When we’re bringing a group together, we’re wanting them to grant us trust to take them to someplace good. They want to collaborate. Collaboration is about agreements.
Laura and I are figuring out where to go to eat. She wants something fun, I want something filling. I can easily be swayed to something fun, but if we don’t connect at the beginning of the conversation, everything else will be seen as a conflict from both sides.
The first agreement when the master of ceremonies or other introducer comes on stage is very crucial. All other agreements are either built on that or backtracking in order to heal the collaboration with the audience.
It’s so common to start with “How’s everyone doing tonight?” Totally great question. Unfortunately, it’s also common to not listen to the response. There we go. We’ve already broken the trust. The host is getting sushi and the audience wants spaghetti. The audience won’t leave, but it’s not going to be a great date because the audience will just keep thinking of whether they’re getting their fill.
If the audience responds with a resounding “awesome,” their host needs to be delighted by that and keep the party train moving — listen and respond. If they respond some other way, the host needs something like…
- Okay, let’s fix that…
- I will not let you continue at that energy level. Let’s try that again…
- This isn’t the night you might be thinking it is… give me more energy and we’ll get this started together
Without the agreement, we won’t get the magic of powerful engagement that we really desire.