What Can I Expect at My First Cooking Show?

[sassypip]

I could hardly sleep last night! I have my first cooking show tonight at 6pm. I am making the Three Cheese Garden Pizza and throwing together a quick Strawberry Cheesecake Trifle Bowl while it is cooking. A very dear friend of mine is my first hostess and she has at least 15 people coming and already has 7 outside orders! I know a few, but most I do not know. My best friend is thinking about signing on as a consultant tonight too! I am really nervous(not about the cooking part, that is easy, but remembering everything I need to talk about!) Any words of advice would be great. I am going to have the guests help make the pizza(grate the cheese,slice the veggies etc) so I think it will be fun. I think I will do better if everyone is helping instead of me standing up and just talking. My consultant that signed me on, always just does the work at her shows, so I am hoping this other approach will work well too.

I have been browsng this site since I signed on 3 weeks ago and can't thank you all enough! The information here is priceless!!

Oh and the best part about the show tonight is that my friend has gotten me 2 bookings for sure and a possible 1 more before the party even started. I love her!!!

Thanks again for any words of encouragement or advce you have!!

Diane

 

[erinyourpclady]

The best advice I can give is to relax and have fun! Don't be to hard on yourself if you forget something....no one is perfect! I use 4x6 cards as cheat sheets......for recipes and for remembering what I want to say! It is some work at first to make a 4x6 of every recipe you do but I now have a HUGE file of them! LOL!Be yourself....and you will be great!!

 

[sassypip]

Thank you for the advice!!

 

[scottcooks]

Welcome, Diane!Have fun - don't take anything too seriously. Remember Doris Christopher's soft sell approach.If you possibly can, familiarize yourself with the next 2 months host specials and book as many folks as you can to have shows of their own so their friends can have fun!

 

[Melissa78]

For quite some time you'll forget things. In my second month now I still end every show saying "oh shoot! I forogt xyz." Or I have forgotten to buy an ingredient, forgot to add an ingredient, forgot to demo something...you name it. Just go with the flow and the only person that will know is you.

The Pizza is a FABULOUS demo. I was a skeptic of it and didn't want to follow the advice of my director but wow, everyone LOVES it and it shows so much product. Super easy to do as well. I don't measure anything for it anymore, including I just sprinkle the Italian Seasoning over the top (gets better reviews). So don't fret about measurements. (Yes I do still demo the measuring products but I tell them that "this is as close to Rachel Ray and Paula Dean as I will get so I have my garbage bowl (SS Mixing Bowl) and I don't measure everything...they eyeball it (or use their palm) and I will too. I am not only your Pampered Chef but I'm also your newest Food Network Star." They get a kick out of it and it also shows them that in their kitchens they don't have to worry about getting everything just so.

Focus on your products, not on the recipe. You'll be fine! Best wishes!

 

[Summer0919]

Welcome Diane! I'm new around here too and love CS!!!

When I did my first cooking show last month I let the guests join in the cooking too. It really took the pressure off me and the guest that really jumped in and wanted to help the most signed on as a consultant! She was having so much fun and realized she could do this too. My advice would be to just relax and have fun with it. If you mess up then just laugh and they'll laugh with you not at you. People just want to have a good time and if you're laughing and having a good time they will too.

Karen

 

[chefHLM]

Relax, be yourself, and have FUN! That is the most important thing!
My first show was for my sister and her friends and I was a nervous wreck, I told them I was nervous so if I stuttered or drew a blank that would have to bear with me. At the end of the show one of her friends from work that I had never met came up to me and gave me a hug and told me what an awesome job I had done. I still get a bit nervous before my shows, but as soon as I start my opening and get talking to everyone I ease up and have to laugh at my self for being nervous!!!
If you're having fun everyone else will too!
Let us know how it goes and congrats on having a great start!!!

 

[Jolie_Paradoxe]

Welcome Diane! You are going to have a great time, and it sounds like your show is already a success! Great job!

I agree with everyone....have fun, don't worry if you make a mistake or mess up. So long as everyone has fun, the bookings will come. So long as people get to play with the toys, the orders will come. = )

My shows are interactive....I ask everyone to gather round the table, and the guests help prepare the recipe....it's more fun.

Have fun and let us know how it goes! Much success!

 

[sassypip]

THANK YOU EVERYONE!! I'm getting all my stuff ready to go and feel the nerves coming a bit, but it's all good. Thanks for the support. I will update late tonight how it all went. I have made the pizza 3 times at home already and my husband LOVES it. My kids could do without all the extra veggies, but that is kids! I have made the Trifle 4 times now, so I am quick and good at that now too! Thanks again!

 

[Luv 2 Cook]

I held my 12th show today and everything when great EXCEPT no bookings!!! I did the check out things... talked to the guest.. ask them if they were interested in hosting a show... told them about all the great benefits of hosting a show, even had one guest tell about all the wonderful products she recieved by just having a catalog show...Help!! what else can I do??

 

[sassypip]

Everything went well. I stumbled a bit here and there and forgot to put the Italian seasoning on the pizza! oops! Everyone still loved it!! My sales are at 700+ for this show. She thinks she might have at least 5 outside orders too so it is looking good. I did get 2 cooking show bookings and a catalog booking and another "maybe" on a cooking show. MY next show is next Sunday, so now I have a week to regroup and fix the errors that I made the first time. Thanks again for all the encouragement and support. I am hoping for great success!!

 

[chefHLM]

Everything went well. I stumbled a bit here and there and forgot to put the Italian seasoning on the pizza! oops! Everyone still loved it!! My sales are at 700+ for this show. She thinks she might have at least 5 outside orders too so it is looking good. I did get 2 cooking show bookings and a catalog booking and another "maybe" on a cooking show. MY next show is next Sunday, so now I have a week to regroup and fix the errors that I made the first time. Thanks again for all the encouragement and support. I am hoping for great success!!

Congrats!!! That is awesome!! Don't worry about the mistakes, no one is perfect! Sounds like you did a terrific job host coaching and at the show itself!

 

[taterbug]

Here's the most important thing I have learned - no two shows are the same. After doing several shows, I decided to create a script for future shows. At some shows it worked really well, at others it didn't.
You just have to learn to feel the vibe of the guests and go with it.

 

[krackley]

Way to go, Sassy! Whenever I leave something out of a recipe, I always say "You know, our recipes are so good, that even if you leave stuff out they still taste awesome!"

 

[Jolie_Paradoxe]

Whooo Hoooo Sassy! What a great start for your biz! Congrats! So happy it went well, and that you had fun! Keep it up!

 

[newgeorgiagirl]

I am a brand new consultant. Haven't even ordered my kit yet, but have 4 bookings. My (not sure what she is called) upline(?) said to me this morning:

"I's called Pampered Chef, not Perfect Chef."

It might help all us newbies to remember that!