What if almost nobody shows up...

Imagine…

Tonight is your friend’s birthday party. You got all dressed up, wrapped a nice gift, you showed up at their doorstep and while you walk into their living room your friend starts complaining: “Look how few people showed up. So disappointing! My birthday is ruined.”

And there you are… Gift in hand, feeling awkward, apologising for all the friends who did not show up tonight.

Sounds pretty unpleasant, right?

And yet… Aren’t we sometimes a little bit like that friend?

As teachers we hold classes or workshops, and sometimes fewer people show up. It happens.

We lead a drop-in class of just 4 people.

Or we receive only 2 sign-ups for our online workshop.

Or everyone at the corporate event goes to the lecture hall, but your workshop space stays completely empty.

Ugh, it sucks.

It makes us feel unpopular, unwanted, un-cool. A failure, basically.

What do we do with that disappointment?

Do we pour it all over the ones that did show up? Do we gaze out of the window for another 30 minutes, hoping more people will appear? Do we feel defeated and teach a half-assed workshop?

No.

Or at least… Let us try not to.

The disappointment of having a smaller group, that is part of the job. It happens to all of us. (I recently taught a workshop where 1 showed up. ONE.)

The sooner we are okay with whatever group size, the more we can be present for them. Because it is not about us (or about our ego), but it is about those who are there.

They came dressed up with a gift in their hands: throw them a freaking party. Celebrate them, compliment them, congratulate them with the amazing value for money they got and then teach the best small group session / 1-on-1 coaching you ever taught.

Whoever shows up is the exact right group.

Throw confetti at them.

P.S. Speaking of the exact right group no matter the number, Tuesday July 7th I open signups for my online course ‘Teaching Improv With Confidence’.

Did I need to hear the message above myself, because launching a brand new course gave me number stress? Maybe… ;)