You knew exactly what it was before you even clicked through.
Amazing.
How long did it take for them to create that reputation…that whey I say Southwest Banter we all start thinking of the same thing.
In truth, it’s probably somewhere around 60 seconds.
Again, amazing.
Four flights at about 15 seconds each of little quippy funny jokes during the Welcome Aboard speech is all it takes.
That’s pretty good. One total minute and now millions of people are all in on the joke.
It’s because we didn’t expect jokes during the Welcome Aboard speech.
It’s because we laughed a little even though we know full well the captain used the same line for the previous flight.
It’s because we like the fact that we fly an airline that’s known for being creative with their Welcome Aboard speech. It makes us feel like we made the right choice…because we’re smiling…and how can smiling and laughing be anything other than the right choice??!!!!
Southwest adds the 15 seconds of humor at no extra charge, but it means everything to us.
Towards the beginning of the show tell the audience something you’re going to do later in the show…and then later in the show, do it.
Something like…
“Later in the set I’m going to give a toast to this beautiful city.”
“There’s a drum solo coming your way later tonight, have your cameras ready.”
“Don’t worry people in the front row, I’m coming down to meet you in a bit.”
Verbalizing some of your own foreshadowing accomplishes a couple things.
It creates tension and anticipation.
It positions you as a person who comes through on what they say. You’re a keeper of promises. And people like those kind of people.
And it positions you as a professional. A professional remembers what they said they were going to do. A professional doesn’t make an empty promise.
Find your version of this and start doing it.
***The first way I gave this idea to an artist was “Tonight I’m going to give three toasts. The first one is…” This gave a great pacing to the night. The audience knew two more toasts were coming and that in order for the show to feel complete the toasts had to happen. So when the artist comes through with a toast in the middle and another one at the end, it gives a sense of completion to a simple story, and made the artist look like a total boss.
About 75 years ago, when being a music artist for a living was becoming something people did, there was the idea of paying your dues.
And paying your dues has always been associated with going out on the road. Slugging it out. Bad clubs, bad pay, bad pizza…but you had to do it. You were paying your dues. And it was pretty awesome.
Let me say here…it’s a good thing its PAY your dues and not GIVE your dues. When you PAY you get something in return. And for those of us who paid those dudes…we did. I did. You did. We got a lot in return.
(And also paying your dues on the road meant that you were engaging in the music business, you were pro active…not waiting on the music business while sitting in your bedroom playing your guitar all day)
But I’m wondering if ‘paying your dues’ is changing.
When I moved to Nashville everyone was still paying dues via the road…but I just don’t see it as much anymore.
I don’t see new bands racing out and playing 200 shows as fast as possible.
Particularly in the last five years, how has the definition changed?
How does a new artist pay their dues now?
If it’s not the road…What is the new daily, weekly, monthly active practice of a new artist to participate in their maturity and having their eyes opened?
Hit me back on this one. I’d love to have your input.
***I’ll still argue that regardless of technology and a changing music business…getting out there and playing 200 shows as quickly as possible is a life changing, fun, unforgettable way to pay some dues.
Music at its finest is not for forgetting your priorities, but for rearranging them.
*** “Cause he knows that it’s me they’ve been comin to see to forget about life for a while”…It might be important to note that there’s nothing wrong with the forgetting part. Forgetting can be the perfect catalyst for rearranging.
