Volunteers...or Stars?

“Do you have a spot picked out for the parade?” the stranger asked me.

“Uhhhhh…no,” I stammered.

“What’s your name?” he pleasantly asked.

“Cris,” I said, wondering why this guy was grilling me at a Tim Horton’s.

“Are you local?” He pressed.

(Dear God, will this ever end?)

“I’m just here because my mother-in-law is in the parade,” I replied, hoping he’d finally leave me alone.

But alas: “Oh! What float is she on?” he cheerfully asked.

(I’m painfully shy when I’m not on stage. I was in Hell with this guy.)

“The one for the Golden Age Senior Center,” I replied, baffled at how this guy could ignore all the non-verbal signals that I was sending him to leave me alone.

“What’s her name? I’ll give her a shout-out.”

“Beth,” I told the guy, wondering what kind of bizarre shout-out he was hinting at. Was he a stalker?

Mercifully, my wife returned from the washroom and took over answering this guy’s incessant questioning.

Turns out he was the MC of the parade we were coming to see. My mother-in-law was excited to be in the parade along with the rest of her friends.

Sure enough, when their float came by, he announced to the crowd, “And Ladies and Gentlemen, BETH is on this float! I met her son-in-law earlier this morning. Beth! Where’s Beth?”

I had inadvertently made my mother-in-law the star of the parade.

“Well,” I thought, “at least I have a lead-in for this week’s newsletter.”

Much like my mother-in-law felt like a star in that parade, we should make our volunteers feel like stars.

In past newsletters, I’ve written about treating our volunteers with respect. But this is such an important topic, I think it warrants revisiting.

Many people are incredibly shy and don’t want to be the center of attention. We should make them feel comfortable with us.

And that goes beyond just the ‘big’ stuff – no bra tricks, etc. No, I think the little stuff matters, too.

I’ve seen great magicians I really respect do something I hate.

When they call a volunteer up, the first thing they do is point at a spot on the stage and say, “Stand there.”

The rest of the routine goes great, but that first interaction bugs me. And I see a LOT of performers do it.

Me? I make a conscious effort to be polite from the get-go.

When I want the volunteer to stand at a precise spot, I’ll turn to the spot where I want them to stand. I’ll bend my back slightly. Then, holding both hands palm up and pointing to the spot, I’ll ask, “Could I ask you to stand there, please?”

Like I said, it’s a little thing, but it matters, at least to me.

With little kids, I’ll often kneel next to them as I ask them their names. That way, I’m at eye level with them instead of lording over them.

And as I ask their name – anyone, regardless of age – I’ll make sure I look them in the eye and take in their response.

I’m pretty kinetic when I perform, so cutting eye contact before they finish saying their name makes me feel like I’m being disrespectful.

Another thing I do with many volunteers is offer them a fist bump after they join me.

I then do a little bit that I’m not sure if I invented it or saw someone else do it (damn my feeble memory).

After the fist bump, I pull back and say, “Ow.”

I don’t overdo it. Just a quick expression of pain and we move on.

99% of the time, the kid fist-bumping me is super gentle. You know, the whole ‘interacting with a grown-up’ thing.

So my little expression of pain gets a good laugh.

Although I don’t have any evidence to back this up, I feel like on a subconscious level, this little interaction tells the audience, “Hey, this guy isn’t all-powerful.”

Almost like we are on equal footing on some level.

After the routine is over, I’ll often gently grasp the shoulders of the kid helping me. Then I’ll bend slightly and say, “Thank you SO much! You were great!”

Many of my kid volunteers are shy and hesitant. I want to do everything I can to express how thankful I am that they helped me.

Without my volunteers, I don’t have much of a show.

My volunteers are – and should be – treated like stars.

Have a great week!

--Cris

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