I was in New York City during the January blizzard. I went in for the opportunity to audition for America’s Got Talent. Now, if you are like my family, you are right now thinking, “What exactly is your talent?” I was invited to share laughter exercises with the producers of the show. I had sent in a 90 second video that showed me leading laughter exercises with a variety of groups. With the juxtaposition of working in a cemetery and walking around like a penguin laughing, they were intrigued. They wanted to meet me in person and I was more than willing to show up and meet them. This process taught me many things that may apply to how you run your business (and your life.)
1. Say “Yes” to opportunity – Be mindful of when these show up in your day. Be aware of your mind chatter when they do. I could easily have made excuses as to why I could not/would not apply to be on the show. After all, my talent is hardly a Las Vegas show worthy talent, but they came to World Laughter Tour looking for a laughter leader and my video stood out, so they came a calling.
2. Be prepared – My audition was to be an interview along with a 90 second audition piece of laughter exercises. While I can easily give a talk for 90 minutes, a 90 second audition was something I had never done. There is a special skill set with each new endeavor and we must give 100% effort into everything we do, so if we don’t know how to do it, we…
3. Get help – If you don’t know how to do something, hire a coach. I turned to someone I knew who is a part of ComedySportz improv, an actor, a national speaker and a patient advocate at our local cancer hospital. I knew he could help me, literally, get my act together! He taught me the following mindset to bring with me into the audition room and you can use these in your life as well…
4. Be confident – You are the expert. You know what you are doing and people come to you for advice and help. I had to walk into that room and do what I have done thousands of times and show the producers that I know my stuff.
5. Be yourself – Your families come to see you. My coach told me to not try to be someone I thought they wanted to see, but to be who I truly am. Being authentic in front of strangers can be scary and make you feel vulnerable, but being yourself is way easier than being a “poser.”
6. Be unique – We call this market differentiation in our marketing plans. Why does your firm stand out from the competition? I am up against thousands of acts all looking for air time and a chance to go before Simon Cowell. I created a special America’s Got Talent laughter that I called ventriloquist laughter in honor of last year’s winner, Paul Zerdin. The producers loved participating in this laughter exercise and truly felt the healing power that laughter provides.
7. Be memorable – Every interaction you have with others, allows you to leave a positive impression. In my case, those producers would be seeing thousands of acts and mine had to stand out, not just my act, but me. The questionnaire they gave me when I got to the audition asked many questions, but the last one asked if there was anything unique or special about me. I answered: My fingers are in the wrong place. At the end of my time with them, they asked about this and I showed them my hands. We joked that I could never commit a crime as my fingerprints would give me away! That they will remember.
8. Don’t let a blizzard stand in your way – We all have obstacles to our goals thrown in our way. It is up to you how you will respond. I changed my flight to a day earlier than planned so that I would not miss this opportunity. I walked through 26” of snow to get to where I needed to be. No historic blizzard was going to keep me from my chance to shine. Don’t hide your light either; the world needs your illumination.
To follow my AGT odyssey, follow me at: www.facebook.com/TheLaughAcademy