I’m back after a lengthy hiatus. A chance for me to work with clients in Asia and continue to develop further thoughts on this mystery called public speaking — excuse me, human speaking.
The NY Times reported on an event where the actor/writer/entertainer Steve Martin appeared at the Y in NYC last week. The article’s headline shouted “Comedian Conversation Falls Flat at 92nd Street Y”. Today that article (link below) is the paper’s most read online piece.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/02/nyregion/02refund.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
People paid to see Mr. Martin speak (interview style). Yours truly is also a big fan of Mr. Martin’s and if I was in NYC I’d surely have paid for the experience as well. My first Martin experience was Christmas 1981 unwrapping his comedy album on vinyl and listening to it over and over again at home in Canada.
Steve Martin has a long history in the film world and he’s also an accomplished writer, musician and stand-up comic. A man with experience like that has, obviously, many, many stories. Any audience, regardless if they’ve paid to see a speaker or not, wants to somehow find human connection to the person they’ve come to see. To try and find some human connection to a man of Steve Martin’s stature is a big deal for a lot of people who’ve spent hours with Steve in the cinema or on DVD, watching him project himself onto the screen as someone else. Then along comes a chance to see Steve as himself: vulnerable on the stage, armed with decades worth of human material that could easily inspire rooms full of paid Y goers.
Then something happens.
I’m quoting from the NYT article now: Sol Adler, the Y’s executive director: “We acknowledge that last night’s event with Steve Martin did not meet the standard of excellence that you have come to expect from 92nd St. Y,” he wrote in an e-mail to ticket holders. “We planned for a more comprehensive discussion and we, too, were disappointed with the evening. We will be mailing you a $50 certificate for each ticket you purchased to last night’s event. The gift certificate can be used toward future 92Y events, pending availability.”
Apparently most of the interview was spent discussing art and Mr. Martin’s passion for collecting art. Fine topics, but not what the seekers of human connection wanted (read: a chance to peek into Steve Martin’s world even if just for an hour). They wanted the “accessible Steve Martin”. Tell us a story, Steve. Inspire us with your insights and experience. Collecting expensive art is not accessible to a vast majority of citizens (and I’d be willing to bet a vast majority of those who dug into their jeans to find $50 to see Mr. Martin).
Any public speaker take note: If you make yourself accessible you will succeed. It’s easy to be accessible. Have a conversation that reaches out to your audience. Know that your audience are human and they want the vulnerable, imperfect speaker who has some contradictions (something I call, “V.I.C”). Steve Martin, indeed all people, is a man with V.I.C..
Questions that eventually were allowed to come (6 or 7 at the end) were all related to his “film and TV career”. Surprise, surprise! Sadly, the interviewer, Deborah Solomon, who writes a weekly interview column for The New York Times Magazine, saw this need to “hear about Hollywood” as something far different than a chance at accessibility and other human qualities. Quoting from the NY Times, she sounds, to put it lightly, rather condescending:
“Frankly, you would think that an audience in New York, at the 92nd Street Y, would be interested in hearing about art and artists,” Ms. Solomon added in an e-mail. “I had no idea that the Y programmers wanted me to talk to Steve instead on what it’s like to host the Oscars or appear in ‘It’s Complicated’ with Alec Baldwin. I think the Y, which is supposedly a champion of the arts, has behaved very crassly and is reinforcing the most philistine aspects of a culture that values celebrity and award shows over art.”
Ms. Solomon, your audience did want to hear about art and artists. They paid to see an artist. They came to get inspired by an artist, hear his stories, take lessons from his struggles as a contributor to the art world. They wanted a glimpse into the world of Steve Martin, his history, his experience. If you had “no idea” as to what the audience or the Y wanted, perhaps a few simple questions would have solved that. All good interviewers — all good public speakers — need to react to the energy of their audience. Improv is not just for actors like Steve Martin. And this isn’t even improv I’m talking about. The best public speakers are the most observant. You were put on the stage but you failed to observe or acknowledge the energy and enthusiasm of those who paid to be in front of the stage.
The conversation fell flat because of the barrier that was put up between audience and speaker(s). Not the first time it’s happened — and nor (sadly) will it be the last. We’re all V.I.C. . Honor that and your presentation will find an appreciative audience happy to spend that $50 for an hour of human engagement.
SpeakingEnergy: the business of great storytelling 