SagePresence frequently enjoys the honor of participation in conferences and events oriented toward professional women, but a new twist occurred when a conference focused on professional women in film involved us in presenting and coaching.
Two weeks ago, Bill and I led a seminar for MNWIFT about developing the perfect pitch for film, television, media or business ideas. We focused as we usually do, combining what writers know about crafting story-structured messages with what actors employ when delivering powerfully under pressure.
Bill and I both recognized a “homecoming” feeling as we brought our SagePresence principles back to where they came from. I had the thrill of presenting to people I remembered from my production crew on Bill’s Gun Shop and Bill described it as his first real bonding with the film community locally, since most of his film work has been in LA.
Two nights ago, Bill and I returned to MNWIFT, but this time with partner Pete Machalek, together sharing the goal of providing coaching and tips to MNWIFT patrons at a crucial time – because this second event included a panel of industry professionals who listen to pitches for a living. The panel would share knowledge initially, and then accept pitches from 40 some people who signed up to pitch.
Actual pitches to actual industry professionals – and our contribution to the event was to be a resource to pitching patrons, helping them with their story structure and coaching them on their delivery.
Among the judges was one of my producers from Bill’s Gun Shop, Ann Luster, one of the most prolific local producers around.
Also amongst the judges was Cathy Ditoro of Campbell Mithun Advertising, the Advertising monolith who acquired my first company, the “little NewMedia train that could,” Digital Cafe.
It was really nice to be in a position to help other people deal with their frazzled nerves and with organizing their “sea of information” into something you could pitch. I recognized myself in a lot of the people who came to our table for advice. “I have no idea how to do this,” was a common statement, and it was very gratifying to work with them, and then have them return to the table a little while later and tell us that it went very well.
From the moment the panelists were done speaking, and the pitching process began, I was never able to leave my station at the booth. I remember helping a woman pitch a reality TV show idea to the television distributors in the judging panel, and I looked over to see Bill and Pete engaged with their own clientele.
It was cool to watch them work. I’m kind of the “extra” when it comes to pitching coaching, except where performance is concerned. But a lot of the real work here is story structuring, which I can do, but nothing like Bill and Pete can.
When I paused to listen in on Bill coaching someone, it was clearly the tier above, but when my clients returned feeling great about themselves and how they’d done, I knew that one way or another, we were all pulling our weight.
After hours of pitching and coaching, we enjoyed a red zin with the MNWIFT hosts, JoAnne (JoJo) Liebeler and Aleshia Mueller, along with David Garber, the President of Lantern Lane Entertainment, who promised to let Bill and I take him to lunch when we’re in Los Angeles later in the fall.
Thanks, Amy Brewster, Meighan McGuire, Aleshia Mueller, JoAnne (JoJo) Liebeler, and Carly Zuckweiler, and all the fine patrons, members and volunteers of MNWIFT!
Is There A Place For Kindness In Politics?
All this week, the Q Kindness Cafe in St. Paul is leveraging the national exposure brought to the city by the Republican National Convention by hosting a series of “Conversation Cafes,” facilitated round-table conversations that pose a question related to the RNC’s theme-of-the-day.
Lisa Cotter Metwali, co-proprietor of the Cafe and a professional coach in her own right, invited me to lead a conversation on Monday based on the RNC’s theme of Service.
Being very interested in the current state of political affairs, I jumped at the chance. Since completing my graduate degree in communications, I have been of the opinion that a democracy needs healthy public debate about the issues affecting our society, our culture, and our world, and I’ve questioned how well we as citizens are doing in maintaining the health of our democracy.
So I asked the group in attendance, “As members of a community, we’re all challenged to be aware of current events, form opinions about them, and communicate those opinions. What is the relationship of that challenge and the concept of service to the rest of the country?”
To be honest, it was an abstract question that took a little while for people to digest. After some discussion, the group helped me reduce the question to, “Does it serve our community for each of us to speak our mind about issues? If so, how does it serve the community?”
The process of going through the conversation was a fascinating one that Lisa facilitated. She took us through three rounds of each person in the room delivering their response to the question in 2 minutes or under. I had the pleasure of speaking at the end of each round, which gave me the opportunity to digest the thoughts of everyone else before speaking.
My favorite insight from the whole event came from another professional in attendance whose focus is on facilitating professional connections, named Marianne Badar Ohmann. Marianne said that expressing our opinions does indeed serve the people that we speak with, but that soliciting the opinions from these other people provides even more value to them.
I was just bowled over by that remark. And as I process it now, I realize that her input provided a great deal of value and service to me, and that the whole process of the Conversation Cafe did as well. Thank you, Lisa, Marianne, and everyone else in attendance today! It was a pleasure to have served, and to have been served by you all!