Do you need to employ a Claque?
You would have to be under a rock to not know I sang in Europe and one of the gorgeous things about the opera there (Vienna Opera House above) were the claques. Calques are audience members given free tickets to a performance with the clear instruction to cheer for the generous singer at the end of their aria, leading the audience to rapturous applause.
Claquers
It isn’t a new concept, the Emperor Nero had his performance greeted by an encomium chanted by five thousand of his soldiers and my question is, what are you doing to get support, in the moment, during your presentations?
So often I help people to deal with the situation ‘when things go wrong’ and it is such a negative twist. What about taking a positive angle and engaging your supporters to be vocal in their support for you in the moment of presenting your ideas.
They do it is sport. Teams have coaches screaming from the side lines and cheer squads reinforcing the excitement. Is presentation any different? It is a kind of sport and, in the moment, you need a positive support. So,
employ a claque
The psychological effect is very positive. Think about it: so often we are lulled into inaction and the point of the claque is that they lead the clapping of the rest of the audience who almost always respond in kind. Its hypnotic. People follow. Bingo!
Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow.
Helen Keller
What this means in reality is to decide who your supporters are, approach them and let them know what you would like them to do. Maybe ask them to interject with reinforcing statements such as “Yes, absolutely”, “Great idea” or “Good thinking”. Why not. It’s worth the experiment. Let’s face it, it seemed to work for Nero.
