As a teenager I thought that a career in magic would be glamorous and exciting, with big stages, spotlights, beautiful girls, and exotic travel. As it turns out, it’s a little more like running a business. In fact the time I spend performing feels like a vacation, because in reality I work an 80+ hour week outside of doing a single card trick or pulling a coin from anyone’s ear. In this blog series I discuss tips and techniques I’ve learned as a professional magician that you can use in the business world.
Tip 3: Talk to Strangers
This week’s tip is a simple one. Talk to everyone you meet, because you never know where the next sale, gig, opportunity, or referral is going to come from. Let me offer you a story instead of advice.
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I sat on a plane in Hartford, CT heading to Minneapolis, MN en route to North Dakota for a one-night performance at a college campus. It was very early in the morning and I was already exhausted, and more than annoyed at the looming prospect of flying/driving all day to do a show the same evening. A middle aged gentleman sat in the window seat next to me wearing a tweed jacket. We exchanged pleasantries and I asked the standard, “Business or pleasure?” He replied that he was going to a convention, and that he was a philosophy professor at Connecticut College. I perked up because I have a philosophy degree, and we ended up chatting the whole flight. By the end of it I had been invited to speak with his senior seminar on the philosophy of humor.
Fast forward to the seminar, where I met the chair of their philosophy department, who then invited me to give my interactive presentation “Magic, Philosophically Speaking” to the entire humanities department.
Fast forward again to that presentation, a standing room only event that went exceedingly well. After it was over a kind lady approached to tell me how much she enjoyed it. She then informed me that her husband is the director of an acclaimed museum, and asked if I would be willing to customize a similar interactive philosophy lecture specifically about The Wizard of Oz for the museum’s annual Wee Fairy Village. I was delighted.
Later that year, weeks prior to the museum presentation, I found myself sitting next to a sharply dressed woman on another very early flight. Despite my usual chatty demeanor, I had no interested in talking to anyone. I was basically asleep when I hear, “I like your hat.” I looked up and barely replied, “Oh, thank you.” She said, “I noticed it in the terminal but didn’t want to be awkward. But since we’re sitting next to each other, I thought I would tell you.”
I introduced myself and soon discovered I was conversing with Dr. Zoe Chance, a Yale University professor and renowned marketing expert on influence and persuasion. In a crazy twist of fate, she is a lifelong lover of magic, and we talked the entire flight. I invited her to the museum engagement.
Dr. Chance did in fact show up to the museum presentation and followed up by inviting me to give a performance and speak to her graduate seminar “Mastering Influence and Persuasion.” It was a resounding success, and has since become a recurring engagement. My involvement with Dr. Chance and Yale University has put my reputation in a new class of elite respect that I had never imagined.
Additionally a different Connecticut College professor also attended my museum presentation and has since invited me multiple times to speak to his senior seminar on the topic of Secrecy throughout history.
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My point should be crystal clear: talk to strangers! You have absolutely no idea who you’re talking to or what might come of it. My above story took place over the course of 4 years. Networking should not be reserved just for “networking events” and it doesn’t need to be blatant. I did not go into any of those conversations with the intention of making professional connections or advancing my career. It happened due to a combination of friendliness, open mindedness, and circumstance.
We often hear that “luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” My former manager used to say, “Luck happens by design.” I say talk to everybody. You will be amazed by what comes of it. Worst case scenario: you have a pleasant conversation with a fellow human being. In the best case you might find yourself in new career positions that were never previously available.
Brian Miller is a nationally acclaimed variety artist: magician, comedian, musician, and speaker. He maintains a schedule of 250+ events per year nationwide for corporate events, college campuses, and high end private functions.
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