history and commitment to innovation. Whether it’s a corporate meeting, conference, convention, or live event, we’re the team our clients trust to execute their vision flawlessly.
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Welcome to the Event Pro show, your ultimate guide to the world of corporate
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events. Whether you're a corporate event planner, experiential marketing
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pro, producer, technician, or anyone involved in creating exceptional
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events, this podcast is your go to resource for valuable insights,
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expert tips and inspiring stories from the industry's leading professionals.
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All right, well, thank you for joining us on the Event Pro Show. I am
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your host and today we're talking about something that I'm excited
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about. I think a lot of times as event professionals, we spend
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tons of time on the front end, a lot of pre production planning,
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thinking about talking to venues, talking to food and
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beverage and all the things that go into making an event happen.
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But we're going to talk a little bit about
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things that happen inside of the event to make it exciting for the
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attendees. One of the words our guests uses on their
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website or phrases, interactive enhancements.
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I like that. It's making your event memorable. And you
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know, I think when we create events, if we can have people go home with
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a few key things like the most important things in their
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brain and it's lodged in there and they remember for the entire year, that's really
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kind of the goal of a lot of events that we, we put on as
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event professionals. And so our guest is a professional
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speaker, corporate emcee and presentation skills trainer with a background in
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stand up comedy. She's the founder and CEO that's chief
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entertainment officer at Ansley Corporate Entertainment where
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she's been named employee of the month every single month
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in her business, the history of her business. That's amazing. Thank you. And she
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attributes her success to hard work, dedication and to being the only
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employee. So please welcome to the Event Pro Show, Lauren
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Ansley. Thank you. Oh, my gosh.
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Oh my gosh. Is that all that applause? Wait, let me. You gotta pause to
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let it die down. Hi. Hello. Thank you so much for having me. That's such
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a professional tip. You have to wait until the. Do not rush
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as they are clapping, reacting, anything. We're already starting out with a
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tip right off the top. Pro tip. Pro tip. Pause.
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Breathe in the moment. A pause for you on stage is going to feel
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a lot longer than for those in the audience. And don't start talking until they
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can hear you again. I love it. I love it. And that's our show, ladies
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and gentlemen. Thank you so much. All right,
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I want to start something that I like to. You know, we've only
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done a few of these, but I think this is a question that I really
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like. What is the first Event that you
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can remember attending. And I'm look, I'm thinking, you know, the farthest you can
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think back just as an attendee going to an event.
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Okay, so I'm going to tell my mom a little
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bit. We would go to the Spartanburg Auditorium all the time.
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I grew up in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and we would go
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to these different plays and different events. And the one that I can
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remember the best was a Harry Connick Jr. Concert.
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Oh, I went with my mom. I loved Harry Connick Jr. He had just come
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out with his new album and it was take going
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away from his traditionally more like jazz to very, like, upbeat, more
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mainstream. Yeah, I did like a pop thing there. Yes,
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yes. And it was super popular. People loved it. I loved it. We went
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to the show and my mom was always like, you have to dress up for
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the theater. So I wanted to wear jeans. I wanted to be
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comfortable. And she was like, nope, you're wearing a skirt. It's a theater. You will
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respect the theater. So I had to wear this skirt, like my Sunday school
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clothes to this concert. We get there, everyone's wearing
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tank tops, T shirts, jeans, and I was just like, look around,
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look around and dying. I mean, it was like a
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long navy blue skirt to the ankles with like those
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little taupe buttons down the front.
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But how old. How old were you? I don't even remember. I'm gonna
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date myself here. I'm guessing 12 or 13.
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Oh, yeah, that's pretty. That's pretty brutal. Yeah. Sweet. Cool memory,
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though. What a cool show. He danced on the piano. It was amazing.
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People were like up in their chairs, dancing around, and I like sitting there with
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nice prim and proper and a skirt with my mom.
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That's kind of a bucket list concert. I'd love to go still. It was really
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great. It's really great. Okay, so you did that. But when was the first
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time you can remember wanting to be involved in events? Like as a
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career, as something. I could see myself doing this.
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I'll let you know when I get there. No. So
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when I was in college, I had an opportunity to have a co op, which
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is like an internship with the York County Regional Chamber of
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Commerce. And I helped put on Main Street Live, which was this
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downtown concert series where they featured musicians, they had all these
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different vendors, they had beer and wine and drinks for sale.
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And so I got to work with those events,
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that series of events, and it was really fun. And I love the behind the
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scenes that goes on in an event. I mean, so much from AV event
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production, all the planning, everything coming together to create this experience
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where you know, the ins and outs, you see the behind the scenes, you see
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the calm before the storm and all the planning and then everyone gets to enjoy
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it. So that's really cool. Getting to see how the whole thing works.
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And it's kind of. It's like similar to theater, isn't it? You have that
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post show like, like you're. You're
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high fives all around. Exactly, exactly. A lot of hard work.
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Okay, so that's one of them. But what were some of your first jobs and
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events other than the York County Main Street?
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Yes. So that was my. Actually ended up. So I did that co op
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there and ended up working there for just shy of five years. So I did
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a lot of event planning there and then I liked that so much I wanted
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to work on the venue side. So I went to work for Leroy Springs in
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the Anne Springs close Greenway Dairy Barn. So we hosted a lot of weddings and
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events there. There. So pretty there. It's beautiful. It's beautiful.
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And then so. So I went from planning the events to
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hosting the events there and booking the space.
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So that was really my, my. Those two jobs were probably my
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most in involved with the planning part of
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events. Got it. Yeah. So from that
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point there is some sort of a leap that happens.
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So somewhere in there comedy
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happens. And how did that all dovetail together and
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you know, how did that story kind of emerge? Yeah, so
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I actually took a stand up comedy class at the Comedy Zone here
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in Charlotte and that was my first. So I'd
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taken acting when I was in high school, like a class here and there
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and I was kind of very much an introvert and very shy
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but very performance and very. I love to make people laugh. So it wasn't in
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any kind of formal sense just you know, like making my family laugh. And we
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would do these comedy shows, we call them the cousin shows growing
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up. So it was always kind of that comic relief. But then that's.
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It really became a thing when I took a stand up comedy class.
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Sometimes you just need a boost to do something and a
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safe space to do it. So the six week class and that's when comedy came
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into my world. I on a more of an official basis with stand
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up comedy. That's very cool. Yeah. Okay, so I'm gonna
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push into. Now you're working on
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kind of within the corporate event world and
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how do you think comedy. Cause you've had some
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years working in and around comedy. How do you
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Think that helped in your. What you're
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doing in corporate events, whether you're actually doing it or whether you're giving
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advice about how to get better. Yeah.
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So there's. There's
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definitely fine lines of what's appropriate humor at
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work, but also comedy connects people. You know, they
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say it's like a great place to go for a date because you are laughing
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and you just feel connected with your fellow audience members. There's just this
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thing happens where you become this collective entity in the
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audience. And I truly believe in the energy the. That an audience
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gets collectively and also from the stage. So you're
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really feeding energy back and forth with the performer. So with
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comedy, it's realizing you can have fun at work and still be taken
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seriously. So many times people are all buttoned up. The truth is, we're all
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human beings, and I think that Covid really showed us that, you know, you've got
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the cat running around on the couch behind you, you've got the dog barking, you've
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got the baby crying, or whatever your situation was at home. That
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we have our own lives outside of just being corporate, robotic,
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you know, people that we're individuals, so we're
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people that have a backstory and that it's okay to share that with each other.
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So it's really breaking down barriers. And comedy does that too, because we all
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have a shared experience, and comedians just have this way of
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reflecting the world back to us with a comedic lens. Yes.
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So, yeah, I think that's pretty amazing. You
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know, we. You go to some events and everything is just
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so serious. It's work.
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We all worked really hard to get there. Like, you arrange your
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life around this trip as an attendee. It's stressful.
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Just traveling is stressful. You get there, you're talking about very serious
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things. We really have to hit these numbers and learn this thing
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and get this thing implemented, and everybody's very serious. And. And
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it's so refreshing sometimes to see somebody
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that's leading an event or series or whatever room
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you're in that just has some levity. And I. I've seen it happen
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multiple times. Just. It changes the environment.
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Like, it literally the way humans are. It
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rewires everybody in a second and like, oh,
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okay, we can take a breath before we get into the serious stuff and just
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be human for a minute. And I've watched it happen. So this next. That kind
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of segues into, so I'm a planner.
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Just say that I'm just a cmp. And why would
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I choose to hire a comedian or
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professional entertainer to facilitate or emcee a corporate
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event in lieu of, like, why would I do that? Instead of using
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the client's executive team to lead different
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sessions, you know, what would be your compelling reasons for them
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to do that? Well, first of all, congratulations on getting your cmp. That is a
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definite, definite accomplishment. Yeah. To be clear, I am not a cmp.
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I was playing one on my podcast. If you were, I would say,
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wow, that's great. That's good for you. But anyone watching,
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congratulations, listening, Congratulations. Quite an accomplishment.
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So I don't think you
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have to hire someone outside, but if you do,
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what you are doing is you're giving the people who are speaking and who are
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part of the event a break to
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be able to also be an audience member and not just
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be on the whole time. You have someone who's
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outside of the corporate culture who can have that comedic lens
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again coming back to them. You can help them
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laugh and just feel more connected to each other through laughter.
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Victor Borga, who was a famous Danish American piano player
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and humorist, said laughter. One of my favorites, by the way. Really?
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Oh, my gosh. I love him. I love him. That's so awesome. Yes, he.
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The quote, my favorite quote of all time is from Victor Borga, and he
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said, laughter is the shortest distance between two people.
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So people are at work. Some. We take ourselves very
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seriously, as we should. There's a time to be serious and a time to have
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fun. Why not have a little bit of fun and interject it together?
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So when you can have somebody who can have some fun
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with you and also not be so worried about their own internal
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ego, then you can, you
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can let your hair down a little bit. You're at work. Yes, you would need
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to be serious and professional, but you can also laugh together and have a good
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time. So if you do choose to hire an outside person to
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do that, I think that somebody who understands the corporate environment
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and knows what's appropriate, because we have some horror stories. I'm sure, I'm
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sure you have horror stories. I have horror stories as on this planning
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side. But they have to be professional.
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But also, why not have a little bit of fun with it? Like you said,
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they're invest. You're investing a significant amount of time, a significant amount of
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dollars. People are leaving their family, they're taking
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trips. They're, you know, the hotels. This is the stress of traveling. In a lot
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of cases, if you're not in with local within the area, I just
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have some fun at the same time. And Just, and not just have it be
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a data dump, but have a person who's consistently bringing a
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little bit of light and fun to the meeting between the speakers. Easy
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transitions. It's just like playing upbeat music, right? It's that
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upbeat energy that you can add into the presentation and to the event too.
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Right, right. It takes the stress out of it. Even if they're not like
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telling home runs, you know, like, people don't have to be doubled over. That's not
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the point here. And I don't think, you know, when you see it done right,
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it's just that it keeps things light enough, that things are
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stressful enough. You know, sometimes it's stressful just to get in the room, you know,
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to find the room in the hotel, you know, but to
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go in and realize, oh yeah, that's. We're keeping it light. It's so cool.
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It's such a. It's a superpower, really, is what it is.
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Okay, so I'm the same cmp. I'm like, okay, what you're
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telling me is some good stuff, but I have an
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annual event and it's become stale. So what are some creative
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ways to add some fun back into a stale event? Like, this event
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needs to happen. It's the ACME sales
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meeting that we have to have every year because we present our
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annual ACME award sales award. But it's really
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stale and we want to revamp it for the next couple
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years. You know, what should we do? You got to switch things up. So first
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of all, people have short attention spans. You have to
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include some interaction. People want to feel like they're a part of the event and
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they're having fun and enjoying it and
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spruce it up a little. Add in, add in some gamification
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ideas or change the theme up.
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Do things that it's like, oh, yes, it's formulaic. Every year we do this and
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this and this and this. Bring in a humorist, bring in a different
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speaker, get the audience
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involved, maybe sacrifice some of the time that you're spending with the
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announcement and just have some fun with the
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audience, ask them questions, get them involved. People. Again, people's attention
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spans are super short. So you have to get them involved and not just
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talk at them, but talk with them, have a conversation.
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So one thing I'm hearing when you say that is
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you have to take a risk. Like in order for things not to be
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stale, you have to take a risk which is kind of like
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a stand up comedian. Like, you've got to tell that joke the first time and
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see if it lands. So I think if you had that
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philosophy ongoing where I'm committed to not
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doing the thing exactly the same every time, I think you would
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win most of the time, but sometimes you
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don't. And what do you do then? Like, how do you, how do you recover
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when you've created something as part of, part of an event and it's
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just not hitting, you know, do you, what do you do at that point? So
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I'm gonna use a parallel because I don't think that you should do something
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completely new on a big stage. I think that's why you need to test it
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out. You need to ask people, you need to get some buy in from at
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least some of the executives so that you're not going up there. And they're like,
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what is happening right now? So you have to have some buy
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in and you can't completely change it and have nobody know. And I'm gonna use
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a parallel in the world of comedy. So stand up comedy.
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Those prolific comedians you see doing these specials, they are
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going to small clubs across the country with multiple
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audiences and testing their material out before they take it to that big stage, that
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big production. They're not just, I wonder if this would be a good
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idea. And also another technique that works in comedy that also would work
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in events is you don't do a brand new comedy set.
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You take what is tried and true. So in comedy, you take your
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jokes that are tried and true. In production of an event, you take the event
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aspects that are tried and true. You take a minute out of your standup
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comedy set and you add in a minute of new material. Same
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with your event if you want to enhance it. So instead of the same
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speaker that comes and tells these same jokes or this
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same thing that our CEO always does, maybe
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suggest, okay, maybe not the CEO, that's a bad example, but somebody else
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from the event and you say, okay, let's just swap this out. So instead
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of the same speaker who comes in and does the same awards,
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I'm thinking out loud, maybe it's a gamification experience
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or it's. You add a little bit of a, I don't know, it depends on
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your culture. A little bit of a talent show or a little bit of a
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quiz show or something, or guess who this instead of this person
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is this just be like, guess, who do you think it is? Like add a
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little bit of something, but it's taking a little slice out and bringing
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another slice in. So you're not creating a whole New thing necessarily,
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especially if you're worried about the risk. Especially if you've, if it's become a tried
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and true. Even if it's a stale format, you just switch it up a little
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bit. You add in that extra joke in the comedy, but you keep
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the things that still work that still hit you. Don't swap out the whole thing.
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Same with the event. You just test something, try something new, but then
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also ask the executive team in advance, ask your colleague, get their
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feedback on a smaller level before you do it on a bigger scale on that
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main stage. I think that's wise advice.
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You know, don't just. Thank you because I spent like five minutes explaining it, so
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I'm glad you agree. I think that's terrible
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advice. I think that's fantastic.
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I think what you create is
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a consistent path towards
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continually adding little bits of creativity along
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the way. And the rule would be just don't, don't get
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comfortable just sitting like doing the exact same thing. Move
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towards that. That's, that's kind of too like, you know, if you have a lot
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of stakeholders, you really have to manage that. But it doesn't mean you
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don't. You, you continue to try, try new things. You can
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always ask, you can always try. Right. Doesn't mean they're going to say yes. But
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you can always try and explain the why behind, not
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just the what. We were talking about this in our pre show meeting.
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Spoiler alert. There's pre show meeting, which is awesome, by the way. Pre show rounding.
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But you've got to. Yeah, just like
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feel it out. Yeah. And that's a skill, that's something that
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you can develop over time. So
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when you're approaching. I just have a few more questions for you.
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I actually have quite a few, but I'm going to, I'm going to. How long
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is this? Try to focus, try to focus. Are we still recording?
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Okay, when approaching a new, like a brand new event or a new
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client, what are the first questions you ask? Oh, so good question. Such a good
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question. Okay, so we mentioned already the importance of the why.
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That's, that's crucial. You have to understand because for me, I like
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context. I'm going to be much better if I understand why this is
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important. Why are you interested in hiring me? How can I
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help you beyond just what you think? So of course it's the who,
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what, when, where, why. Big emphasis on the why. But my favorite way
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of asking the why is, okay, magic wand.
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You wave your magic wand. What's the end result that you Want for this
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experience, for my involvement, whatever that looks like. What do you want the
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Magic wand to be for the audience? Because it is, at the end of the
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day, all about your audience. Yeah. So it's
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magic wand question. That was really good. Well, thanks. That's my favorite
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question answered. So what does that look like? What's your magic wand
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question? What's the end result that you want? Or what is the magic wand you
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want? And everybody can have a different answer. The C suite, the CEO,
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the audience, people. The magic wand question may be different, but as a
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planner especially, you have to think, what is your overall magic wand goal?
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And then make sure that everybody understands that, that you're considering hiring.
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When I think when I listening to
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podcasts or different things, I always want to find like the one,
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like at least something I can put into action. If I can't find that, it's
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frustrating to me. And if you did not catch that, I think that was it
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right there. Like understanding your client. What is, what is the magic
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wand thing? Like what, what is it? What are you, what are you wanting?
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What are you trying to do? I think that's powerful. I think that's really powerful.
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Okay, last question for you.
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What's the favorite, like your favorite event that you've ever been involved
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with? Well,
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I love all the events that I get to work on. They're all special. Everyone
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is equally important. So I would say
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that the banner event that I worked on would
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be what was technically the very first corporate
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event I ever worked on and
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in, in person, the first live event. And the reason for that was because
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I got my start with corporate events during COVID So I was doing stand up
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comedy shows, I was producing shows in the local Charlotte, North Carolina market.
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And then Covid knocked all of that away. Just, you
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know, gone poof. So I had to rebuild. So I
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started doing virtual events and because I realized that people needed to
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still feel connected while they were not able to be together in person, which of
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course live and live events industry, which is poof, went away.
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So then I started working on virtual events and then
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my very first in person client, everything.
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I'd never done it in person before. So yes, there had been just like we
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were talking about, you slice something out, you replace it with something new, like in
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stand up comedy or with your events. But this was
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all brand new. We had done it virtually, but I partner with a DJ
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to DJ Jeff with soulful sounds. And we flew down
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to Miami, Florida together. First class tickets, still
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paying those off. We're Celebrating because we
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were so excited. But went down to work with a client
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and I emceed the event and
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we did music bingo and we did some team building activities and groups that
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rotated around the room. And then we emceed their talent show at night
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and got to just experience all of the meeting. 100, about
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150 of them, they were on the same team, but they never met in person
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because the team was created during COVID So we were charged with
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energizing, connecting and being able to watch this
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happen. And then when our, when we did our music bingo, sometimes
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we add a little something special, which is a risk, but it paid off and
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it's a lip sync battle. So at the end of this music
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weekend, we're experiencing people are they volunteer? There are
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three people that volunteer and then they voluntold two people to join them and they
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became their own band that they went outside, they got on costumes, they
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came back in and they performed. And then you voted for your. Your favorite for
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who was going to get the record deal. Yeah. But everything we did was the
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first time doing it in person and they trusted us. And
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DJ Jeff got to play his music, of course, suitable for work, corporate friendly
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music. And I was emceeing the event, first corporate
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event I'd emceed. So that holds a special place
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in my heart and my mind is my favorite because we got to
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do so many things and it was our first time technically doing it, even though
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we'd done most of these activities or as many as we could virtually
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beforehand. But I also didn't know it
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was our first time doing it ever in person. But we
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nailed it and it was awesome. And we caught.
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So I'm just gonna keep talking because you haven't come off yet.
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But one of my favorite things, because there's egos involved with this when
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you're a performer, there's also like, you know, like you like, you like the laughter
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and you like the positive affirmations. And people came up to me between. It
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was like three a three day event. People came up to me after the first
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day and they were like, this was the most fun we've ever had. Like we've
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seen people host events before. This was amazing.
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So thank you. And it was answering the magic wand
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question of these people haven't met in person. We want them to get connected because
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it's not just the information, it's the connections that happen too. So
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let's facilitate those. And they held space for that. It wasn't
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just about information, information update Update it was. Let's actually
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have them connect and have fun and engage with
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each other and not just get all this information, which is important. Right. But
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there's. It needs to be a balance, a good balance. So
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that was my favorite. Do you think that part of
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that experience, first of all, doing it. I think there's something to
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be said for having an opportunity and going for it.
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And a lot of times it does work out. You know,
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especially like you've. You spent years preparing for that is really what
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was going on there. But you also sounds like you had client buy in.
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Like, you really. From the client side, you've really got to have support
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and they have to have that buy in. If you don't, you're kind of like
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running uphill. So that can make an amazing event. When the
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client's there for you too, you know, like, oh, you're doing a great job. This
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is exactly what we want. So no, like. And trust factor.
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And like I mentioned, your audience is most important when you're. When you're doing, like,
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what I'm doing. Entertainment or engagement at events have two. You have two
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clients. You have. Well, you have two audiences, rather you have the person who
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secured you. Yeah. And then you have the audience in general. Same thing is true
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in comedy. You have the producer who's booked you and then. Or the comedy club
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or whatever that may be. And then you have the audience. The audience may be
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okay with you going in a direction or taking an
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extra step towards that line, but the client,
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your first audience has been like, mm, mm. And so you don't go
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there. Right. So when it comes to booking someone who especially is not part
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of your team, they don't have the, oh, I could get
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fired, you know, like, risk.
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You have to know and like and trust them. So every time. And
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I'm sure that you're like this too, when you have a client who's interested, let's
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hop on a call, let's have a conversation. Let's make sure that I can meet
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your needs or if I can refer you to somebody else that's looking for. If
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you're looking for something, something a little bit different because you don't want to say
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yes when it's not the right fit. Right. But they have to know because
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you're on stage at their event, that's a big risk for them.
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They have to make sure that you can deliver and you're the right person for
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the job. Right. I think that's such a great attitude as a service
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provider in general. Is just because you're providing a
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service. Yeah, there you go. And you're trusting us.
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Yep. Yep. Well, Lauren, I've been wanting to have this
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conversation with you for quite a while. You've been on the short list of, you
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00:26:48,652 --> 00:26:51,732
know, when we start this thing, we want to have Lauren as a guest. You
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00:26:51,756 --> 00:26:55,028
got a great setup. This. I mean, it doesn't look great. It's very professional. It's
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a thing we're doing. It's got the av, got the
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professionals in the room. Besides, you know. Okay, well,
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I mean, I don't know. Surround yourself with professionals, but it's been great.
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Yeah. Well, thank you so much for being a guest and thank you for joining
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us for another episode of the event pro show. We're going to keep doing
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00:27:12,954 --> 00:27:16,770
this, so keep tuning in, subscribe or whatever button you have
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00:27:16,810 --> 00:27:20,578
to click that you get a notic notification every time we put one out. Thank
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00:27:20,594 --> 00:27:23,910
you for joining us and we'll see you on the next one. Bye.
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To learn more about Lauren and Ansley corporate entertainment, head to
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Ansley entertainment.com that's a n s
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le y entertainment.com
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the event pro show is a production of Lemg
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00:27:50,750 --> 00:27:54,542
video by Nick Barrett, audio and post production by
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00:27:54,566 --> 00:27:58,318
Prince Thompson. You can learn more about us at LEMG
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Live.