“I made mistakes in drama. I thought drama was when actors cried.
But drama is when the audience cries.”
– Frank Capra
The biggest mistake that Magicians make in developing their craft is that they don’t keep asking:
“What’s in it for my audience?”
“Why should they care about what I can do?”
“Why does my Magic matter at all?”
Consistently successful Magicians all go through a transformation cycle. They start with the wonder, seeing someone else DO Magic and wanting to replicate that for themselves. Then they start to learn tricks, illusions, and sleight of hand. They become really good at what I call “juggling”—manipulating cards and coins and other objects. They run the risk, however, of getting so caught up in the “juggling” and how “cool” it can look, that they forget what the Magic is really all about.
The really good Magicians work through their “juggling” phase and move onto the most important part of their magical life cycle—recognizing that Magic is all about the AUDIENCE.
The best Magicians certainly have a skill set and magical toolkit to support them. But, some of the best Magicians are horrible technicians. They bring to the table, though, their marvelous AUDIENCE management powers. They have moved from juggling props to ownership of the whole setting.
Once you get to an appreciation and understanding and possession of your AUDIENCE, you truly define who you are as a Magician.
The problem for most of us is that we don’t know how to get from liking the concept of being a Magician to living the life of a Magician. In other words, we don’t know how to move from where we are to the place where we truly appreciate, understand, and possess an AUDIENCE. Many of us don’t even know that that scenario looks and feels like.
And so . . . many so-called and hopeful and aspiring Magicians get stuck at the “juggling” phase. In the business world I see it all the time—the leader or manager or executive who gets so caught up in all the latest managerial or technological tricks that they lose sight of the bigger and more important picture—providing solutions for their AUDIENCE.
In today’s world, you must be new, different, or better to capture your AUDIENCE. Otherwise, you’re just a knock-off, a poor imitation, or—worst of all—boring. Without new, different, or better, you and your Magic are the “same old thing” and nothing will lose an AUDIENCE’s attention faster than that.
All any AUDIENCE has to do is Google what they see you do to find out who else might be doing the same thing.
All any AUDIENCE has to do is backchannel the information you’re imparting to see if it’s accurate or duplicative.
All any AUDIENCE has to do is do a quick search on Amazon for the genre you specialize in to see who else is an authority in the field and then see if they should be listening to them rather than you.
All of this is going to happen to you once you put you and your Magic out there.
And, in doing their Google search, backchannel investigation, and in looking for people with more authority than you, your AUDIENCE will jump to many conclusions about you.
They’ll immediately say either to themselves or to you, directly: “I know YOU. You’re the one who does [fill in your particular brand of Magic] and [I know how you did that] [I saw that on “America’s Got Talent” already] or [so-and-so already wrote a book on that very thing], and you’re not really relevant to my life right now.
Ouch.
I know because I’m constantly doing those very things every single day to see who the people are who are in my life or who need to be in my life.
That’s why I can tell you that there’s a way for you to relevant and be new and be different to your AUDIENCE.
That’s why I can guarantee that if you will do one thing—and one thing only—you will capture your AUDIENCE’s imagination, heart, and interest.
It’s called giving your AUDIENCE solutions to their problems.
When you provide solutions as a Magician, you not only captivate, you own your setting.
Think of it this way . . .
You’re reading this article because you recognize how important an AUDIENCE is to your magical trade. You’ve continued reading because you want a solution to the AUDIENCE challenge. And you get the fact that an AUDIENCE can be fickle and quick to change allegiances and that you need to seize and keep their attention.
While you understand these challenges intellectually, no one else has given you a simple solution that can instantly be implemented and easily applied.
In fact, your understanding has tripped up many a fine Magician because, while they, too, appreciate the puzzle we call an AUDIENCE, they—unlike you—don’t move beyond the mental processing into real-world application.
So . . . How do you create a sustainable, repeatable, consistent magical lifestyle, business, and career?
You put yourself in the position of your AUDIENCE. That’s right, stop being a Magician for just a moment and ask yourself what you would have to believe if you were an AUDIENCE member such that, by the time you got done doing your “thing,” you (as the AUDIENCE member) believed that you couldn’t live without you or what you have to offer.
In other words, what is the experience you want to create for your AUDIENCE?
When you start asking your AUDIENCE what they want to feel and be and see and do, then you will have command of real Magic.
That’s the reason I wrote “The Most Magical Secret – 4 Weeks to an Ecstatic Life” and why I created The Most Magical Secret Facebook group.
Now you’re armed with one of the most valuable keys to success and happiness. Go out and make it a magical week!
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SCOTT GROSSBERG thinkingmagically.com 