At the theater where I work, a member of staff gives a curtain speech before every performance. Instead of playing a recorded message, a live person reminds you to turn off your phone and then takes an opportunity to tell you about exciting things happening at the theater. On Day 255, I did my first ever curtain speech for this theater. Even though it is only about two minutes or less, I was still nervous about talking in front of people on a stage. I just have to remind myself to be casual and personal, myself. And I have to prepare my words in my head so that I at least have a place from which to start. It went totally fine and the audience was responsive and nice.
Since this first experience, I’ve gotten much more comfortable making them and have even seen donations bump on my nights–this is another part of the speech, to tell patrons about our ongoing fundraising campaign. Then they have the opportunity to donate after the show. So that feels pretty gratifying.
year of fun 