Comedian: Movie Review and Business Tool

Image by Getty Images via Daylife It's not often that I can point to a movie and say, "this really helped my professional life."

And you certainly wouldn't expect that from a documentary (Comedian) about Jerry Seinfeld's efforts to re-invent himself from scratch back on the comedy circuit.

But, it did.

You see, I come from the school of thought that presentations are really performances, as Ben Zander would say. That when I stand up in front of an audience to talk about Marketing that yes, they want to be informed.

But, they also want to be entertained.

Seeing how Jerry and the younger comic whose rise (sort of) was profiled, Orny Adams, attacked their jobs made me look more critically at my own.

For example:

1. Never open with new material.
   If you have new material, test it in the middle of the show, see how it goes and if it works, then you can put it first. (This was actually very timely, since I was giving a presentation, er performance, the next morning and had planned-but switched-on starting with new material.)
   
   
2. Take every chance you get.
   When you are working on your "act," you should be willing to get up in front of any crowd at any time to try it out. That's the only way to get better. You look at each performance as both a game and a practice round. I do this, but Jerry helped put it in a different perspective for me. Any speaking opportunities for me out there?
   
   
3. Be HyperCritical and Practice
   Watch yourself on video (I admit, I don't like to do this). Look at nuances. Words that are used as fillers. Mannerisms. Put yourself under the microscope.

 Professional life aside, it was a great movie. Showed that Jerry, even though he's "made it," shares the same concerns and fears that we all do. Puts even more of a human face on him.

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