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The best bit of my job as a motivational speaker is learning from truly great speakers.
I always learn from watching talented performers who can hold the audience in their hands and fill the stage with their presence.
I’m referring, of course, to stand-up comedians. And that’s why I recently found myself in a small venue in south London, ready to cheer on four up-and-coming local acts, plus their headliner, Bobby Davro, off the telly.
My day job is to make people think, so they change the ideas in their heads. If I can make ’em laugh, that’s a lovely side effect, but it’s never my primary goal. Tonight’s acts have a very different brief: to spark laughter a few times every minute. It’s always a masterclass in timing, structure, pace, and adaptation. An eternally tough gig that I love to analyse forensically.
And what’s the funniest thing about me being at a comedy gig? I’m on my own, on my tod, with just my notebook for company. Weird, eh, going to a comedy show alone? But every day is a school day when you’re the class clown…
What could you do differently to get even better at your job?