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Essentials in
Get Famous
Put the PR in Performance
Don't overlook the PR tool that can mean the difference between growth and failure, enhance the pleasure of participating in the hobby, generate revenue and put you on the map.
Updated: 10/15/2002 1:37:00 AM
Put the PR into performance
This wonder tool? A quality performance package that generates increased public awareness.
If public relations is doing something good, then getting credit for it, then certainly the best thing to do get credit for is your high-quality, broadly appealing entertainment ability.
After all, singing is what we do! We can pound our chests about great adult-education programs such as Harmony College, COTS, et al.; we can point to our involvement in community charities, youth outreach and other service activities; we can get mystical about the fraternal bond music build among members - all true, and worth mentioning.
But the rubber meets the road when we open our mouths and sing for people. Every other PR function exists to provide opportunities for us to sing and spread the sound of barbershop harmony -- which is how preservation and encouragement take place.
Many people don't know what barbershop harmony is, or may have a mistaken impression. The only way to teach them is to show them.
Performance elements create public impressions
Every aspect of every public appearance creates an impression on your audience. There is no such thing as a throwaway performance ("just a nursing home singout"), because every person who sees you forms an opinion of what barbershop is, and whether he likes it. Remember, a lie travels halfway around the world while truth is still putting on its shoes; the word-of-mouth resulting from your actions affects the public image of barbershop.
Recognizing and planning for this gives you control of the messages you send overtly and inadvertently. Your artistic planning for chapter or quartet should take into account the public relations impact of:
- Wholesome, family-oriented entertainment values
- Repertoire
- Presentation
- Costuming
- Personal deportment before, during and after the show
You will find an extensive discussion of how to analyze and execute these goals in SPEBSQSA’s Successful Performance for the Quartet and Chorus manual ( stock no. 4055, $10), but let's quickly review a few basics here.
Clothes make the man?
Image goals vary from chapter to chapter, quartet to quartet. Without delving into the question of stripes-and-straw-hats versus tuxes (both looks are valid, historically stylistic and appropriate), a few costuming factors remain constant:
- Clean, in good repair, well-fitted
- Appropriate to the musical content of the performance
- Appropriate to the venue, event and client. Again, tuxedos probably won’t go over well at an outdoor picnic in the summertime. Unless specifically requested, those clown suits probably won’t be appropriate for a wedding or funeral!
You are what you sing-and how you present it
A critical element of barbershop’s appeal as an entertainment form is our insistence on well-paced presentation that is appropriate for all age groups. We can be better than a lot of the trash on TV and cable - in fact, we have to be! Blue or suggestive humor is neither sophisticated, what the audience expects, nor necessary. For instruction, consider that the Walt Disney companies have built a multi-billion dollar empire by maintaining absolutely squeaky-clean family entertainment values. No one could ever call their theme parks, films, television or interactive products dull.
Your bearing as you stand in front of an audience tells them what they can expect from the organization as a whole. If your spokesman fumbles around disjointedly while the rest of the singers snicker and shift about, you send two messages: 1) you don'‘t know what you’re doing; and 2) you don't respect the audience enough to know what you're doing.
Your District Music Educator can recommend coaches to help you develop and polish your act so it moves well, touches all the bases, and presents a positive image of barbershopping - regardless of how well you sing.
Building a package for PR impact
Certain chapters and quartets succeed in booking gigs because they have created unique packages that meet specific community needs. Several seniors quartets have found a rewarding niche performing for elementary school children, who are delighted to hear silly songs from warm, trustworthy grand-dads. The Uncle Sam Chorus of the Troy, New York, Chapter books dozens of performances each year at schools, sports tournaments and civic events by offering a special patriotic/educational package featuring their very own Uncle Sam, Fred Polnisch. (See Nov./Dec. 94 Harmonizer.)
Identify a few markets you'd like to pursue for performances, then design a package that fits those needs. This may have the happy result of your crafting a better, more focused package for contests, too.
Follow up on every exposure
Salespeople know that it’s not sufficient to merely put a product out in the marketplace and wait for people to call in to buy it. Instead, you need to
- identify qualified buyers
- provide them a response mechanism
- follow through with a sales call to close the sale.
In this case, the barbershop products are membership, further performance bookings and perhaps tickets for future shows.
One of the easiest ways to obtain a list of qualified buyers is to hold a door prize drawing using preprinted cards with check boxes indicating interest in membership, bookings or being added to the show patron list. Give away a prize of value (a CD or cassette of your own group, the current international contest recordings, or Barbershop Harmony Favorites, Volume One are always popular), to ensure everyone in the audience responds.
You should as a matter of course always carry a supply of chapter brochures or An Invitation to Join Us in A Song (make sure there's a phone number on it!), and distribute these to everyone in your audience. Have the spokesman suggest that the audience pass along this brochure to a man who deserves the pleasure of singing barbershop. Consider paying a bounty (perhaps show tickets) to ever audience member who provides a referral that turns into a new member!
Organizations that publish a newsletter for customers, employees, shareholders, etc. will welcome a crisp black & white action shot from your performance, so you might want to bring along your own photographer. (A static, posed photo from your last convention doesn't have the same pizazz, but can do in a pinch.) Be sure to identify the people in the photo, with ages and hometowns. Include fifty well-chosen action words describing the event, and noting that you’re always looking for men who love to sing.
Common courtesy no doubt compels you to send your hosts a thank-you note following every performance. Take that opportunity to offer to perform for other functions, or to refer them to other quartets and choruses in the area. Mention, too, that since the audience seemed to enjoy the show so much, perhaps they should be on your chapter mailing list-- please send a roster at your convenience.
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