“Oscillation: Why the Most Successful Events Don’t Feel Like a Show”

Last week, a client told me,

“I don’t think you’d be a good fit for this event… we’ve got too many people. You can’t entertain them all at once.”

I asked him,

“Are you sure that’s what you want?”

I’ve seen what happens when you try to entertain everyone all at once… and it’s not pretty.

Most people assume entertainment is a 40-60 minute show.

Big reactions. Big applause. Done.

And sometimes, that’s exactly what’s needed.

But at most corporate events—especially networking events, client entertainment, and golf outings—that approach actually limits what’s possible.

There’s a more powerful strategy:

Oscillation.

Instead of one long performance, the entertainment comes and goes.

I step into a small group, create a moment, build to a strong reaction—and then step away.

A few minutes later, I step into another group and it happens again.

Then again.

And suddenly, the energy isn’t in one place…

…it’s everywhere.

That simple shift unlocks a surprising number of advantages.

First, it prevents boredom.

The human brain craves change. Novelty keeps people engaged.

Bob Hope understood this well—he engineered something new every 15 seconds.

The same principle that kept audiences glued to Hope on stage, radio, and television helps ensure your guests stay engaged—and don’t drift out early.

Second, it provides “down time.”

If you want your guests to connect and have conversations that lead to meaningful networking, you need to provide them time to talk to each other.

I once worked with a world-class performer who did amazing stunts and trick shots on a pool table. She amazed everyone with her show.

Unfortunately, her show was three hours long. She didn’t give the salespeople a chance to stop and talk to the customers, so there was no relationship building.

And, she never gave the audience a break during the show. As soon as she finished, everyone stood up and left because they’d seen three hours of her show and were “done.”

Third, it maximizes reach.

Attention is a scarce resource at any event.

By moving the entertainment, we multiply its impact—touching more groups, more conversations, more moments.

Instead of one “hot spot,” the entire room feels alive.

Fourth, it satisfies different tastes.

Not every guest connects with the same thing.

I might do the oranges with one group, the card-in-box when I return, and later a mind-reading piece.

Now each guest has their own “favorite moment.”

And more importantly—they compare those moments with each other.

That’s what drives real conversations… and makes your follow-up calls easier to start.

Fifth, it builds anticipation.

When guests know something else is coming, they stay engaged longer.

They linger.

They talk.

They connect.

And that gives your team more opportunities to build relationships.

Sixth, it allows for precision.

Instead of performing at the whole room, I can create a different experience for different groups.

We can focus attention on specific people - VIPs, top achievers, celebrities, executives - so they get to see more magic or have a special “VIP experience.”

That lets us leverage things like social proof, liking, reciprocity, and scarcity, so you can accomplish other goals like making key incentive guests feel important or making key customers feel like they got “something special.”

And it’s one of the simplest ways to turn entertainment from something people watch…

…into something that drives results.

Curious how this could work at your event?

Give me a call at (561) 596-3877 or book a time at calendly.com/mikeduseberg.

We’ll talk about what you’ve done in the past, what you’ve got planned, and what you really want to accomplish—and I’ll share what’s worked for other clients in similar situations.

Thanks,

Mike

Where Should Entertainment Really Go in Your Event?

Most clients I speak with want entertainment after the business portion.

They want full attention during presentations, sales training, or company meetings — so they "reward" everyone with entertainment afterward.

That approach is completely understandable… but it leaves massive leverage on the table.

One of the biggest frustrations I hear from event planners and executives is:

“How do we get people truly engaged during the sessions?”

or

“How do we help attendees actually network and build real relationships?”

Here’s the secret most people miss:

The fastest way to boost engagement and networking is to help people build trust and connection early — before the serious content begins.

Picture this: Your top performers walk into Day 1 morning.

Employees think: "Better stay quiet—who's safe to talk to?"

Customers think: "Don't rock the boat."

Silence spreads. Q&A's painful. Meeting fights uphill.

Then the fix:

Opening night welcome reception with right entertainment.

Day 2? Completely different energy.  Attendees jumping in, answering each other's questions, breakouts become real brainstorms.

Lately, I’m seeing a strong resurgence in smart welcome receptions. More clients are bringing me in specifically for that critical first night.

Nels Kasey (Great Heart Seed), “Made a good event unforgettable.” His clients and distributors were so engaged that on day two they were actively answering questions for the presenters during the conference in French Lick, Indiana.

A Fortune500 telecom company saw the same effect with their President’s Club winners in Hawaii. The magic helped their top performers relax, connect, and participate fully — so they’re bringing me back for a second time this year. If you’re flying your most important people halfway around the world to a five-star resort, the last thing you want is them sitting quietly at their tables. You want energy, conversation, and real connection.

A Top 100 golf club says nothing’s had more impact than adding magic to opening night. Their players are laughing, slapping each other on the back, having fun together like they’re buddies at summer camp.  The exact feeling wealthy golfers crave—because they can’t get it anywhere else.

If you’re serious about maximizing engagement, networking, and the “real-life experience” sharing that helps your entire team grow, addressing those early psychological barriers can dramatically improve your event’s results.

Curious how this works at your events? Click the button below and schedule a quick conversation if you want to talk it through.

Why Typical event Entertainment Undermines Networking — And What Actually Works

Picture this:  

You’ve invested heavily in a high-end welcome reception or client hospitality event. The venue is stunning, the food and drinks are excellent, and you’ve even brought in a live band to “set the mood.”  

Yet as you walk the room, what do you see?

Small cliques of people who already know each other. Phones in hands. Awkward small talk that never gets past the weather or the latest sports scores. And in the corner, the band plays on…  But nobody’s dancing, singing along, or really even acknowledging their presence.   

Now imagine the exact same room transformed. 

Laughter erupts from multiple tables. Strangers are leaning in, eyes wide with delight. People are connecting — really connecting — and having fun together.  They like each other.  They enjoy spending time with each other.  Business cards and contact information are exchanged because people authentically want to talk to each other again later.  When appropriate, the conversations are naturally flowing into genuine business opportunities.  

What’s the difference?  

It’s not the venue, the catering, or even the open bar.  

It’s the entertainment.  

Table of Contents

• Why Passive Entertainment Prevents Networking at Events
• The Four Hidden Networking Killers Most Planners Miss
• The Interactive Entertainment Advantage: Creating Conversations That Matter
• The Exact Mechanisms That Turn Entertainment Into Networking Rocket Fuel
• Real Results: Case Studies & ROI Proof
• The 5-Step Framework to Make Your Next Corporate Event a Networking Powerhouse

Why Passive Entertainment Prevents Networking at Events

Most “standard” entertainment — live bands, DJs, sports viewing parties, or big stage shows — is passive. It happens in the background, whether anyone is watching or not.  In most cases, people aren’t watching.

The “Spectator” Trap

When people DO stop and watch, DJs, and stage performers turn your guests into an audience. People face the entertainment, not each other.

Conversations become difficult because everyone is focused on the same external stimulus. The energy in the room goes toward the stage — not toward the relationships you want to build.

Sports suites and baseball game viewing parties create the same issue. Guests sometimes bond over the game, but that only works when the guests are all fans of the same team. Even then, the conversation rarely moves beyond “Did you see that play?” into meaningful business dialogue. Once the game ends or attention drifts, the networking momentum disappears.

The result?  The entertainment actively works against the very networking and relationship-building you’re trying to achieve.  

It doesn’t have to be that way.

The right entertainment, presented property, becomes the ultimate networking catalyst by creating shared moments of wonder, natural conversation starters, and emotional connections that turn strangers into contacts — and contacts into opportunities.  More importantly, it breaks traditional interpersonal barriers and creates equal business stature, so guests can connect freely and comfortably.

The Four Hidden Networking Killers Most Planners Miss

1. *No built-in conversation starter — After a band finishes a song or a home run is hit, what do people say to someone they just met? Nothing natural emerges.  

2. Counterproductive Structure - the band is too loud to allow conversation, games like bowling and TopGolf confine guests to a specific lane so they cannot mingle, and stadium events like baseball games orient people toward the field and away from each other.

3. Reinforces cliques and status barriers — Extroverts dominate the energy while introverts (and even many senior executives who prefer depth over volume) withdraw.  

4. No Status Change or Frame Change — The entertainment ends, and guests go right back to autopilot small talk — or their phones.

In contrast, interactive entertainment that moves through the room — table to table, small group to small group — creates dozens of micro-experiences that naturally spark dialogue between guests who wouldn’t otherwise connect.

For a deeper dive into why forced networking fails and how to fix it, read: The Psychology of Networking Events That Create Authentic Connection and Productive Relationships

The Interactive Entertainment Advantage: Creating Conversations That Matter

Interactive entertainment — particularly close-up magic performed in a roaming or table-hopping style — doesn’t just fill time. It engineers connection.

Here’s what actually happens when the right entertainer works the room:

- Pattern interrupts stop autopilot behavior. Guests are pulled out of their usual “event mode” and into a shared moment of surprise and delight.  

- Shared emotional peaks create instant bonds. When a group experiences wonder and laughter together, their brains release chemicals that foster trust and rapport far faster than standard conversation.  

- Natural conversation starters emerge organically. The effect itself becomes the topic — “How did he do that?” or “Did you see what just happened at that table?” — and the discussion flows easily into who people are and what they do.

This levels the playing field in a way few other formats can. It doesn’t matter if someone is an extrovert, introvert, senior executive, or junior team member — everyone reacts with the same genuine human response to mystery and skill.

See also:

A Simple Formula to 10x Your 2026 Networking Events and Welcome Receptions

Extrovert? Introvert? IT DOESN'T MATTER!

The Exact Mechanisms That Turn Entertainment Into Networking Rocket Fuel

Five powerful mechanisms explain why interactive magic outperforms everything else for relationship-building:

1. Attention → Connection

The hypnotic power of focused attention explained in From Laughter to Action: The Hypnotic Secret of Effective Event Entertainment creates peak emotional states that transfer directly into openness and rapport.

2. Pattern Interrupts & Frame-Breaking

Magic breaks people out of their expected event “frame,” opening them to new interactions. This is the same principle behind successful welcome receptions. See also: Networking Events That Work: How to Engage Guests, Create Rapport, and Start Conversations

3. Momentum & Emotional Connection

   One strong reaction at a table spreads across the room. Building progressive engagement keeps energy high instead of letting it drop. The Foundational Rule of Engagement: How to Capture Attention, Inspire Participation, and Create an Experience Guests Won’t Want to Leave.

4. Creating Equal Business Stature  

Everyone — regardless of title or personality — experiences the same moment of astonishment. This equalizes status and encourages cross-level conversations. . THE LIKING PRINCIPLE: HOW EQUAL BUSINESS STATURE FUELS MORE CONVERSATIONS

5. Memory + Gifting Loop

When the magic experience is paired with a customized, memorable takeaway (like the custom playing cards in The $2 Gift That Triggers Referrals 20 Years Later, the connection and conversation lives on long after the event ends.

Real Results: Case Studies & ROI Proof

Time and again, clients who replace passive entertainment with interactive magic report the same outcomes:

- Dramatically higher numbers of new connections made during the event  

- Increased post-event follow-ups and referrals  

- Better survey scores on “overall event value” and “networking effectiveness”  

- Tangible business results — from closed deals to strengthened client relationships

These aren’t theoretical. They come from real corporate welcome receptions, hospitality suites, golf events, and incentive programs where the entertainment was deliberately chosen to support business goals rather than just “look nice.”

Mini Case Studies from Connection Catalyst

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The 5-Step Framework to Make Your Next Corporate Event a Networking Powerhouse

Ready to make your next event different? Here’s a simple framework:

1. Define the primary goal — Is it networking, client appreciation, deal-making, or pure celebration?  Having a short list of goals for your event will help you identify what needs to happen for your event to be successful, what data you need to measure, and how best to invest your budget and resources.

2. Choose the format — Will this be an open-house event with a buffet where guests can easily mix and mingle? Is this a plated dinner where guests will be paired with potential networking partners or business counterparts? Will there be speeches or a formal program?

3. Brief the entertainer properly — Share your networking objectives, target connections, and other business goals you want to accomplish at the event.  Invest the time to have a conversation with prospective performers. Expect the best performers to ask lots of questions about what you’ve done in the past, what’s worked, what could be better, and what you think a successful event looks, sounds, and feels like. Great entertainment partners will customize their performance for your venue, audience, and objectives based on what you tell them during the interview.

4. Pair with a memorable takeaway — A custom gift tied to the performance multiplies the long-term impact.  Remember that HOW you give the gift usually matters more than what you actually give. See details in The $2 Gift That Generates Referrals 20 Years Later.

5.Measure what matters — Track new connections, conversations started, follow-up meetings booked, and guest feedback on engagement. Use CRM to track and confirm networking experiences with company reps and executives. Remember that most of the business work will happen during conversations that happen AFTER the event.

From Connection Catalyst

Budget-wise, interactive entertainment often delivers higher perceived value and ROI than a band or generic speaker because it directly supports the business outcomes you care about.

For more information about conversations with vendors that achieve your goals and objectives and fit your venue audience, check out the blog post and video at Real Customization Means Aligning Entertainment with Your Goals, Audience, and Venue

For deeper lessons on creating exclusive, high-impact experiences, exploreLessons from The Masters

For guidance on choosing the right format and length, see 5 Hours or 15 Minutes? Here’s how to decide

Conclusion

Passive entertainment doesn’t really entertain your guests. Itcannot capture their attention, focus it, and direct their attention in a way that has meaningful impact on your event’s objectives and key metrics.

Interactive entertainment connects — and in business, connection drives everything that matters: relationships, opportunities, revenue, and loyalty.

If your events have been suffering from polite but shallow interactions, cliques that never break, or guests who remember the food more than the people they met, it’s time for a different approach.

The right interactive entertainment doesn’t just add fun to your event. It becomes the catalyst that turns your investment into lasting business value.

Ready to make your next welcome reception, hospitality suite, or corporate gathering the one people still talk about months later — for the right reasons?

Let’s talk. I’ll help you design the exact entertainment experience your audience and your goals need.

Not Ready for a Conversation Yet?

Get a Free Copy of Connection Catalyst and Learn More Event Psychology

With the Entertain The Brain Newsletter

The Liking Principle: How Equal Business Stature Fuels More Conversations

There’s one big secret to creating more “hallway conversations” at your events…

If you think those conversations are valuable to your attendees, read on.

Equal business stature

Robert Cialdini’s Liking Principle is a powerful tool for building rapport and trust at a conference or meeting:
We like people who are similar to us — in interests, values, and perceived status.

If you like golf and I like golf, you like me just a little bit more.
If you like golf and you’re an executive, and I like golf and I’m an executive, you like me even more.

We’re drawn to people who mirror our world — and status does a lot of that “liking” work. Executives like to talk to other executives, and salespeople like to talk to other salespeople. But we all know that powerful executives can intimidate salespeople because there’s very little sense of equal status.

If you think about it for a minute, “status” is a frame.
We all choose what criteria we’re going to rank each other by — title, department, rank, or… something else entirely.

As an event planner, YOU can set the criteria

You decide the frame.

For instance, our clients use the surprise and mystery of magic to set that frame. The surprise acts as a pattern interrupt, breaking up the usual “salesman/customer” or “executive/employee” dynamic. The mystery creates equal business stature.

The executive is just as baffled as the client.
The intern is just as intrigued as the CEO.
In that moment, they’re all “equals” connecting as humans.

That equal stature carries through the rest of the event — in the opening‑night cocktail party, in the hallway, in the breakout room.

A new intern can approach the CEO and talk about the magic as if they were old friends. In fact, I’ve seen it happen.

That’s the secret behind the extra “hallway conversations” people remember: you’ve changed the frame so that status doesn’t mitigate the conversation anymore.

Magic becomes the common ground that makes everyone feel like a peer.

Want to see how this works in action?

If you’re planning a meeting, conference, or corporate event and you’d like to explore how magic can create equal business stature and spark more hallway conversations, I’d love to talk.

Send me a quick note about your next event, and we’ll brainstorm how to turn your opening, reception, or breakout into a conversation‑rich experience for your attendees.

5 hours or 15 minutes? Here’s how to decide

One of the most common questions people ask when booking entertainment is, “How long is your show?”

The unsatisfying answer is, “As long as it needs to be.”  But that’s probably the best answer, too.

I’ve been on the road almost every week this year, and only two shows have been the same length because those shows were for exactly the same event for the same company on two different nights.

Every other show had a different purpose, audience, and venue, so each performance was slightly different.

• I did a five hour performance during a corporate hospitality event during a trade show in Las Vegas. There were roughly 600 people, and I did strolling magic to help the sales leadership develop trust and rapport with their salespeople and distributors.

• I did a three hour performance during a Member/Guest golf event, where we wanted to get everyone laughing and having fun together on the first night of the event to build camaraderie and create “a great hang” during rest of the tournament.

• I did 60 minutes after dinner in Texas for an association dinner to entertain guests and make the evening more than the usual cocktails, buffet dinner, speaker experience.

• I’m doing 15 minutes on stage in Hawaii next month to add some fun and excitement to a long awards dinner.

The old “plug-and-play” model from event agencies and talent networks doesn’t address your event’s real goals. Good entertainment is a lever to make your event more engaging, memorable, and revenue-generating.

That’s what real “customization” is all about: adapting the performance to suit your needs and objectives.

So next time you ask someone “how long is your show?” they really should reply with “as long as it needs to be.” 

Then they should ask questions like:

1. What did you do last year?
What was the experience like? Did it accomplish your goals? Your past event is the baseline you’re most likely to repeat, so it’s important to start there.

2. What do you want people to think, feel, and do?
Do you want them relaxed and mingling? Energized and unified? Deeply impressed? The emotions and outcomes drive the right format.

3. What does your ideal event look, feel, and sound like?
When you picture it in your head, where is the entertainment in the flow? Is it background, center‑stage, or the main attraction?

If your current entertainment isn’t asking questions like that… and you think they should… maybe we should talk.

Looking forward to next week

Mike

PS: Funny Masters Story:  The night before Ben was born, my flight from Atlanta to PBI was canceled, and I ended up driving 8 hours to make sure I was home in time for the anticipated event (and I made it).  This year, the night before Ben’s birthday party, my flight from Columbia to Atlanta was canceled, and I had to drive 3 hours to make it on time.  It was a great party, and we all had a great time. Thanks to Delta for reimbursing the additional rental car and fuel costs, too!

PPS: This year’s Masters events were a huge success.  We added a few really cool new golf-themed tricks, as well as the audience favorites.  Already looking forward to entertaining your guests against in 2027!

PPPS: Who do you know that would want to create this kind of experience for their event guests?  Whether they want more engagement, higher return on investment, or just more fun - don’t hesitate to pass along my information.  You’ll be a hero to someone who really needs your help, and together we’ll create an experience that will make them look like a star.

Lessons from The Masters

Watch: “Lessons from The Masters” Video Playlist

Watch the short videos whenever you’re planning or refining your next event. Each one unpacks one powerful idea you can borrow from Augusta National and turn into a stronger guest experience for your clients.

It’s Masters Week in Augusta again — one of my favorite times of the year. After 17 years and more than 90 performances at, around, and inside The Masters, I’ve seen exactly how Augusta National turns a golf tournament into a “must experience” event that guests remember for a lifetime.

Great hospitality events don’t happen by accident. They’re designed around intentional decisions about vision, atmosphere, rules, and moments of magic. The principles that make The Masters feel special are ones you can borrow for your own corporate events, client receptions, and golf‑club hospitality.

On this page you’ll find a short video playlist that walks through five “Masters‑style” lessons you can steal for your events — plus five companion blog posts that dive deeper into each one. Use this page as your hub to explore them all.

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Lesson One: Scarcity & Mystery

Part of what makes The Masters feel special is what you don’t see: limited access, behind‑the‑scenes moments, and things that are only for certain guests. That sense of scarcity and mystery makes people pay closer attention and value the experience more.

Here I show how smart, intentional scarcity and mystery in your events — who’s invited, what’s revealed, and when — can amplify perceived value without making guests feel manipulated.

Read the full lesson: Scarcity and Mystery from The Masters → https://www.magicmeansbusiness.com/blog/mastersscarcityandmystery

Lesson Two: Vision Shapes Everything

At The Masters, the club’s vision is clear: what it is, what it isn’t, and what it wants people to feel. That clarity shapes the broadcast, the caddies, the signage, and the way guests are guided through the grounds.

In this post, I show how anchoring your event around a clear vision — rather than a checklist of activities — helps you create a more memorable, consistent experience for your guests.

Read the full lesson: Vision from The Masters → https://www.magicmeansbusiness.com/blog/mastersvision

Lesson 3: Rules Create Freedom

Strict rules about cell phones, dress, and behavior at The Masters don’t feel oppressive; they actually help people relax and focus on what’s in front of them. When everyone knows the expectations, they can stop worrying and start enjoying.

This post explores how a few well‑chosen “rules” at your events — what you allow, what you don’t, and how you communicate them — can increase comfort and engagement instead of stifling it.

Read the full lesson: Rules from The Masters → https://www.magicmeansbusiness.com/blog/mastersrules

Lesson Four: Traditions Build Anticipation

From the Champions Dinner to the green jacket and the way the final round is presented, The Masters leans on traditions that people look forward to long before they arrive. These shared rituals give guests a story to tell and a reason to come back.

In this post, I show how to design small, repeatable traditions in your events — a signature opening, a signature moment, or a consistent closing — that deepen emotional connection and word‑of‑mouth value.

Read the full lesson: Traditions from The Masters → https://www.magicmeansbusiness.com/blog/masterstraditions

Lesson Five: Belonging Before Bragging

At The Masters, guests don’t feel like spectators; they feel like they’ve been invited into a very special world. The club engineers subtle cues — from the way people are greeted to the rhythm of the day — that make them feel they belong.

This post breaks down how to design your events so guests feel included, understood, and appreciated, so your brand becomes associated with “places I want to be” rather than “stuff I’m being sold.”

Read the full lesson: Belonging from The Masters → https://www.magicmeansbusiness.com/blog/mastersbelonging

Want to Build a Masters‑Style Experience?

If you’d like help designing a “Masters‑level” entertainment or hospitality experience for your next event — whether it’s at a golf retreat, incentive event, or customer/distributor event— I’m happy to consult on structure, timing, and the moments that make people talk.

I specialize in helping clients like you create incredible experience that not only entertain and engage their guests, but also artfully position their guests to accomplish their business goals and objectives.

You can see examples of previous Masters events as well as reviews from past clients at MagicMeansBusiness.com/masters

Schedule a quick call to design your event → https://www.magicmeansbusiness.com/contact

How Your Announcements Make—Or Break—Your Next Event

When done well, an announcement gets the message across quickly, clearly, and in a way people remember. When done poorly, it can interrupt the momentum of the event, lose the audience, and—of course—fail to communicate the important information at all.

After all the time, energy, and money you’ve invested in your meeting, dinner, or hospitality event, don’t let a poorly planned set of announcements prevent you from creating the conversations, referrals, and revenue you expect from the evening.

The good news is that you don’t need to be a professional speaker to deliver announcements that land. You just need to borrow a few “Entertainer Skills” that performers use every night to grab attention, hold it, and then get off stage quickly.

Here are seven techniques that help you deliver critical information without derailing the flow of the evening.

1. Speak from a “stage” area

People need to know when you’re addressing them. Choose a spot in the room where the most guests can see you—often near the bar, by the main entrance, or in front of the stage—and mark it as the “stage area” with a podium or at least a simple microphone stand. When you stand there, people instantly recognize “Bob is going to speak,” and they’ll stop what they’re doing to listen.

2. Get elevated

Whenever possible, speak from a stage or platform that’s higher than the main floor. Even 18–32 inches makes a difference. If you don’t have a stage, stand on a chair, bench, or small stepladder. Teachers, preachers, politicians, and actors all speak from an elevated position, so our brains associate authority with elevation.

3. Use a microphone

Amplified voices get attention. Just as elevation extends authority, our brains have learned that important people speak through a microphone. Not only does the mic help you cut through the noise and distance, it also makes what you’re saying feel more important.

4. Hold notes

When guests see a card or a sheet of paper in your hand, they assume you’ve got a plan and that the information matters enough to be written down. That subtle signal tells them, “You should probably be listening right now.”

5. Drop your tone a little

Speaking in a slightly deeper, slower voice makes your words clearer and helps your voice carry across the room. You’ll notice soldiers, police, and other people who need to communicate clearly often do this on purpose. Research shows we naturally give more authority to deeper, slower voices than to higher, faster ones.

6. Stack the signals

These techniques work even better when you stack them. The more cues you give the audience that this is an important moment—elevation, amplification, notes, tone—the more attention and authority you naturally accumulate.

7. Keep it short

People will listen politely for about seven minutes; after that, the “obligation” to pay attention starts to fade. If your audience has been drinking, that window compresses to closer to three–five minutes.

Be prepared, know exactly what you need to say, and—most importantly—know who you plan to recognize and where they’re sitting or standing. That way you don’t burn goodwill with awkward pauses like, “Where’s Bob? Stand up so we can see you.”

Don’t break your event’s momentum

Remember, you’re interrupting the flow of the evening. People should stop their conversation, listen to you, and then smoothly go back to their conversation.

If your comments get long or meandering, the audience starts to feel they’ve been “at the event long enough”—and they’ll use the end of your speech as their cue to leave.

Stay on and off quickly, speak efficiently, and make it feel like a quick set of announcements, and you’ll communicate the important information without derailing your event’s objectives.

Like this? Get more tips by downloading Exponential Events here.

The $2 Gift That Triggers Referrals 20 Years Later (Case Study)

Event planners spend $500–$5,000 per event on gifts—unfortunately, guests forget most of it within days, and the rest goes to the landfill.

Here’s a $2 gift that clients still have 20 years later—and how it quietly generates ongoing referrals.

The Box of Cards in My Office

Recently, while cleaning my office, I found a huge box of customized playing cards that my clients have been giving to their guests as part of their events.

It reminded me that the real power of gifting isn’t so much the gift as it is how you give the gift and what the gift means.

I’ve written before about Robert Cialdini’s Reciprocity principle, so you already know how persuasive gifting can be. It’s a powerful way to build trust and rapport, and one of the single most effective ways to influence future behavior.

Typically, though, event planners have a very passive method for distributing gifts: room drops, gift bags, and a big table with a “take one” sign. It’s fine, but it doesn’t create much of an experience around the gift. That’s a tremendous missed opportunity.

How One Client Turned a Deck into a Relic

Back in 2019, one of my clients created custom playing cards for their guests. On the surface, it was simple: just a deck of cards with their company’s logo on the back.

Instead of using standard white tuck boxes with a see-through panel, they upgraded to plastic cases for each deck, and put one deck at every place setting.

Rather than bringing out my own cards, I picked up one of their decks and performed all of the card magic with that deck:

• I tore up one of the cards, made it change places with another card, then restored the torn card.

• In another routine, a guest signed a card; later, their signed card appeared in my wallet.

• At another event, the deck visibly transformed so that the backs showed a picture of the bride and groom instead of the usual Bicycle design (this could just as easily be your logo).

This transformed the deck of cards into a relic of the experience.

People kept the cards, carried them around throughout the conference, and brought them out when telling the story: “This is the card with my name on it,” and “This is the deck he used.”

Years Later… They Still Show Up

Those decks continue to pop up at events years later.

Guests pull cards out of their purses or wallets: “This is the card from when I saw you back then!”

People have told me that their signed card or the special deck is:

• On their desk

• On a shelf in their office

• In a trophy case or even in the family china cabinet at home

One high-profile guest produced her signed card from her purse 20 years after the performance. Think about that: she must have moved it from purse to purse for years.

These aren’t just souvenirs—they’re time triggers for memories and conversations.

People see the cards, signed bills, or special decks and instantly the story of their experience runs in their head like a little mental movie.

The embedded instructions from the performance run as well:

“I have to talk to Bob about how much fun we had at his hospitality event in Texas.”

Or: “Wow, I had so much fun as Fred’s guest at the golf club in Georgia.”

It works like a mental reminder—whether they pick up the phone themselves or simply feel warmer and more receptive when their host calls.

Rethinking Your Event Gifting

If you’re currently spending $500 to $5,500 on products that get forgotten days later, imagine investing as little as $1,500 in a small add-on that makes your event the talk of the town for years to come.

I did three events last month where I saw the clients’ gift and distribution system and thought, “Oh, what we could have done with just a little advance planning and thinking…”

Want 3 Ideas for Your Next Event?

If you’d like to see what this could look like for your next event, here’s a simple invitation:

• Send me your event date

• Guest count

• And your primary goal (referrals, sales, warm leads, meaningful connection, camaraderie, audience engagement)

I’ll send you a custom “Relic Blueprint” plus three done-for-you ideas you can plug into your event—no cost, no pitch.

If the ideas miss the mark, delete them.

If they hit the target, send me your story and I’ll be happy to feature your success in a future quarterly report.

From Laughter to Action: The Hypnotic Secret of Effective Event Entertainment

The real secret to making your event work isn’t the food, the venue, or the schedule—it’s who controls your guests’ attention.

For 20+ years, I’ve engineered entertainment that delivers 30-50% lifts in client ROI—not by being “fun,” but by capturing, focusing, and directing attention into a hypnotic state where suggestions become action.

The bar experiments.

I started learning this at Malone’s Magic Bar in Boca Raton around 2003. 

I would get a crowd of people laughing and having fun, and during the performance I would take a drink from my ‘cranberry vodka’ (really grenadine + 7UP).  The entire bar - sometimes 20 to 60 people - picked up their drinks and took a sip with me.

The opportunity was obvious.  I started taking one or two sips from my drink during each show.  Glasses emptied faster, and bar revenue increased.

I also noticed that if one person in a group asked for a refill, everyone in the group ordered another drink.  So when I had group of 20 or 30 people watching the magic and having fun, I suggested that we take a break, refill drinks, and do some more magic. 

By simply taking a sip first and timing the refill offer, we increased beverage sales 50% per seat (1 drink to 2 or more).

Scaling the principle to corporate and trade shows.

Here’s how I transferred the psychology from the bar to corporate behavior.

At the end of a set at a corporate event, I told the audience, “If you enjoyed the show, don’t forget to tell Elizabeth from Emerson.”

I always got positive reviews from my clients, but the next day Elizabeth reported a line of people telling her how much fun they had with the magic. 

I tested this with other clients, and they detailed 3x more people telling them how much they enjoyed the magic.

I applied that to the trade show booth.  At the opening night hospitality, I said “Don’t forget to visit the Emerson booth tomorrow to see the new variable speed compressor.” 

I got an email the next Monday from a marketing person who said “jeez, everyone came to the booth talking about the magic from the night before!” 

Admittedly, we didn’t talk about how many of them asked about the compressor, but the increase in traffic is indicative.

Another client wanted to introduce their new VP of sales to the clients at their hospitality event.  I got him on stage, did a fun trick with him, and introduced him as the new VP of Sales. 

At the end of the show, I asked everyone to shake his hand and say thank you to him for the event - and he literally had people lined up to talk to him.

The entertainment becomes a business multiplier - literally taking the company’s existing business processes and helping them get 2x, 3x or more return simply by capturing and directing their guests’ attention.

Tactic	Environment	Result

• | Sip + Refill | Magic Bar | 50% sales lift |
• | "Tell Elizabeth" | Corporate | 3x feedback volume |
• | Booth Prompt | Trade Show | Traffic surge |
• | VP Handshake | Hospitality | Networking line formed |

Do that, not this…

Here’s the thing.  Most entertainers will talk about “integrating the product message into the performance” and they’ll draw attention to a logo, talk about your brand message, or involve your key people in the show.

Unfortunately, all the data and “look at our stuff” messaging makes the audience glaze over.

Rather than engaging with your people, guests say things like, “it’s really impressive how he integrated your product into his show.”

But they don’t do anything that advances toward a sale.

How to use it in your own event.

There’s three steps to getting this right:

1. Clarify: Identify the behavior you want the guest to perform

2. Captivate: Capture, focus, and direct their attention with entertainment that fully engages the audience

3. Command: Deliver a specific offer and call to action

The script looks like something like this.

• “If you had a good time, and you want to learn more, talk to Bob about the new product…”

• ‘If you had a good time, and you’re tired of late deliveries, talk to Mike about your current pump project, and we’ll show you how fast we can deliver what you need.”

• “If had a good time, and you want learn about our new pump program, drop your business card in the bin…”

It’s a simple formula that compels action.

If you’re planning a corporate or golf club event, imagine entertainment that doesn’t just hold attention—but directs it.

That’s what I design weekly for clients seeing 30-50% lifts in engagement and sales.

Curious? Reply with your event details—I’ll send 3 tailored ideas to hit your goals (no cost, no obligation).

As always, I’m happy to help you celebrate your success in our next quarterly clients-only report.

A Simple Formula to 10x Your 2026 Networking Events and Welcome Receptions

Everyone wants to meet new people at events, but not everyone does…

Everyone wants to meet new people at events, but not everyone does…

I’m surprised how often event attendees consistently complain that they didn’t make “meaningful connections” at their most recent event.

Some say they’ve been mobbed by networking sharks; others say they don't feel welcome or included at the event.

Event planners are constantly looking for new ways to help their guests create “meaningful connections” and build “worthwhile relationships.”

Here is a simple formula - leveraging basic influence principles and psychology - that will ensure your guests meet new people and have interesting, memorable conversations throughout your event.

1) Understand that people operate according to fixed and rigid patterns.

We do the same thing at every event. We talk about the same things. We even talk to the same people. We do this because humans gravitate toward the similar and the familiar. This is why networking events are dull and frustrating.

2) Create a Pattern Interrupt

We must do something that interrupts the pattern and creates a new one. If you do this with forced networking and organized meet-and-greet, about 50% of humans will fight because they don't like being forced. If you attract and engage them with something fun, they feel like they're choosing to engage, so the experience feels natural.

3) Install a new pattern.

You must do something during the event that makes it “okay” for people to engage with people they don't know.

3) Create Equal Business Stature

People love to compare status and rank themselves among each other; unfortunately people of unequal business status often have difficulty talking openly and honestly. You create some kind of experience where everyone is equal.

This is how we leverage the magic and mind-reading to do this at cocktail receptions and networking events:

When I approach the group, by saying, “Hi, I’m Mike, Bob from Company X asked me to entertain you for a few minutes…”.

This enters their existing pattern - it’s Company X’s event, so they decide what happens - and moves them from their “Small Talk” pattern to a new “Watching A Show” pattern.

The “Watching a Show” pattern has different rules. Because of the laughs, applause, and reactions, people outside the group feel comfortable joining, so they can watch as well. I encourage this by waving these people in.

The magic amazes everyone equally. Everyone has their own perspective on what they saw me do, but nobody knows how it works. This creates equal business stature among the group, so everyone feels comfortable and welcome talking.

The magic is now a shared experience among everyone in that group. Later, they will recognize each other, remember the magic, and feel comfortable speaking with each other because they “know” the other person.

It’s a very simple, very direct process, but it creates a completely different level of connection among the people in the group.

In business, conversations are how we get everything done: prospecting, selling, revenue generation, referral generation...

This process gives your guests more conversations (and better quality conversations), so they can comfortably accomplish their business goals at your event.

If you’re not ready to talk yet, but you like what you’re reading, why not join the Entertain the Brain Newsletter?
Mike sends out a useful idea, tip, case study, or concept every Thursday at 10:30am.

Join the Entertain the Brain Newsletter

Why welcome receptions and networking events fail (And HOw to Make yours A Success!)

This is the most important idea I've shared in a newsletter yet.

This is big BIGGEST REASON welcome receptions and networking events fail.

Each of us has a set of subconscious rules about how we behave in a given situation. These rules cover everything from how we should act to who we should talk to. Everyone has a unique set of rules, and everyone believes that their set of rules is correct.

That set of rules is called a “frame.” When we do things that fit into our frame, we are comfortable. When we do things outside of our frame, we become uncomfortable and immediately want to return to the behaviors that fit within the frame.

So when you see that irritating guy walking around a networking reception giving everyone his business card and pitching his services, he’s operating within his frame. No matter how irritated you are, he thinks he’s doing the right thing.

On the other hand, there are nervous wallflowers who spend the whole night talking to the same three people. They might not meet anyone new, but they believe they are doing exactly what they should be doing at a networking event, too.

This is why most networking events and welcome receptions fail.

Everyone has a different frame and a different understanding of how they should act at an event.

The current crop of popular networking ideas are often counterproductive because they only force people outside of their comfort zones.

Like a rubber band, people immediately go back to their previous beliefs and behavior when we take the force away.

The "new connections" die because 1) people's existing beliefs prevent them from reaching out afterward or 2) their counterparts' existing beliefs program them to reject the outreach.

That makes everyone uncomfortable, frustrated, and even angry. They thought they were there to meet new people, but… apparently nobody else was!

To effectively create networking, we need to transform our attendees into different people who have different beliefs about what's acceptable and effective.

There are four steps to making this happen:

1) We have to interrupt the existing pattern or “break the frame.”

As a magician, I do this by approaching the group,, and shocking and surprising everyone with some fun and engaging magic. I shift the frame from “small talk / cocktail party” to “let’s hang out with this fun magic guy for a minute.”

2) We must create a shared experience among a crowd of people.

While I’m entertaining one group of people, I start inviting nearby people into the show. I break the “just talk to people you know” frame and introduce a “let’s all have some fun together” frame.

As I continue to entertain, I involve more and more people in the magic. Everyone can see the magic, and everyone can participate, so the barriers between the original group of people and new group of people vanish.

3) We must create Equal Business Stature

As I entertain, no one knows how hte magic works. No one knows what’s going other than happen next. Nobody can explain what’s going on.

None of the people in the group has more authority or power than anyone else. They’re all equal members of the audience.

4) We must install a new frame.

As I leave, I remind everyone that I’ll come back to do more magic later, and I invite them “talk amongst themselves” as go entertain someone else. This is a small joke, but it’s also a carefully worded instruction - they now have equal business stature, they have a common/shared experience they can talk about, and they have all been introduced to each other.

It’s now very easy for them to have open and honest conversations with the other people in the group.

Even better, the new frame carries forward long after the magic and the event have ended.

People feel like they’ve been introduced and they have some sense of connection, so it’s easier to start hallway conversations during a conference, start business conversations at a trade show booth, or even do follow-up sales calls after a customer event.

This post has been high-level overview of how frames work at events and how they can make networking events and welcome receptions much more effective. If you’d like to know how something like this might work at your specific event, set an appointment using the button below or call (561) 596 3877.

Networking Events That Work: How to Engage Guests, Create Rapport, and Start Conversations

Bad news: most people are shut down, disengaged, and going through the motions.

Good news: That's our natural state as humans.

Best news: We have the power to ignite engagement when we choose to.

Recently, a client told me he's concerned that his people won't get the most of an incentive trip he planned for them.  

It's a first-class trip for top performers - a luxurious tropical island, a five-star hotel, all the amenities you could dream of, celebrity speakers, and it's all on the company dime.

The CEO told me, however, that it didn't go as well as he'd hoped last year.

His people showed up fifteen minutes early for the cocktail party, grabbed a drink when the bar opened, sat at their tables by department, and quietly drank their drinks. When the chimes rang for dinner, they went to dinner.  

That's fine.  

But it didn't feel like a celebration of a successful year. It didn't feel like the top performers fully embraced the luxurious tropical trip he gave them to thank them for their hard work.  

He said it felt like they were just going through the motions.

We all have a standard pattern we follow at events:

1) Who is wearing the same clothes as me? Who do I know here?

2) Where's the bar?

3) Which table is mine?  

4) Where is the host? Thank them for the invitation.

5) Eat.

6) Leave.

The only way to break that pattern is to interrupt it and replace it with something else.  

My client will use my magic at this year's incentive event to get his guests laughing and having fun together during the welcome receptions.  

Rather than letting the guests sit quietly at their tables, I'll get them laughing and having fun during the cocktail hour.   

As I perform, I'll gather them together in groups and crowds, breaking the "sit with your department" pattern.

We'll give them shared experiences to compare and contrast so they have interesting things to discuss (rather than boring shop talk).

We'll reinforce that pattern during the cocktail party with more magic each night. Nightly repetition will replace the "corporate meeting" pattern with a fun, engaging, "celebrate our success" and "enjoy the rewards" pattern.

Changing the music, the food, the gift, or the keynote speaker wouldn't do that. Those are just variations on the old pattern.

An effective pattern interrupt requires people to think and do things in ways that don't fit the old pattern.   

Naturally, this applies to all sorts of events - holiday parties, golf tournaments, sales kick-offs, annual meetings, conferences. These all have patterns that can be interrupted and replaced with new behaviors that help you accomplish your business goals.

Til next week

Mike

PS: If you’re open to a conversation about your specific event, we can set up a 30-minute call. We’ll discuss what you've done in the past, what's worked, and what you want to accomplish. Then, based on what you tell me, I tell you what other people like you have done in similar situations. Give a call (561) 596 3877 or visit magicmeansbusiness.com/contact to schedule a conversation.

Extrovert? Introvert? IT DOESN'T MATTER!

Online experts spend a lot of time talking about generating engagement at events. They're very concerned about introverts, extroverts, infrahumanization, and why people don't engage with people outside their immediate network.

These planners create all sorts of systems, rules, and creative games to get people to connect. Sometimes, it works, but they often create more problems than they solve.

The truth is that none of that matters.

Deciding to engage others, start a conversation with a stranger, or participate in an event is not a rational process. It's a snap decision your brain makes without really thinking about it.  

In his book Thinking Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman describes the mind as having two "systems" for thinking.  

System 1 is sometimes called "the croc brain" or "the reptile brain." It's the part of your prehistoric mind that filters all the data coming in through your five senses and determines what you'll pay attention to and what you'll ignore.

"What is this? Do I eat it? Do I defend myself against it? Do I kill it? Do I reproduce with it?"

Influence by Robert Cialdini is primarily working with System 1. Scarcity, reciprocity, social proof, authority, unity, consistency, and liking are things that we feel, but we only actively think about them well after we've made a decision. We only actively think about them when we're rationalizing a decision we've already made.  

System 2 is the rational mind and active thinking. We use System 2 when we apply our life experiences, emotions, labels, identity, goals, and desires and decide what we want.  

Of course, everyone has their own identity, worldview, goals, and desires, so it's impossible to predict how someone will behave once System 2 turns on. If someone identifies as an introvert, they will do introverted things - and it's almost impossible to change that identity once they've claimed it (remember Cialdini's "commitment and consistency" principle).  

Unfortunately, when event planners create rules and games to facilitate networking, they're turning on System 2.

"Am I the kind of person who does something like this? Do I want to talk to other people? Would I prefer some time to myself?"

If the person decides, "No, I don't do that" - you're stuck.

The good news is that we can short-circuit System 2 with System 1.

We can leverage the Cialdini principles to engage people, get them to participate in the event, and help them identify themselves as someone who does things like this (without thinking about it).  

As the event develops and people start having deeper conversations that require System 2 thinking, they've already identified themselves as someone who participates, someone who belongs at an event like this, and someone welcome among the other people here.  

How could they not be? They even have evidence to convince themselves - they've been engaged and participating in this event for the last 30 minutes!

And, because they're committed to being consistent with their identity, they will remain engaged and continue to participate in the event until someone or something makes them believe something else.

Every event has its own specific set of goals, and every audience is a little different... but if we can identify your particular goals and objectives for your event, we can create a strategy that leverages System 1 to help you deliver the experience you want for your guests.

Looking forward to next week,

Mike

PS: That's what our discovery calls are all about - we talk about what you've done in the past, what's worked, and what you want to accomplish. Then, based on what you tell me, I tell you what other people like you have done in similar situations. Give a call (561) 596 3877 or visit magicmeansbusiness.com/contact to schedule a conversation.

PPS: If all this seems too much to think about, remember that YOU don't have to think about it. That's the strategy part of the entertainer's job. Everything else is automatic (System 1, right?).

PPPS: Have you thought about your holiday party this year?

The Foundational Rule of Engagement: How to Capture Attention, Inspire Participation, and Create an Experience Guests Won’t Want to Leave

Are you looking for ways to keep people engaged at your event? Would you be happy to keep them "at" your event?

In previous posts, I've mentioned that meaning and relevance are the two critical pillars of "audience engagement." (I'm happy to share those if you haven't seen them - just ask).

The absolute powerhouse, however, is momentum. Momentum is the granddaddy of all event principles.

Tommy Wonder compared an event's momentum to a train. At first, it's stopped or moving very slowly, so it's easy for people to get on and off. It starts moving faster and faster, so eventually, it's almost impossible to get off.

I use this principle at every event. Initially, I perform on the edges of the event, engaging small groups of people with magic that gets them laughing and screaming. That attracts other people and a crowd forms. The action gets faster and more intense until I come to the final effect for that group. Each group progressively gets a little bigger and a little more intense throughout the event.

As a large cocktail event, I might have crowds of 20 to 60 people watching me perform. One client said, "They're so engaged in the experience they don't want to leave."

Of course, the opposite can happen as well.

If we interrupt the event or stop the momentum, it’s easy to get off the train.

A few months ago, a client did a prize drawing every 20 minutes.

Each time we stopped for the drawing, at least 5 to 7 people left the party. The drawing provided a convenient "stopping point" for people to get off, so they took it.

The people who stay have trouble getting their conversations back into flow. Time management experts say people need about 20 minutes to fully engage in their work after an interruption.

It's hard to develop trust and rapport or lay the foundation for a future conversation that way. It's impossible when the people you were talking to have left (or worse, they've gone to a competitor's event and started a conversation there).

All of this may be worth a conversation as you plan your next event. There’s lots of ways we can leverage momentum, meaning, and relevance ot help you accomplish your goals and objectives.

You're welcome to call (561) 596 3877 or visit magicmeansbusiness.com/contact to schedule an appointment.

The Email Said "Don't Click This Link!"

Oh, you little rebel. I like you.

Rejection-Proof: Get Your Event Idea Approved

Have you ever had a great idea shot down by your boss?

It's a terrible feeling.  You're disappointed, irritated, frustrated, and - maybe this is the worst part - you don't get what you wanted.

Every week, I get three or four calls where an enthusiastic prospect says, "Mike, we saw you at the XYZ event.  Our meeting is coming up on December 8th, and we'd love to have you there.  Can you please give me a proposal I can take to my boss so we can get this approved?"

And I have to tell them, "No.  I can't do that."

Here's what I know.  

When they think about events, every corporate executive has a list of things they want to accomplish and things they want to avoid.  

Unfortunately, executives tend to keep that list to themselves rather than share it with their team (or even the event planners!).  

So when people call, I'm happy to talk to them about why they think I'd be a good fit for their event, how they feel magic would support their boss' objectives, how their boss makes those decisions, and what he thinks accomplishing those objectives is worth.  

But I remind them that everything we talk about is just a guess about what they think their boss is thinking.

Experience shows that those guesses are wrong 99% of the time.  (I'm only a mind-reader when I'm performing).  

If I gave them a proposal at that point, they would present it to their boss and probably suffer a painful rejection.  The boss might even wonder, "Why did that bozo think that was a good idea?"

There's a faster and less rejection-prone way.   

First, call your boss and tell him that you know a great magician who has done fantastic work for you (or another company) at another event.  Tell him a little about what you like and how the guests at the other event responded.

Next, tell your boss you think the three of us should discuss the event.  We'll talk about what you've done in the past, what's worked, what could be better, what you and your boss want to accomplish, and what a successful event would look like.

That's how we get your boss to share those goals and objectives that are uniquely important to them.  

Based on what you tell me, I'll tell you what other companies have done in the past.  

The conversation can end one of three ways.  I might tell you that I can't help you, you or your boss might decide you don't want my help, or we might agree this is a good idea, and we can reserve the date with an agreement and a deposit.

When our prospects can make that meeting happen, we very quickly get to a decision that's right for the event and the company.  

The best part is that we all enjoy equal business stature, we don't waste time, and nobody's feelings get hurt. 

Maybe I’m crazy about all this, or maybe you’d like to learn more about how this would work in your particular situation. Feel free to give a call at (561) 596 3877 or schedule an appointment with me by clicking the button below.

Are you stepping on your own toes?

If crowds are the key to engaging your guests and starting conversations, how do you build crowds?

In last week's email, I mentioned five event "trends" that are actually preventing crowds from forming at your events.  

Here are three of the five things you need to create crowds:

1) Performing Surfaces and Gathering Points.

If we don't have a central point that guests can gather around, it's difficult for a crowd to form. That's why I always have one of those large black pads in front of me when performing. It tells people, "This is where the show is happening."

Tables help a lot, too. Anything from a 36" high top to a full-sized 10-top dining table works, but the audience needs a piece of furniture they can gather around. Bigger tables naturally allow bigger crowds to form.

If people don't have a piece of furniture or a specific spot that functions as a "stage" or central point, it's very difficult to get them to organize into a crowd.  There are solutions from street performing that will overcome the lack of tables, but they are inelegant and mostly inappropriate for nice events. 

2) Appropriate Sound Levels.

The DJ, the band, and the echoes in the room can prevent your success for two important reasons.

First, people must hear what's happening to remain engaged in the crowd. The jokes and interaction are what make the show interesting and engaging. Naturally, I have some voice training and can project my voice into a crowded room.

If people can't hear each other talk from 10 or 15 feet away, crowds won't form. Don't let your band or DJ dominate the room.  

Second, people will leave their tables and crowd around me if I ask them to, but I can't ask them if they can't hear me. Often, I'll entertain one table, and the nearby table will start craning their necks to see what I'm doing. I can instantly start a crowd by inviting those nearby to join us. Other people will see that it's okay leave their tables and join us, too, which builds larger and larger crowds.

3) Anticipation

In strolling situations where the performer is traveling group-to-group at a cocktail party, it really helps if people at the event know that there will be entertainment. When they hear the applause and cheers, they recognize that a performance is happening and they can choose to join in.

I started creating "anticipation" videos for my clients a few years ago. These short, 90-second clips explain who I am and give guests a glimpse of the magic. They're a huge help.

I was entertaining at the Medinah Country Club a few years ago, and 75 players got up from their tables, walked onto the front porch, and surrounded me for a full hour. They all said they'd heard about the magic from the video and came outside to see it for themselves. 

AND… The “Secret Sauce of Crowd Building.”  

There are two more "secret sauce" components to building crowds, but I don't have time or space to put them here.    

I DID, however, include them in this month's Reading Mike's Mind newsletter, which we sent to our VIP client list (for free).  

If you'd like to learn the inner secrets our clients use to get more engagement and participation during their events (and therefore better accomplish their larger event goals), reply to this email with your mailing address or visit MagicMeansBusiness.com/contact and sed us your contact information.

Until next week,

Mike Duseberg

Mike

PS: Did you take our holiday party survey yet?

PPS: If you see the value of crowds at your event, and you’re open to a conversation give a call at (561) 596 3877 or set an appointment at the button below. I’ll ask a bunch of questions about what you’ve done in the past, what worked, what could be better, how you measure success, and what you hope to accomplish next year. Based on what you tell me, I’ll tell you what other people have done in your situation.

All Successful Cocktail Events Have This Key Component - Does Yours?

Here's one of the most important things I've discovered in 30 years of entertaining at business and golf events:

All of my clients would call me up and say, "Mike, we saw you at another event, and it was fantastic: people were crowded around you six or seven deep, slapping each other on the back. You've got 40 or 50 people laughing together. That's the experience we want to create for our event. How can you do that for us?"

I say, "Well, why would you want to do that? Why not hire a local guy?"

They say,  "No, no, no. We've seen other magicians. We've seen the guy that walks around with the same three tricks he does for everybody. He works for three people at a time. He doesn't get to everbody, doesn't make any impact on our event, he might as well have not been there at all. We don't want that. We want those crowds."

"But what's so important about having the crowds?"  

Here's what my best clients know:

People do not start conversations with strangers. In fact, they generally do not start conversations with anyone outside their immediate inner circle of friends and colleagues.  

That means people naturally isolate themselves with people they already know. They feel most comfortable talking with the other people in their department or business area and the people they see on a regular basis. They also gravitate toward people with the same business status.

My clients know that if they don't overcome this natural tendency, their guests will not fully engage in their event, share their ideas, and accomplish the event's objectives.  

My clients figured out—consciously or otherwise—that the crowds are the "activating component" of the event, breaking down the natural barriers between people and helping them engage.

So, how do you engage the wallflowers and create these critically important crowds?

As a magician, I discovered that if I walk up to the people on the edge of the party and get a couple of them laughing and shouting, then other wall flowers near them will think, "Well, I want to be part of the fun thing too." Their curiosity will overcome their fear of strangers, and they'll gradually join in.

Once I got them laughing, my group of four people turned into maybe eight. More laughing and applause attracted the more extroverted people who were naturally more willing to engage, and now I had a friendly crowd of people laughing and having a good time.

Remember Robert Cialidini's "Liking" pillar? In Influence, Cialdini said that people like people who are like them. Everyone in my group watched a few magic tricks together and had a common experience of magic and fun. They naturally tend to "like" one another, so it's easy for them to start conversations with the other people in the group.

That connection is powerful stuff. Not only is it easy for the people in the group to start that conversation when the magic stops, but it's also easy for them to start conversations with the other people in the group throughout the event, the next day at breakfast, and even throughout a two- or three-day conference. When they see someone they recognize, they say, "Hey, weren't you holding the bottle when he knocked that coin through the glass?" and the conversation goes from there.

That's why my clients wanted crowds at their events. They knew the crowds lowered the formality and helped people break down the natural interpersonal barriers so their guests could feel comfortable fully engaging and participating in the event.

Unfortunately, there's some bad news.

First, only some entertainers understand this. The magicians who entertain two or three people at a time obviously don't know this. The contortionists and jugglers who stand in the corner and do their thing aren't thinking about it. The band playing so loud your guests can't talk is actively preventing crowds from gathering and working against your success.  

Second, many popular trends in the event planning industry make it difficult for crowds to form during your event. Event planners mean well and want to help you, but they don’t necessarily notice the damage they’re doing.

How can you ensure you're not creating a "crowd prevention department" at your events?

Well, join us for future issues of The World's Most Interesting Email, where I'll describe the five key elements required for successful crowd formation and five popular event trends that are ruining your crowd potential.  

Until next week,

Mike Duseberg

Mike

PS: By the way, we’re describing the five key elements required for successful crowd formation in this month’s issue of our print newsletter for clients, Reading Mike’s Mind. If you’re interesting in receiving the newsletter, give us a call at (561) 596 3877 and give us your mailing address.

PPS: If you see the value of crowds at your event, and you’re open to a conversation give a call at (561) 596 3877 or set an appointment at the button below. I’ll ask a bunch of questions about what you’ve done in the past, what worked, what could be better, how you measure success, and what you hope to accomplish next year. Based on what you tell me, I’ll tell you what other people have done in your situation.

I Hate This Trick So Much I Spent Two Hours Rehearsing It So I Could Show It To You

I hate this trick so much that I spent two hours rehearsing so I could do it for you.

Why would I do that?

This trick will be all the rage in the magic world for the next six months.

Steve Martin performed it on his Netflix show, so all the magicians will say, "It must be good."

It's not.

But they'll all be inflicting it on your audiences anyway.

You deserve to know why it's not a good trick.

So, in this week's video, I'm going to perform this terrible trick for you AND—as entertainingly as possible—explain all the reasons it's not very good.

That way, you can easily spot them and avoid hiring the kind of hack entertainers that do this *cough*.

Maybe you can save your audience from a fate worse than karaoke.

I hope you have as much fun watching this as I did making it.

Talk to you next week

Mike

PS: By the way, you can fix some of the problems I've identified in this video, but there's one glaring gap that still needs to be solved. Send me a note if you think you know what it is.

PPS: Of course, you could easily avoid hiring a hack entertainer by calling (561) 596 3877, and discussing your event with me. I’ll ask a bunch of questions about what you’ve done in the past, what worked, what could be better, how you measure success, and what you hope to accomplish next year. Based on what you tell me, I’ll tell you what other people have done in your situation.

“He said WHAT?!?!” How to avoid being embarrassed by offensive corporate entertainers.

Why Do Entertainers Say Stupid Stuff on Stage?  How Can You Be Sure Your Entertainment Won’t Embarrass You, Your Company, Your Executives, or Your Guests?

Last month, Mick Jagger made a huge mistake during a show in Canada.  He took a moment to address the crowd, shouting “Hello Canada… we love your Justin Trudeau!”

The audience, unfortunately, did NOT love Justin Trudeau.

Watching the video, I was shocked to see the terror in Jagger’s face as he looked into the tens of the thousands of angry Canadian faces.  Like the stadium-filling pro he is, he immediately shifting to hockey and soccer, which brought the cheer he wanted and regathered the crowd.

Tenacious D’s Kyle Gass made the same mistake around the Trump assassination attempt, saying “I wish he hadn’t missed."  He lost half the crowd during the show, and the whole tour the next day.

The question we should be asking is, “Why would performers say these ridiculous things in front of your audience?”

It’s simple: they want to get a reaction from the audience.  Both Jagger and Gass thought they were going to get a huge cheer, and the crowd would love them for saying those things.

You can’t blame them.  As humans, we naturally assume everyone else thinks like we do, and our “media bubbles” reinforce this false belief.

How do you keep it from happening?

Ironically, Donald Trump has the answer. 

Before he ran for President, Trump did lots of public motivational speeches. Companies would bring him in to speak at sales meetings and company events, and he did lots of public events promoting his books and raising the visibility of the Trump brand.

Many of my friends and colleagues in the corporate events world have worked with him, and they all respect him for the questions he asked.***

Before he went on stage as a business speaker, Trump always asked three questions of the event organizer:

1. How is the money made in your business?

2. What can I say that will totally lose this crowd?

3. What can I say that will make them my friend for life?

With that information, he’d never have to worry about offending an audience, and he knew exactly what to say to make them love him.

This connects to a famous story from Zig Ziglar.  He suggested another speaker who used a lot of foul language in his presentation, but the client wanted a “clean” act.  The speaker said, “I can take that stuff out.”

The client replied, “Well, we’d really prefer a speaker that would’t put it in in the first place.”  Trump’s questions made sure he never put in the wrong thing in front of the wrong audience.

If your speaker and entertainers are asking you these questions (or something similar) you’re golden. 

If not, you have to ask - are they not asking because they don’t think about these things, or are they not asking because they don’t care about these things?

Finally, if they aren’t have the conversation at all - what does that tell you?

What kind of risk are you exposing your event, your company, and your executives (and maybe your career?) if you’re not having these conversations?

It just makes more sense to have a conversation about what you’ve done in the past, what works, what could be better, how you evaluate the success of the event, and what you hope to accomplish at the next one before you start making decisions about vendors, performers, venue, or anything else.

If you're open to that conversation, call me at (561) 596 3877 or set an appointment at MagicMeansBusiness.com/contact.  

***BONUS INSIGHT: Typically, when they were sitting in the greenroom or riding in a limo, my colleagues got some downtime with Trump. He always asked the same question of them, and it’s a really brilliant one: “What three books are you reading right now?”