What my career as a DJ taught me about creating an experience
I’m a quiet person. And when you hear that I DJ’ed for 10 years, you’d probably spit out your drink laughing.
But throughout those years, I’ve learned some amazing lessons around creating experiences that engaged people without saying a word. The craziest thing about this journey, is that I’ve used these same principles to build a training business around an experience.
Here are my 3 biggest takeaways:
Typically I’d map out the first 10 songs. It’s during this time, most people where arriving and connecting with friends. You wanted them to feel the beat, but not go crazy, since there needed to be time spent getting comfortable. As the set moved along, I’d pay attention to people’s body languages, facial expressions, and group dynamics to get a feel as to how the rest of the night was going to go.
This is where the art of the playlist came into play. It’s that feeling in your gut that you know something needs to go a different way, stay the same or drop all together.
In training, you can lay out a perfect session on paper. As the warm up begins to flow, you have to watch for the little signs that truly tell you how your clients are feeling. It’s that keen sense of awareness of not only yourself and how you show up, but the group dynamic. It’s easy to assume that everyone's on top of their game with a full nights sleep, proper eating and injury free.
What do their eyes tell you?
How did they greet you when you said hello?
Are they slouched over, walking with their head down?
Is there an extra bounce in their step or is it just a caffeinated jolt?
This is where the art of training comes into play and being able to make changes on the fly and still create a unique experience that entices them to come back and possible invite a friend.
People don’t want something truly new. Familiar done differently
There where times I had discovered a new song that I truly loved that hadn’t made it to the mainstream yet. I was like a kid in the candy shop waiting to play it. And when I finally mixed it in, it flopped...people left the floor. It was a complete buzz kill.
I had to swallow my pride and quickly mix in a familiar tune with a different beat.
When people are training with you, they don’t necessarily want you to bring them the latest and greatest training techniques. They like their old school favorites, even though you might be getting tired of them.
Where the true coaching artist shines is by taking some of the old school moves and putting a new twist on them. It’s not about reinventing the wheel, but about using the wheel for what it was initially intended for - moving people forward in an efficient manner.
It’s about an emotional connection
Songs bring back memories. It’s why you always flash back to a past relationship or your glory high school, Al Bundy days when you hear a song. When you factor friends around you and music together, that emotional connection to a song becomes even stronger. When you factor friends, music and a high quality environment, you have a recipe to create a connection beyond a simple interaction.
When people walk into your facility to train, it’s not just about the quality of the session. It’s about so much more. It’s about the....
...set up of your facility and equipment
...greeting they get at the door
...way you introduce them to others around your facility
...interaction between your team and each client
...cleanliness of your bathrooms
...way you lead your clients through the session
...way you match your coaching style to each unique client, not forcing them to match up to your style.
...way you turn a group of strangers into a community of friends
Often, experiences are systemized into place. Like a robot, people follow the protocol and create an average experience.
When you turn the system into a unique work of art, seeing each and every interaction as a blank canvass to create something that builds a deep emotional connection, that’s when you win the game. That’s when you redefine the playing field for what it means to create an experience.
Throw out the protocol and break out the paint brushes...
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