Atlanta Speaker Joe M. Turner featured in NSA SPEAKER Magazine
The National Speakers Association publishes a monthly magazine, SPEAKER, that focuses on the ins and outs of the professional speaking industry. I contributed an article to the current (May 2011) issue describing an episode that took place at a corporate event a few years ago. The article appears in the “Turning Points” section (on page 34 in this issue). You can read the full article by clicking on the cover image at right. In summary, though, the thrust of my anecdote and article is twofold: Great speakers and performers can create moments that are both unforeseeable and unforgettable by exploring unexpected detours in some presentations, so long as… The speaker/performer has well-developed presentation skills, a knack for keeping cool under fire, and a deep knowledge of “outs” sufficient to bring practically any challenging situation to a successful conclusion. In the article, I briefly mention the concept of “outs” as it exists in the performance of theatrical magic and mentalism. An “out” in a magical context is an answer to the question “How am I going to get out of this?” The performer asks “what if?” and supposes a variety of challenges or changes that could affect the outcome of a routine, then devises responses to each of those situations that will still allow for a successful and entertaining conclusion to the presentation. This is not a new concept, of course. Contingency planning has existed since the first time a human being had to solve the same problem twice. Every day, millions of executives, managers, team leaders, and individuals ask themselves the same kinds of “what if” questions as they plan their own projects. What if these key personnel are unavailable? What if those shipments are delayed? What if we don’t get approval for that part of the project? An interesting paradigm shift happens, though, when you expand the thought process beyond reactive “contingency planning” to proactive “risk management.” In this context, certain risks are considered acceptable based on the knowledge and skill of the decision-maker. Investors and portfolio managers are well acquainted with the idea that some risks are easily worth taking because the potential benefits are large and the downsides can be minimized when approached with expert-level skill. The idea, of course, is to tilt the risk versus reward equation in your favor by using deep skills to devise the outs that minimize the downsides of risk. Mastering the concept of “outs” gives leaders, managers, and even speakers and performers the freedom to explore alternate paths with a vastly reduced risk of failure. That freedom, in turn, sparks creativity — by exploring alternate paths, you may find successful approaches that you otherwise wouldn’t have known about. Sometimes, as in the article, those paths may lead to serendipitous finales that cannot be repeated. Often, though, those paths can lead to observations, offhand comments, and new insights that can add texture and value to the presentation, and which can be permanently incorporated into the script. Anyone can be spontaneous, but the person who has done some advanced planning can be spontaneous with a higher degree of success, and can leverage that success repeatedly in the future. By the way, if it weren’t for Mandi Stanley then I wouldn’t have appeared in the magazine at all. Mandi is a good friend and an excellent speaker and trainer with a mountain of achievements to her credit. Her new book, The No-Panic Plan for Presenters, included my story and she recommended it for inclusion in the magazine. Thanks, Mandi! If you find yourself in front of a group of people who expect you to make a coherent, understandable presentation – whether daily, frequently or just occasionally – then you owe it to yourself and your audience to get a copy of Mandi’s book. Besides being an informative and helpful work, it’s also a fun read. Reap the insights and benefits of lessons learned by Mandi and many other speakers who have been down these paths before. Let me know what you think about the article and the book by leaving a comment here. Thanks again for your support and readership!
Impulse, Excellence, and Leaps of Faith
The experience of collaborating to create live performances at a high level of quality always affects the way you think about your own individual performance. The same is true for high achievers in any field or industry; they want to learn from others who achieve greatness. High achievers revel in the experience of excellence, and generally prefer to take an active role rather than being a passive observer.
Your Hidden Skills
You have amazing skills and capabilities that you don’t even know about! These skills lie hidden in each of us, buried beneath layers of negative self-talk and false preconceptions about the nature of creativity. Why am I so certain? Because nobody else on earth has the specific combination of skills, experiences, and observations that you have, and nobody can replicate the combinations of those skills that only you can provide.
The Value of a Backward Glance
Mining the value of the clients on last year’s calendar will never completely take the place of developing new business, but the profitability minded performer remembers that it takes less effort and fewer resources to do more work for an existing client than it does to create a new one. Cars have large windshields to make it easy to see the road ahead, but they also have mirrors for very good reasons. So here’s my warning: the value of that client in your mirror is greater than it appears!
How To Remember Names – The Memory Mojo! Way
At my performances and speaking engagements, one of the things people find most impressive is my apparently incredible memory for names. By the end of many of my presentations I can name just about everyone in the room. In one of my card tricks I have nearly two dozen people select cards from the deck, then I find all the cards and call each of the people by name. This feat frequently garners as much applause as the card trick itself. My Memory Mojo! presentation teaches about a range of mnemonic memory techniques which can be applied to name recall. However, my personal approach for remembering names differs somewhat from the standard mnemonic approach. My technique combines some of the memory tricks you may have heard before, plus a personal twist that helps me lock most names into place. The Memory Mojo! name memory system has three steps: Question, Repetition, and Visualization. Question I ask questions about people’s names. As my name is “Joe,” most names are more complex than mine and many lend themselves to some comment. I almost always ask about the spelling of the name; is it Michele or Michelle, Sean or Shawn? If I sense a derivation from another language, I’ll ask about it. I try to make a person’s name my first topic of conversation with him or her. The point of asking questions is to force yourself to pay attention in the first place. Most memory courses emphasize the importance of training oneself to attend to incoming information; this concept is called increasing primary awareness or initial awareness. Even without learning or using any of the other steps and techniques in a memory course, raising the initial awareness of information automatically improves a person’s recall. In short, the attempt automatically brings success. To increase the degree of success, I move to the second step. Repetition This is the one that most people have already heard, often many times. Most sales people or other people who have asked me about names have heard advice such as “use the person’s name immediately,” or “make sure to call them by name three times.” They’ve used this technique with varying results. There’s nothing wrong with the advice to repeat a name to yourself several times. Repetition is a key to learning new material, but taken by itself it’s not what I’d consider the most efficient path to retention. Learning anything by rote repetition generally takes longer than a structured repetition of something that has already been conceptually grasped. That’s why we question first, commenting on the spelling or derivation, and generally develop an understanding of the name and person, then repeat the name to yourself. After asking questions about the name, repeat the name in your head, then give yourself ten or fifteen seconds before using the person’s name in a statement back to them. Don’t keep a checklist of using it three or five times in the conversation; just use it at points where it can naturally fit the conversational flow. It’s the third step, though, where you really get the name fixed firmly in your mind. Visualization My Memory Mojo! course, like nearly all memory training courses, uses creative visualization and association as the basis of the techniques. The use of the imagination to create mental pictures to associate new information to old information is the fundamental building block of memory training. The classical mnemonic approach is to create a vibrant and exaggerated picture with the name and associate that with some outstanding feature of the person’s face, body, or perhaps clothing. For example, the name “Frank” might call to mind a hot dog or the Frankenstein monster, which could then be associated to something noticeable about the man’s face. Other images might be based on people you already know with the same name – relatives, friends, or colleagues. This is the most commonly taught technique and it can be extremely useful. Another visualization technique, though, is this personal approach which I developed a few years ago. This is my own approach and it has significantly improved my name memory. When I hear the name, I visualize myself writing the name, in longhand, with a fountain pen on good paper. I make this visualization as detailed as possible, almost feeling the ink flow from the pen as it scratches across the paper. I can feel the texture of the writing surface and even pick up the faint smell of the ink on the paper. In my mind, I can feel the weight of the pen in my hand and hear the scraping of the nib as I form the letters. My goal is to create a rich, detailed, multi-sensory experience of the name, albeit in my mind. I picture the swoop of the letters and try to see, hear, feel, and smell what is happening as I write the name. You might visualize something different – a chalkboard, a crayon, or a Sharpie – but the point is to engage multiple senses as you think of the name. This one technique has helped me lock in names with a high success rate. Some closing advice… Finally, give yourself permission to forget a name. Your self-talk has a lot to do with your capabilities, and most people have unfortunately convinced themselves that they “can remember faces, but have a bad memory for names.” They tell themselves they won’t remember, and they agonize over forgetting. Take the pressure off yourself. The goal is not a perfect name memory, but an improved name memory. You will help yourself succeed by learning to be comfortable in asking people to repeat their names when you forget. By dialing down the pressure and using the approaches described above, I have been successful in improving my name memory. It has helped my performances, my business interactions, and in my own personal life. I hope you find success using these techniques, too. Let me hear your success stories! (Fountain pen/paper image by Linda
The Gratis Factor: 5 Tips for Getting Entertainers to Donate Shows
Last week I had the opportunity to be part of a wonderful tradition here in Atlanta. Bert Weiss, host of Q100’s “The Bert Show,” created a foundation (along with his wife Stacey) to help children with chronic or terminal illnesses experience a magical weekend with their families at Walt Disney World. The first trip happened in 2003, and “Bert’s Big Adventure” has been an annual event ever since. One of the most anticipated parts of the Adventure experience is the huge send-off party, staged in a ballroom at a local hotel and featuring a variety of entertainment. “The Bert Show” itself is broadcast live from the event each year. This year, I was asked to be a featured entertainer at the event, performing magic for these families and helping them create magical memories that they’ll have forever. Entertainers of all kinds and at all levels are approached constantly about donating their services for charitable purposes. Even if we could perform at a different charity event every day, we would only scratch the surface. There are literally more good causes and worthy events in the world than there are days in any performer’s entire career. How can you get an entertainer to consider donating a show for your cause? Consider some of these keys to unlock the door to a gratis performance. 1. A little respect goes a long way. No entertainer wants to be thought of as “and we’ll have a magician, too, or a singer, or maybe a clown or something.” Having your professional services requested for free as a disposable afterthought is discouraging. Being treated as a generic commodity who is completely interchangeable with any other performer doesn’t inspire generosity of spirit. When you call a performer, have a reason that you want that particular individual at your event. As Uncle Sam said, “I want YOU!” Demonstrate the same respect that you would show to someone who was considering donating several thousand dollars to your organization, because that is what you are asking some performers to do. 2. Quantify “exposure.” As the old saying goes, you can die from exposure. Most entertainers are promised untold heights of publicity and exposure for doing charitable events. Then the story appears in the paper or organizational newsletter saying, “… and there was also a wading pool, a petting zoo, a banjo player, and a magician.” The positive PR that comes from charitable events is a great tool for attracting a variety of companies and individuals to your cause. Don’t promise some nebulous “exposure” – give the facts on how you can really get that person’s or organization’s name out. Will their logo be included on shirts, posters, and programs? Will they be considered a sponsor at a donation level equivalent to the fee they have foregone? Will the organization include their name and web site in all promotion of the event? Will their appearance be promoted on air or on the microphone at the event? Will there be someone on hand to give a real introduction to start their show? The best way to get a performer to commit to your cause is to specify that they will be included in promotion and publicity of the event, and that you will provide specific introductions and leads to them for future paid engagements. Charitable organizations are always run by people who interact with other donors, both individuals and corporations. Those are potential clients for your entertainer; help them make those connections and you may just wind up with free shows for ALL your events! 3. Be honest about the money that is really being spent. It is, at best, a faux pas to ask one entertainer to donate performances when other providers of goods or services are being paid; at worst, it is demeaning. Is the venue itself being donated, or are they being paid – even by another donor or a sponsor? Is the food being donated, or was it bought – even at a reduced rate? If you are asking an entertainer to donate his or her services, be ready to explain why his or her livelihood is of less importance to your charity than the providers you are willing to pay for, even if the rate is reduced. There may be a real reason your organization has made that decision, but you should be willing to talk about it honestly instead of trying to hide it from the performer. 4. Help the entertainer deliver the value they have pledged to your organization. Let’s say your entertainer agrees to donate a performance for your cause, and has arrived on site. Don’t make the mistake of minimizing or undercutting the value of that donation; instead, find ways to maximize the impact they can have on your event. When it’s time for the performance, don’t just send them into a crowd or onto a stage with no build-up. Give them a strong introduction, preferably by the event’s host or the charity’s top official at the event. Give the attendees a sense that what is being contributed is valuable and worth their attention; it will help your event have a greater impact on everyone present. Don’t interrupt a performance to place attention on another person who has arrived simply because he or she is “a celebrity.” Would you interrupt someone who was in the process of signing a check to your organization? The value of the donation is undermined when the presentation is interrupted. If the show needs to be shortened or rescheduled during the event, work it out with the performer before he or she takes the stage. A working performer almost certainly sacrificed more to be there for you than the celebrity did. Please honor that. 5. Know the tax law regarding donations. Don’t offer to give performers a letter to “write the show off on their taxes.” You cannot legally deduct the value of services you perform for a charitable organization. Instead, work with them before and after the
Re: Vital Eyes
“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it to anyone else.” — Charles Dickens Last week I traveled to Delaware to perform at the Dickens Parlour Theatre, a 50-seat venue in the small town of Millville. The theater is the brainchild of Rich Bloch, a brilliant man and performer who I’m proud to call a friend. I performed in the first incarnation of this venue in Atlantic City a few years ago, but the new venue is truly amazing. The theatre is built in what used to be an old work shed with a raised platform in the back. It has been transformed into an elegant Victorian parlour, with 50 theater seats in elevated rows facing the stage. There is plenty of wing space, a nice backstage area, and excellent lighting and sound capabilities. It is a delightful, intimate space that is perfect for the performance of magic and mentalism, as the famous writer and amateur conjuror Charles Dickens himself used to do for his friends. So charming is this wondrous venue that it has attracted some truly excellent performers. I am honored to have trod the same boards that have recently featured Bloch himself as well as Harry Anderson (of Night Court fame), Bob Sheets (a master comedy magician – more about him later), and many other skilled magicians and mentalists. Outside the world of magic, the theater has also hosted excellent musical acts and recently featured the off-Broadway hit Zero Hour, written by and starring Jim Brochu, who garnered Helen Hayes and Drama Desk awards for his amazing portrayal of Zero Mostel. This little theatre, a “hidden gem” according to many writers, was a dilapidated work shed that became the site of truly magical experiences for audiences because Rich Bloch saw beyond what it was to what it could be… and set about realizing that vision and revitalizing that property. As was recently reported in a cover story in MAGIC Magazine, this is only the beginning – the theatre is soon expanding to include a close-up magic performance gallery and a cafe’ in another building on the property. “This is a world of action, and not for moping and droning in.” — Charles Dickens On Friday night, Bob Sheets came to see my show. Bob is a skilled close-up magician and comic stand-up magician. He is also very knowledgeable about the art of theatrical performance; he is a longtime student of famed Broadway performer Bob Fitch, whom I’ve also been privileged to know and get occasional coaching from. (I remember seeing Fitch as Rooster Hannigan in Annie back in the original Broadway run!) After my performance, Bob Sheets hung around until the crowd was gone and then joined me onstage. He shook my hand, congratulated me on the show, and then gave me perhaps the most valuable gift a performer can receive: honest, constructive feedback from a credible, helpful critic. Bob saw my performance, complimented me on the things I did well, and helped me see places where I could improve what I was doing. Some concepts were simple and easy to execute instantly; others will require more work. But I trusted him to be honest and constructive, and I really appreciated his candid opinions on what I was doing well and what could be improved. To be clear – Bob emphasized that the show was good, I was good, and I would never have to worry about doing a “bad” show for an audience. He also complimented the construction of the show and my writing, which he considered excellent. The question he posed was – how can it get better? How can every moment get better? How can everything the audience sees get better? How can what I say be presented more effectively? As a performer and communicator, these are crucial elements for me. Of course, beyond the “knowing” comes the “doing.” As Dickens said, it is a world of action. Because Bob was willing to be honest with me, and because I was willing to listen to Bob and take action, he was able to help me work on my performance in much the same way that Rich works on the theater itself. Bit by bit, day by day, show by show. Take away what detracts. Add what is needed to give more impact or a better experience. Never settle. And before you know it, you’ve converted a work shed into a theater, or a good performance into a great one. It takes an outside perspective to evaluate the reality of a performance. Outside eyes are vital to the performer’s ability to improve; it is nearly impossible to do sufficiently honest self-assessment. If you want to revitalize what you do, get some “vital eyes” looking at you. Where are you getting an honest, credible outside perspective on your work?
Why Unreal Experiences Can Create Real Results
I hope your new year has started off with as much energy as mine has! January is filled with trips to San Antonio, TX; Natchez, MS; Tampa, FL; and of course many wonderful opportunities right here in Atlanta. Now that we’re well into the new year, we’ve reached the point where most of the resolutions have already been broken. Old habits, processes, and prejudices die hard. That’s certainly not to say that change doesn’t have a timeline; it certainly does. But effective change happens on meaningful timelines, not arbitrary ones. People do not achieve a new paradigm in their thinking simply because the date has rolled over on the calendar any more than they would because the mileage rolled over on the odometer. One familiar concept in change management circles is the “burning platform” model. This model presents the motivation to change as existing in tension with situation’s inertia using the imagery of a person standing on a platform in the ocean. If the platform catches fire, the person will start by holding out hope of either the fire going out or otherwise being rescued before ever considering the saving action of jumping into the water – because the long jump and cold water seem rather uncomfortable and frightening. Ultimately, the person only jumps when the fear of jumping is outweighed by the pain of staying on the burning platform. Thus, many organizational or even personal changes can be modeled to a degree by asking, “What’s the burning platform?” As with all models, hordes of consulting professionals have made good livings by extending and over-extending the metaphors. One reason the model may fail, for example, is if the people on the platform are genuinely unaware that the platform is actually on fire at all. Perhaps their prior experiences do not include fire, or perhaps they’ve only seen flames on candles and cakes, never on a large structure. To them, the fire isn’t an issue – it may not even seem real. The real situation is, in their eyes, an unreal experience. They are destined for change whether they wish it or not; however, if they do not develop a new way of looking at things, they will experience painful and disorderly change that could have been avoided. The flawed perception created by those preconceptions is one example of an unreal situation that will have real consequences. Here’s the other side of the coin. If the preconceptions within the mind represent an unreal experience with real consequences of a negative nature, can we use other types of unreal experiences to create real positive changes in perception and action? My experiences as a corporate magician and mentalist – as well as the results my clients have experienced at trade shows and conferences around the world – say that we can. Although what we call the experience of “magic” is created through the use of theatrical illusion techniques, that experience has a real psychological and emotional effect. Unusual, impossible experiences can force people to attend to information that they would otherwise have ignored. The real result is that the message penetrates the armor of indifference and prejudice, sticking to the memories of people who weren’t even planning to pay attention. Creating an unusual, fun experience, while delivering meaningful information in a way that sticks… this is the essence of the “Rethink the Impossible” keynote, as well as much of the customized sales and trade show presentation “magic” that I do. Getting people to look at their situations in a different way – helping them to to identify burning platforms and innovative solutions – this is the power of a presentation that interrupts not just the patterns people are used to seeing in their professions, but also the patterns that they are used to experiencing in their daily lives. Magic, when given a meaning, is an unforgettable learning tool. This year, let’s leverage the impact of impossible visual and psychological experiences to get the right messages across to your target audiences!
Turner Voted Greater Atlanta Magician of the Year
For Immediate Release: Turner Voted Greater Atlanta Magician of the Year Atlanta speaker and entertainer Joe M. Turner has been voted 2010 Greater Atlanta Magician of the Year by the combined Atlanta memberships of the International Brotherhood of Magicians and Society of American Magicians. Georgia Magic Club president Evan Reynolds and the Atlanta Society of Magicians president Rick Hinze announced the news at the clubs’ joint banquet on January 8. The award dates back to 1971 and is based on excellence in seven categories including performance skill, use of talent for charitable efforts, teaching, and creativity. The accompanying “Duke Stern/Hal Martin Memorial Trophy” is engraved with the names of all the previous winners. The winner is honored to keep the trophy for a year, and then receives a commemorative plaque to keep after passing the trophy to the next winner. The selection of the winner is made in stages. Each of the participating organizations elects two finalists from their membership, and those nominees then go on a ballot for a final comprehensive round of voting by both clubs. This year, Turner had the rare honor of being selected as a finalist by both local groups. Turner, a corporate speaker and entertainer often billed as “the Chief Impossibility Officer,” is now a two-time Greater Atlanta Magician of the Year, having also received the award in 2000. He is a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, the Society of American Magicians, the London Magic Circle, and the Academy of Magical Arts in Hollywood. He serves as the IBM Territorial Vice President for Georgia, as well as the Global TVP Counselor; he is also currently serving a three-year term on the IBM Board of Directors. He writes a bi-monthly review column for Genii Magazine. Find out more about Joe M. Turner’s magic entertainment and keynotes at https://turnermagic.com and https://www.turnertalks.com. # # # Based in Atlanta, Georgia, corporate speaker, magician and mentalist Joe M. Turner – “The Chief Impossibility Officer” – delivers astonishing sleight-of-hand, customizable illusions, and stunning mentalism presentations for corporate events, trade shows, conferences and private events worldwide.
