Open Mic Night

Aspiring stand up comedians know that they have to pay their dues working open mic nights. These are occasions in comedy clubs when amateurs have the chance try their hand at comedy. Many comedians have stories about open mic nights that were total disasters and they died on stage. They’ll also have stories about those nights when the stars aligned and they totally killed. No matter what, those humble beginnings and all that hard work led them to their current success.

I know not all of us are aspiring comedians. However, we can take the lessons learned and realize that we all have our “open mic night” opportunities to practice our speaking and communication skills. If you want to build those communication skills, there’s no substitute for experience. You have to get “stage time.” Whether that’s a literal stage or not depends on you.

If you know me, you know I always recommend Toastmasters and improv classes to people. They are perfect opportunities to stretch your speaking and performance muscles and learn from people with more experience. They will allow you to leave your comfort zone and discover the powerful speaker or performer within.

I have learned a lot from both, and I’m better because I took those chances. Not all of my lessons came from good experiences. I have flubbed many Toastmasters speeches. I’ve had bad nights performing improv. However, because I viewed those moments as learning experiences, I embraced the disasters and learned from them. I’m a tactile learner, meaning I often learn by doing. So I made mistakes, learned from them, and next time I was better and stronger.

That’s not to say I haven’t had moments of triumph. I’ve had many great nights. Again, I don’t just rest on my laurels. I think about what went well and strive to build on those positive moments. Knowing what works, and doesn’t work, with an audience again makes me a better speaker and performer. Not to mention a better teacher and coach.

I often share my moments of disaster with my students. I do so not only to show them that we all come from humble beginnings, but to hopefully have them learn from my mistakes. But in the end, they, and you, will have to experience it for themselves.

So any time you are able, grab that open mic. No matter what, you’ll be stronger afterwards.