I was recently invited to give a talk to primary school children about comedy and performance. The request was for it to be insightful and inspiring, so no pressure… What I didn’t expect was how comparative it is to when I work with company boards and management teams!
My own school days are a dim and distant memory, however, I do remember that we never had anything much more exciting than the school hamster come home for a visit so I was impressed that they were inviting all kinds of different professions and trades to talk to the young people about their own experiences. I doubt many schools facilitate career exploration about entertainment.
I had also forgotten that groups of primary 7 pupils can be terrifying with their direct, no nonsense approach and felt nerves for the first time in a long time as they quizzed me with very perceptive and, quite frankly, difficult questions, questions which are much easier to answer if you can use expletives to emphasise your point – but that easy stage cop out was not available to me so I was put through my paces (and my internal language editor worked overtime) as I discussed the pros and cons of a career in the arts. We explored my work as a Stand UP Comic, a writer and a broadcaster as well as my work with business people.I had a thoroughly educational and entertaining time and I it turns out, they did too. I even got a certificate!
Some of the key learning points of the day the pupils noted included:
- Improved communication
- Better peer understanding
- Honesty
- Fun
- Listening to other
- Learning from unexcited people
- Inspiring others
Whilst this was an adapted version of my corporate workshops for honing presentation and pitching technique, it was interesting to see that these learning points remained quite similar.
As Ian Hesketh from Police Scotland commented “Jojo is an expert making links to humour and psychology. She is a top presenter” See more testimonials here.
I offer a special rate for corporates who want to buy me in and donate support to a local school or charity as part of their package with me. If you would like to find out more about that don’t hesitate to contact me.
