An actress, a clown, and a comedian walk into a theater. No, this isn’t the start of a joke. This is an example of people who take the extra step and connect with their audience. In the business world, it might not be as obvious, and the names may be less prominent, but the importance of connecting with your audience is equally important. Your audience may be across the conference table, or the country on a Zoom/Teams call. Many people assume they are connecting with their audience in the office, but that isn’t always the case. And when people are remote, they often assume the same thing. In truth, we need to be more intentional in both our face-to-face and remote interactions. Here are a few people who do it right we can learn from.
The Actress
Most people know Karen Allen from Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Sandlot, Scrooged, and other movies. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Karen on a couple of occasions. My wife also has one of her scarves. One thing that has stood out beyond her talent is her intentionality in connecting with her audience on multiple levels. Within her community, Karen regularly does showings of her movies and Q&A sessions with the audience. This takes the experience of watching a movie to a new level. I don’t know too many actors or actresses who do this.
John Cleese has done something similar with Monty Python and the Holy Grail. William Shatner has also done this with the Wrath of Khan. But those tend to be more of a production with an interviewer and very few direct questions from the audience. What I’ve seen Karen do is more individual and engaging. It’s more like a conversation you would have with somebody in your living room rather than an interaction with somebody on the stage. She entertains questions about how the movies were made and what the process was. She genuinely connects with her audience and helps to inspire future actors, producers, and directors.
The Clown
I’ve mentioned Puddles the Clown before. For someone whose act includes not speaking, he goes out of his way to interact with the crowd. Between 12 minutes at the beginning of the performance climbing over several hundred seats to shake everybody’s hand that wanted to, and then at the end of the performance mouthing the words “thank you” to everyone that was still in the audience. He created an intentional gesture that you don’t see in a lot of performers. As I became aware of this I started looking for it in other performances to see who else might be doing the same thing.
The Comedian
Recently, we saw comedian Joe Machi at a comedy club. You may have seen him on Last Comic Standing. Joe has an awkward style on stage which is part of his routine. But when the show was over he didn’t retreat to his dressing room. Instead, he walked to the back of the room by the exit. While many people didn’t see where he was standing, he shook hands with everybody who realized they were walking past him. It seems like a small gesture, but it makes a huge difference in connecting with the audience. Many performers will sign audio autographs in the lobby or take pictures. Instead, this was subtle and genuine. It was not another opportunity to make money. It was just one more chance to intentionally interact with the audience.
Our Audience
For those of us who might not be on a stage, we still have an audience. They include parents, children, significant others, clients, coworkers, employees, and sometimes strangers. It is easy to fall into habits of interaction where intentionality gets lost. This is what happened with many companies as a result of going remote. Intentionality in the office has been missing from many workplaces for a long time. It just became more obvious when we were disconnected. We must consciously reach out to people and connect with them about ideas, work, or just how they are doing.
We need to treat all of our relationships as a long-distance romance. Make time to interact. Be present when we’re together both face-to-face and online. And try to make the time together memorable. People will remember the little gestures that go beyond the obvious. Sometimes meaningful moments happen by accident. But if we try to be intentional in our interactions, we are more likely to make a lasting impression.
