Originally serialized over the course of eight issues on our old look website, here they are.  The complete series of articles by Quentin Reynolds on making the move from magician to speaker.  Included is the bonus 'Blocking' article.  These articles are copyright of Quentin and may not be re-published without his advance consent.  Quentin is a professional magician, speaker and mentalist.  We would like to thanks Quentin for his kindness in allowing us to publish this series.  He can be contacted here

 

 

Blocking - a Valuable Lesson
by Quentin Reynolds

As a children's entertainer I've found that the worst behaved children generally attend the most expensive private schools. By worst behaved I'm talking about rude, obnoxious children who deliberately set out to cause trouble or draw attention onto themselves.

The first time I met such a bunch was in my second year of doing shows. It was also one of the very few shows I've had where I felt like giving up and leaving. I battled through to the end. But it taught me a valuable lesson and one I'd like to share with you today.

The party was for a group of seven year old boys who all went to a local and expensive private school. The mother was very pleasant and friendly. I didn't foresee any problems. I set up at one end of the room and let the mother know I was ready. Unbeknownst to me the birthday boy had contrived a plan with three of his friends to ransack the magician's props.

These first four boys ran into the room and straight for the props. Fortunately the mother came straight in and helped gain control. With hindsight I suspect these boys had planned their campaign from notes made from seeing other magicians. Two of them sat front left and two then sat front right. During the show one pair would make a run up the side to attract my attention whereupon the other pair would dash up to the back of my table and grab the props.

This happened throughout the show. The mother came in again. We put them all together at the back. Now if you have any experience at all entertaining at birthday parties you'll know that children can move invisibly through the audience. Someone at the back is suddenly at the front and you never saw them move! These boys were expert at that. Born military strategists and the magician is the enemy. Strict words from the mother and strong words from me had only temporary effect.

The hour's show was a complete nightmare.

Now all of us will have the occasional difficult or even disastrous show - for whatever reason. That's life! But if we take the trouble to analyze it and ask ourselves what can we learn from it, we become better performers.

While I learned a number of lessons the main one was BLOCKING. Setting up my show to ensure controlled visibility and access to the performing area. Performing at private parties, especially in homes means that every layout is different. There may be doors, windows or furniture in convenient or inconvenient places. Ideally you need to set up so that the audience can see and hear you.

Depending on the room's layout you might suspect that crawling children might sneak up the side. Moving an armchair would prevent this. The seating might mean that some adults would choose to sit at the side of you. Putting your coat there would be a psychological barrier to them sitting there. If the viewing angles were bad I frequently put up my puppet booth to block them.

Besides my magic roll-on type table I carried a puppet booth and brightly painted puppet case. Again these could be strategically placed to block potential unwanted access from adults or children. Some adults think it's perfectly OK to sit behind the magician and take photographs, or just talk to each other.

You don't want people behind you - not so much because they may see how the tricks are done but they are a distraction from what the audience should be concentrating on which is you.

With effective blocking you control access to the stage area, you make sure the audience only see what you want them to see and you prevent unnecessary distractions in the performing area.

 

From Magician to Speaker - Part One
by Quentin Reynolds

Magicians can spend years developing their careers, networking, building contacts, edging their fees upwards only to discover an amazing fact…

As a rule professional speakers earn more than professional magicians…usually far more. In the heyday of Chautauqua, Ed Reno became very friendly with a college professor speaker on the circuit until he discovered the difference in their fees. Reno stormed into the agent’s office colourfully casting aspersions on the professor’s inability to produce a rabbit from a hat.

And so it is today. That is the perception in the mind of the public and the bookers. Now, besides the high fees there are many other advantages that have attracted magicians to speaking. Well, there are no props to carry for a start. You already have the skills to stand up in front of an audience. You understand eye contact and audience control – especially if you’ve done children’s parties!

Any competent magician is already half way there.

Professional speaking should not be confused with training or giving workshops although they are all closely related.

Training is teaching specific skills, usually in a workshop environment. Speaking is not just providing information but touching an audience on an emotional level while inspiring them to positive action.

But really, when you boil it all down it’s all theatre. That’s it, all theatre. When you’re performing your magic, whether close-up at a table or on a stage – it’s all theatre. But both require different disciplines. And that’s all speaking is…a different discipline under the category of “theatre”.

Over the next few weeks we’ll look at
a) the steps to go from magician to speaker and
b) tips and tricks from the speaker’s toolbox that magicians can use to improve their own performances.

 

From Magician to Speaker - Part Two
by Quentin Reynolds

Over the next few issues I will take you through the basic details of getting into professional speaking.  We'll cover the different types of speaker and the variety of venues where you would present.

First, I think it would be helpful to give you some background on how I started in speaking. It will at least give you one possible way to get started.

I started performing magic for money back in 1972. Every penny earned from then until into the 1990s came from performing magic shows. In 1989 I listened to a tape set by American motivational speaker Zig Ziglar and thought, "I'd like to do that."

A few years later, a neighbour and I were talking about following your intuition, something I've always done.  She was very interested and asked if I'd come and talk about intuition to the local Ladies Club, where she was secretary.  They met from 7.30 to 9.30pm with a coffee break in the middle.

At the time I specialised in children's entertainment but was putting together a mentalism act.  So this sounded like the perfect opportunity to try out speaking and mentalism in front of a tame audience.

When you're a working pro adding new material to a polished act can be a worry.  Putting on ninety minutes of new material is terrifying.  My plan was to talk on intuition for 45 minutes, break for coffee and then do 45 minutes of mentalism.

Fortunately the evening went well and the ladies were delighted.  They also recommended me to other clubs so a trickle of bookings started to come in.

At each evening I'd mingle with the ladies and many of them would have interesting comments and questions.  I started keeping notes of these and incorporating the information into my main talk.  Eventually these notes became a book "INTUITION, Your Secret Power" which was published in 2000.

In the mid 1990s I developed another presentation for schools, teaching the pupils basic memory systems.  It always occurred to me that schools have children from the age of four and spend the next twelve to fourteen years stuffing their brains with information without ever showing why this information is relevant or giving them a system to remember it.

If I were a teacher I'd spend the first few weeks of the school year selling the pupils on the benefits of my subject.

Next issue we'll cover what kind of topic you might choose and how you become an expert on that subject.

 

From Magician to Speaker - Part Three
by Quentin Reynolds

You are an expert who speaks. That is how you position yourself as a speaker. Someone who has expertise and is sharing this with an audience.

Now you might be saying to yourself, "That's alright for you Quentin, but I'm not an expert on anything much."

Don't worry! That's the obstacle you're going to solve right now. Here's the deal...

Get out a sheet of paper and write down everything you're interested in...hobbies, skills, talents. Then think back to your childhood and list all your interests from back then. If you have old photographs, scrapbooks or journals, go back through those. Forgotten interests will come to
mind.

Ask your friends and family what they think you are good at. What do they think your skills and talents are? What would they list as your strengths?

List these as well. Make sure you've listed everything you do or like doing even if you think you haven't any great talent for it.

What are your hot buttons? What gets you going? What really irritates you? Have you a cause you would like to champion?

Look through your list.

Are any themes showing?

You're looking for a topic which is both interesting to you AND both interesting and useful for your audience. You might be passionate about a rare species of butterfly and you might be
able to turn your knowledge into an entertaining and informative forty-five minutes but it isn't a topic that a booker is likely to find useful.

My main topic is 'Intuition', and the theme is 'Learning to Trust Yourself'. One of the biggest problems companies have is getting someone to take the responsibility to make a decision.  People are terrified to make a decision lest it turn out to be a bad one and tend to leave the decision to others.

So my topic is interesting and useful. I teach people how to take the time to listen to themselves -something very few people do but everyone agrees they should.

Let's recap. Your topic is something you are really interested in - even better - passionate about and it's something that is useful or could be shown to be useful to a booker.

Next time I'll show you how to be an expert on your subject even if you think you're not.

 

From Magician to Speaker Part 4
By Quentin Reynolds

Being the Expert

Last week you discovered how to find a topic that you're really interested in and is something people will pay to hear you talk about.

If you want to get any decent fees at all you must be seen to be an expert on your subject. Don't recoil at the thought. You probably know far more on the subject than you think. If you're really interested in the subject you will subconsciously store information about it.

A seven year old who's mad about football will be able to repeat the weekend scores after only hearing them once. He'll be able to tell you endless details about his favourite team and its players. Yet he may not be able to even tell you what was covered that day in school!

You may not be a world expert but the chances are you are at least 90% of the way there.

Get someone to interview you on the subject and tape the interview. Get someone who is good at drawing out information - perhaps a journalist or researcher. Once you relax you will open up and be amazed at what comes out.

Particularly you want to make note of any stories that come to mind - especially personal stories from your own experience. These stories will form a vital part of your speech when you come to craft it.

If you have a pocket dictaphone or audio recording device carry it with you and whenever something pops into your mind, record it. Some mobile phones have a memo function to leave messages for yourself. If you wake up in the middle of the night with an idea, record it or write it down immediately. Neglecting to do so means that in the morning you will remember you had a great idea but you won't recall what it was.

Next you need to do ongoing research and study. Even if you don't know a lot about your subject you can become an expert on it in a year by devoting forty-five minutes a day. This can be reading or listening to tapes or CDs while driving in your car. Stop listening to the radio while driving and turn your car into a university on wheels.

One of the fastest ways of developing expertise in any subject is to read the last twelve months of trade magazines from that industry or niche. You will quickly be able to spot the trends and the hot buttons of the industry.

Just think if you were to give a layman the last twelve months issues of MAGIC or GENII. He could go to a convention and be able to talk intelligently to anyone and leave the impression of being very knowledgeable. Now this layman wouldn't be great on the technical side (how tricks work) but on all other aspects he'd be up to date and probably know more about current trends than 95% of the magicians there.

If this layman spent 45 minutes a day studying magic for the next year he could hold his own with 99% of all magicians.

Next week we'll talk about how to turn your expertise into a speaking based profit centre.

 

From Magician to Speaker Part 5
By Quentin Reynolds

Last issue we looked at becoming an expert in your field.  I showed you how simple it would be for a layman to become an apparent expert on magic - at least on an intellectual level.

However we're not talking about you becoming an 'expert' at something you know nothing about. Rather about you becoming a real expert on something you already have at least some expertise in.

But the real point I wanted to make is that you probably have more expertise in your potential topic than you realise.

The really good speakers walk their talk. Not only have they the intellectual knowledge but also the practical knowledge from real world - in the trenches - experience.

Professional speakers make their incomes from many sources.

The keynote speech tends to be the highest paid, generally 50 - 60 minutes. At an industry convention this would usually be the opening and closing spots. The first professional speaker I saw live was Rita Davenport at the Balloon Decorator's Convention back in 1991. She was the first event and got the convention off to a flying start. A keynote is given in the main auditorium
to all the attendees. The main purpose of a keynote is to set a tone and provide motivation and inspiration.

(Unfortunately keynote speakers are not booked for magic conventions. A pity because a really good speaker can literally shake you emotionally. Figuring out how to do this with your own
magic performances would be a worthwhile exercise).

Breakout sessions. A number of sessions talk place at the same time, usually each concentrating on a particular skill or interest. At a magic convention you might have three breakout sessions
running concurrently, one on balloon twisting, one on ventriloquism and the third on performing in restaurants. The breakout session concentrates more on providing information.

Workshops to develop specific skills. These can vary from half-day to multi-day training.

Sales meetings. This is more like a mini-keynote to a specific group of people for a specific purpose.

Consulting and coaching with companies and individuals.

Product sales. Books, CDs, DVDs, manuals, courses.

After-dinner speaking. This is usually pure entertainment with about 95% humour and 5% message.

In a later part we'll look at how some speakers use their talks purely to get business and not as the business itself, and how you as a magician can use speaking to get you more shows.

 

From Magician to Speaker Part 6
By Quentin Reynolds

Last week we looked at the different ways speakers earn their incomes. Before going into how you craft your speech let's look at how you as a magician can use public speaking as a means of growing your business.

Not all speakers look on speaking as a full time career. With many it is just one stream of income. The really clever ones use speaking to leverage their other businesses.

Let's say you've been following these postings for the last few weeks and maybe you're thinking. "That's OK, but I don't have a topic I'm an expert in and I don't want to spend the time becoming an expert. But I still like the idea of speaking."

Why not put together a talk based on your experiences as a magician. Now let's be honest. This isn't too likely to get you booked at top fees anywhere. But it certainly can get you speaking locally either for free or at lower fees.

If nothing else it will help make you a mini-celebrity in your area.

At the beginning you want to get as much experience as possible. The best advice when you start off is speak everywhere you can and as often as you can.

The main benefit for you is visibility in the marketplace. If your talk is humorous and contains at least some useful information you will be remembered. When the question of booking entertainment comes up, you are already in their mind. All other things being equal they are more likely to book someone they already know.

Next week I'll go into the detail of crafting such a talk but in the meantime think back over your career as a magician and make a list of all the things that have happened. Make a list of all the problems you've encountered and how you've overcome them. The unexpected interruption at a show, hassles of travelling, the magazines you read, the people you've met, the conventions you've attended.

Next you want a title for your talk. This is the hook for your booker so make it a good one. Robert Fulghum has done really well from an essay he wrote which turned into the bestselling book "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten".

A few ideas to get your imagination going:
"Secrets to handling thirty screaming six year-olds at a birthday party."
"The Life-Changing Lesson I learned from working with disabled children".
"What really happens behind the scenes at a magic show."
“?The secret life of people who work in restaurants."
"How a balloon doggie saved my life."

If you read any of those headlines in a newspaper, they would grab your attention and you would read further. That's the kind of title you want for your talk. Next week I'll show you how to craft it.

 

From Magician to Speaker Part 7
By Quentin Reynolds

I hope since the last issue you've made your list of all the stories, incidents and obstacles that you can recall from your time as a magician. We're now going to turn them into a talk.

You will find the whole speech falls into place much easier when you have a title for your presentation and you know its theme.

There are many possible structures for a talk. Here is one of the simplest and also one of the best.

Dynamite opening which gets into the theme of the talk
Make a point
A story to illustrate the point
Make a point
A story to illustrate the point
Make a point
A story to illustrate the point.
Wrap up and powerful close.

Now you can't get much simpler than that and the structure should give you a 25 - 30 minute talk. I'll also show you how to expand the same structure into a 45 - 50 minute talk.

The backbone of your talk is the stories you tell. That is what sells you to the audience. That is what they will remember. The greatest teachers use stories. Jesus taught with stories. Stories touch people emotionally. People love stories. Get the point? Use stories!

And the stories you use should be from your own personal experience. That's why I asked you to write down all the stories, problems and funny incidents from your career as a magician. (You can of course use stories from any aspect of your life - but I'm assuming this particular talk will be to do with magic).

And when you use events from your own experience, they are unique to you. Your audience will not have heard them elsewhere. And because it is your unique story it will ring with authenticity.

Your story can be anything from a simple incident to something more involved. At the beginning it shouldn't be more than five minutes. It will grow as you tell it, but at the start keep it short.

And it's not enough just to tell a story. At its conclusion you must give your audience the lesson you learned from the story. Then you must show them how they can apply the lesson to their lives.

For example one professional speaker has a trademark story of turning up at a hotel for a speaking engagement only to discover he hasn't packed his cufflinks. He then describes a mad rush as he takes a taxicab to different menswear shops looking in vain for cufflinks. By the fourth shop he's in a major panic and the assistant calms him down. Hearing the problem, the assistant suggests why doesn't he just buy another shirt that doesn't need cufflinks? Problem solved.

Now the lesson:

He then makes the point about rushing to solve a problem without properly analyzing it and looking for alternative solutions.
Then he talks to the audience about applying the point to their own lives.

Note as well he is not the hero of the story. The shop assistant is.
Don't be the hero of all your stories. It adds to your humanity.

You can expand the talk by using extra stories to illustrate your points. Zig Ziglar frequently uses three stories to make a point. One story
will be from his own personal experience, one from an article he read in a newspaper or magazine and the third is usually based on a joke and is used specifically to get a laugh.

In the next part we'll look at putting your talk together.

 

From Magician to Speaker Part 8
By Quentin Reynolds

Putting Your Talk Together.

The biggest fault made by novice speakers is writing out their talk as though it were a writing
assignment. The written word is meant to be written and the spoken word spoken.

That is not to say you shouldn't write out your talk.

You should. It's vital that you do. It's just important to realise that we are taught in school to write a certain way and that is not the way we speak. The written word tends to be more formal and structured. What you want is a conversational style - your conversational style!

You have your title and your theme, the main point you want to make and your stories.

Keeping conversational style in mind, write them out or give a friend your list and have him or her interview you, record the interview and have it typed out.

Once you have your script, read it aloud. Does it flow?  Does it sound natural? Does it sound like you or you trying to be someone else?

All we're aiming for now is a talk that sounds like you are talking intelligently to a friend.

You'll need to do some editing - removing words that are repeated too often, adding in words that help create pictures in your audiences mind.

Most important of all you need a good opening and a good closer.  A good opening will grab the audiences’ attention.

You might start off posing a question. Maybe you might start bang in the middle of one of your stories (a Hollywood tactic). Or perhaps give a striking fact that would be relevant to the audience.

Do not start with a joke. You are not a comedian. You are a speaker.  If you start with a joke and it doesn't get a laugh you have diminished your authority and credibility. Keep your funny stories until you have won them over.

Next issue we'll talk more on openings and I'll show you what to do when you tell a funny story during your talk and it doesn't get a laugh.

 

From Magician To Speaker Part 9
By Quentin Reynolds

A good opening establishes interest, authority and control.

Think about the magic competitions you have experienced.  How many magicians walk out and within nano-seconds, their manner and bearing convey they are both under-rehearsed
and uncomfortable?

How does that affect you as an audience member? It makes you uncomfortable in your seat and you're on edge because you know something is going to go wrong. You cannot relax
and enjoy.

Yet another magician can walk on and instantly you feel relaxed and comfortable. He exudes confidence and you don't care what journey he takes you on because you trust him.

So most important - walk on with confidence. If you don't feel confident, then while backstage picture a time when you did feel really confident and let that mental image reflect in your body language as you walk on.

Always remember people want you to be good. Nobody goes to a film, play or show wanting it to be less than excellent.

Please do rehearse your talk. Proper rehearsal is the difference between a cheap off the peg suit and a hand made bespoke suit of the finest material.

Having said that don't worry about being perfect the first time you give your talk to an audience. A hand made suit requires a number of fittings before it's just right!

You closing should tie the whole talk together. It might refer back to something you said in your opening. It should reinforce your theme and the one point you want your audience to take away.

Last issue I promised to reveal what to do if you tell a funny story and it does not get the expected laugh. If you recall, the structure of your talk is:

Dynamite opening which gets into the theme of the talk
Make a point
A story to illustrate the point
Make a point
A story to illustrate the point
Make a point
A story to illustrate the point.
Wrap up and powerful close.

It's very important to remember that the stories in a good talk are there to make a point, regardless of how entertaining they are.  If your funny story gets no reaction simply say: "You're probably wondering why I told that story. Well the reason is"... and continue to make your point. A comedian can't use that tactic!

Next issue we'll cover some tips for dynamic speaking.

 

From Magician To Speaker Part 10
By Quentin Reynolds

Tips On Giving a Better Presentation

In show business, especially theatres, the performers don't mix with the audience either before or after the show. Actors have their own private bar known as the Green Room, reserved for theatre staff and selected friends.

When you perform at more informal situations, avoiding the audience contact before or after your performance isn't usually an option.

Turn that to your advantage. Make friends with your audience. Chat to them about their concerns, about the venue and the organisation.  You never know what useful information might crop up that you might be able to use.

More importantly you have at least a few friends in the audience.  In 1999 I attended a Brian Tracy seminar in Dublin with 900 people in the audience. I noticed him before the event started and went over to introduce myself and tell him how much I had enjoyed his audio
programmes over the years. That's all. It was the first time we met and we only spoke for about a minute.

He must have noticed me sitting near the front and during his presentation, in making a point he referred to me and said, "Just as I was saying to Quentin before we started."

Not only did it make me feel good but it also had a positive effect on the audience. It showed them that he is approachable and friendly.

Staying around for a little schmoozing after your presentation can do wonders for your bank balance. That's when people will come and talk with you and suggest they might book you
for their event. By all means give out business cards but better still get their contact information so you can follow up with them.

Never assume that people know who you are or will remember you. When you meet someone and shake hands always state your name.  In your stories mention your name... "She said to me ...look Quentin..."

Make sure you arrive in plenty of time at the venue. Get the feel of the room, the layout, the visibility angles, and the sound. Will curtains be drawn or is there a possibility that the sun will shine into the audience's eyes? What's the lighting like? Walk the stage area. How big is it? Do you
move around a lot? Do you stay on the platform or do you occasionally walk down into the audience?

If you are a man, do not carry loose change or keys in your pockets.

A good professional speaker's talk will be the same 96% of the time. Give yourself that 4% leeway for changes, freshness and any impromptu comments you might make.

Never read your talk. You can have a table with a sequence of tent cards on it. Each card has a key word for your next sequence.

If you use magic in your talk, I recommend you keep it to one effect and have that near the finish - but not the finish.

You must be clear what is your message. What is the one point you want to get across? As a magician you may be giving the talks in your community purely to generate business for your shows.  That's fine and that is the real reason you are there. But if that is blatantly obvious to your audience you'll come over like a pushy car salesman.

Far better to have some message in your talk like lessons you learned entertaining three years olds. But during your talk you have the opportunity to mention your magical skills and talents, so the sales pitch is very low key and the audience think booking you is their idea.

For example you might say something like... "Let me tell you what happened last week when I performed at Mary and Joe's wedding." Now you are telling them you are available to perform
at weddings.

Tape your presentations. You need to remove all the ums and ahs.  Every so often there is a tendency to add non-words to your shows or talks. Words like "you know", "like", "OK".

If you're a tad lazy and don't rehearse much you must at least know your opening and closing 60 seconds, forwards, backwards and inside-out.

 

From Magician to Speaker Part 11
by Quentin Reynolds

For the past number of weeks we've looked at how you can take the steps to add giving a professional speech to your repertoire.

You might be considering selling your expertise on a subject and heading down the road to becoming a keynote speaker.

Or maybe you will give a presentation about your experiences as a magician and use this talk to gain credibility and visibility in your marketplace.

Whichever route you choose the latter is the simplest way to start. The main thing is to get out and do it.

Now I'm going to give you a piece of advice that will irritate and annoy a lot of people. They'll tell me I'm encouraging amateurishness and sloppy performance. But I also understand a bit about human nature and I would be negligent not to urge you to do this.

If you are considering doing any kind of speaking at all this is what you must do now:

Get your first booking. Make it free. Just go and get it. Book it for two to three weeks from now. It's a deadline you will have to meet. Your subconscious will start to work on what's needed, your stories, your theme, your title.

It will all come together for you. If nothing else, sheer terror will get you through it. And YOU will have done it.

Imagine your sense of achievement after it’s over. You will have taken a major step in your career. And believe me, many doors open to those who have the ability to stand and talk in front of a group.

As a magician you already know how to get up in front of a group.  You know about eye contact and holding attention.

So what are you waiting for?

Just remember the formula:

Dynamite opening which gets into the theme of the talk
Make a point
A story to illustrate the point
Make a point
A story to illustrate the point
Make a point
A story to illustrate the point.
Wrap up and powerful close.