Cooking Show Jitters: Overcoming Anxiety for Your First Live Performance

[n_coleman101]

I'm new and am getting ready to do my first cooking show Feb 6th.We just had our son on the 7th and my anxiety about the show is getting worse! I'm freaked out.....have any advice or personal first show stories to share?

 

[lovescooking]

Have you practice your Show and how you will do it? Be familiar with your favorite products that is what helped me when I first started. I pick 5 products that I really liked and I learned everything I could about them. If you do not know the answer to a question then say "I do not know but I will find out for both of us and let you know."
My first Host was very helpful and her husband was my right hand man at the Show.
Hey, my first Show...the demo was almost 3 hours! I learned a lot at that Show.
You can do this..."Success is yours the minute you decide you want it".

 

[chef131doreen]

Just have fun , you are not going to know all the answers for all the products but thats ok ........... we all had our 1st show and now laugh about it.
( 750 shows ago)
Don't put yourself under so much pressure noone can fire you , laugh, have fun and do the best you can ,You will be surprised how well you are going to do

 

[Jolie_Paradoxe]

Know that no show ever goes as planned...mistakes will happen and it's all ok. As listed above, have fun and they will too. Roll with the mistakes, and no one will care. Most first show hosts are friends or family, so remember they like you already.

Good Luck and Let us know how it goes!

 

[pjpamchef]

you will find most customers are eager to be helpful!! If you tell them it's your first show they will do everything in their power to help!

 

[Patty Davis]

I did a show when my 4th baby was very young, about 2 weeks. I was so brain-dead. I don't know how many times I called whatever tool I was holding "this thingy". So, don't worry about it! People understand! Laugh at your self and say "see, they'll let anybody do this business!"

 

[NooraK]

How about doing an interactive show? Get your host to help you out, and have all of your guests make the recipe!

 

[BethCooks4U]

All good advice.

I tell new consultants to use notecards and tell the guests that you are new. Watch the DVD's, observe other people's shows, practice, write out what you plan to do/say (or use the notecards PC has given you in your kit) and have fun. Your guest will help you. Remember you only have to do your first show ONCE!

 

[rkcreations]

I'm with NooaK! You get the guest involved and they end up selling the items to each other!
I like to dump all my tools (the ones that I'm not using in the recipe) onto a table and let the guests "play." If the tools are all neat in a caddy they usually don't want to "mess" them up. If they are just laying there, they can pick it up, see how it works, then put it down and pick up another item. My favorite is to watch guests with are the bamboo tongs! Guests LOVE them!

 

[heat123]

All good advice.

I tell new consultants to use notecards and tell the guests that you are new. Watch the DVD's, observe other people's shows, practice, write out what you plan to do/say (or use the notecards PC has given you in your kit) and have fun. Your guest will help you. Remember you only have to do your first show ONCE!

Ditto, this is what I did to prepare for my 1st show! :0)

 

[cathyt]

Think of it as "show and tell."

If you get to know the products and if really personally really enjoy them, you will have no problems.

If you do screw up a little (In 50 shows I've broken things, spilled things, etc. every once in awhile) just say something like..."this is so easy anyone can do it", or "it's not perfect chef, it's pampered chef."

 

[PamperedSD]

Good luck! I'm still very new but I practiced my recipe/demo at home and then even did a demo at a family members house so I wouldn't be so nervous at someone else's house - and her hubby asked a ton of really good questions! Have note cards or an outline - I made sure to write down the tools with the page numbers that they were in the catalog - people always seem to ask. Just remember to have fun!

 

[raebates]

Here's the advice I give everyone:Tell people it's your first (or second, or tenth) show. Admit that you're nervous. It will endear you to your guests and relieve a lot of the pressure. Practice what you want to say out loud. It plants it in a different place in your brain.Remember that everyone is there to have fun. No one is grading you. if you have fun, they will.

 

[wcsis]

Ask the guests who has been to a PC show before, then whomever has been at the most shows you appoint your 'wingman'. They may have an answer you don't have readily available, they know the products they own and you can say something like, "well since you have been to more shows than I have demo'd I am appointing you my wingman. Besides I need someone to blame when I goof"

 

[Sheila]

You can also use "new mommy brain" as an excuse if you make a mistake! But I agree, be honest with the group & let them know that you are brand new, that you don't have everything memorized yet (and may not ever have it all memorized), but that you will do your best to answer any questions that they might have, to find the answer or to ask your recruiter & get back with them. What I still do is have a guest write any special requests on the back of their door prize slip. So if there was a specific recipe that they wanted, etc. I have it in writing when I get home to research & get back to them.

 

[raebates]

That reminds me. I also usually suggest basically what Sheila just did. Don't feel like you have to have all of the answers. If someone asks something you don't know the answer to, tell them you'll get back to them. Make yourself a note, and be sure to follow through.

 

[BethCooks4U]

And use it as a recruiting tool. If you are having fun and show confidence that you can get those answers for them people will see that this is not rocket science and doesn't take a lot of training. You just need to talk about products you love while you make a simple recipe that is provided for you with step by step instructions.

 

[Patty Davis]

I use tickets for asking questions about products during the demo and then draw for prizes (nylon scraper, twix-it, citrus peeler, recipe card - order off supply order). If someone asks a page number, I give a ticket to the person who finds it first. Takes the pressure off you to remember all of that when it changes every 3-6 months! If you have everything memorized, potential recruits think THEY have to memorize everything, and that can be a turn off! Keep it duplicatable!

 

[pampered1224]

I too was scared out of my mind for my first party. Actually about the first 20! It was mid January, 2001 and for friends. I was so nervous that by the day of the party I was physically ill. I had my recipes down as I had practiced them. I knew which products I wanted to focus on. It did not stop me from pulling my car over half way to their place, 45 miles, and getting sick to my stomach! Yes, gross but hey! You know what, I did a $700 plus party. My fear made me actually a great speaker! I did toss cauliflower at my guests, my drum from the cheese grater rolled off the counter and into the crowd of 18, I did accidentally power whisk cream cheese onto two people sitting in the front row but hey, we still had a blast! Not to mention some really good laughs. The unknown will scare you but look at it this way, you won't be running into Jason or Freddie Krueger so... You know what, you will end up being fine. Deep breath when you start and just go!

 

[PamperedchefDaly]

First, pick a really simple recipe. Practice it a few times so you know what to expect. Make a simple outline of what you want to cover in your show. Then go to your first show with the idea "I'm going to a party and I'm going to have FUN!" Mistakes will happen, but don't let it throw you. When you drop a tool or knock something off the table, smile and say "THAT"S why I don't sell crystal!" Remember, if you aren't perfect, a guest is more likely to think "hey, if she can do it, I can do it!"

Good luck. Keep us posted!

 

[cactus_flower]

People really do want you to succeed and most of the things I worried about have never come to pass. But, if it is any consolation, at last night's show (my 47th), I began by exploding a can of pizza dough, and some of it went flying across the room just missing my aunt's head! I used the opportunity to say, "By the way, Pampered Chef has great insurance in case any of you get injured while I am cooking!"And, at the end of my demo, after inverting the Molten Lava Cake onto a plate, the Rice Cooker slipped out of my hands and landed on my mom's carpet (actually, the throw rug on top of her carpet! Everyone got a good laugh and my mom was very forgiving.Just remember, we are all human, and we are "pampered" chefs, not "perfect chefs". Have a great show and enjoy yourself!