Have you ever walked into a situation that was not what you were expecting? Or, one that was exactly what you expected, but not what you wanted? I’m talking about those gigs where you walk in and your first thought is, “Oh, crap.”
What brings this to mind are a couple of the more challenging gigs I did this past month. My contract provides clear instructions that state, “All seating is to be arranged in front of the performance area, not to the sides and never behind.” Yet, I still have the occasional event where I walk into a room and think, “Oh, crap.”
My full contract package devotes a full sheet of paper to suggested room layouts, including notes on low-hanging balloons. (The result of one particular gig where I got dinged on my ratings because people in the back could not see the show. Somehow it was my fault that the decorating committee put low-hanging balloons on all the tables.)
In addition to putting this information in the contract package, I now call most facilities directly to make sure they received a copy of these guidelines. The reality is that most times the person who hired me doesn’t bother sharing this important information with the person responsible for arranging the tables. Many times, the facility has no idea I’m even coming.
I had two particularly challenging events in December. Both had the potential to become total disasters. Both turned out great, which is to say that the person who hired me was very happy after the performance. Here’s what I did that made the difference – I smiled.
When you have one of those, “Oh, crap” moments, how do you finish the thought? You have two choices:
- “This will never work.”
- “How can we make this work?”
It’s amazing how powerful a smile can be during a tense situation. Couple that with an attitude that conveys, “I’m going to do everything I can to make it work out” and you have a winning hand.
In the case of these two particular problem events, the room layouts were completely wrong.
Gig #1, I was going to be over 50 feet away from the first row of tables. Gig #2, I would be performing to an empty dance floor with tables off to both sides. Rearranging the tables was not an option for either event. The solution was the same in both cases. We had people move their chairs closer during the performance.
But here’s what really made the difference. I smiled.
During dinner, I walked around to the tables and told people I would be inviting them to move their chairs for the show. I started with those seated farthest away from where I’d be performing. I said it with a smile. And I offered them a deal – If you move up front, I won’t pick on you. Anyone who stays where they are is fair game. Of course, I didn’t actually honor that, but no one cared. It lightened the situation.
There’s one more thing I did for Gig #1 that really helped. I was not prepared for what I found when I arrived. After all, I had spent several phone calls earlier that week talking with the facility manager and the DJ to make sure things were all arranged. I was downright angry to find that things were not as we had discussed. I unloaded the truck, moved my equipment into the room, then went back outside one more time. Outside, in my truck, where nobody could hear me, I called my wife. When she answered I said, “I need to get this out of my system so that I can go back inside with a smile on my face and deal with the situation.” She kindly listened while I whined, inserting a gentle, “Oh, man, that stinks” in all the right places. After my verbal dump of the situation, I thanked her for listening, sighed a final big sigh, pasted on my smile, and went back inside to work on a solution.
Neither show went as well as it could have with a better room layout. But, both shows went well given the circumstances. And most importantly, the clients were happy.
Put on your best smile and ask, “How can we make this work?”
