Director Interactive Demo - I'm Doing It!!!

[finley1991]

Okay... so I'm throwing myself into the deep end of the pool! Tomorrow night I am doing a Power Cooking Show (not the new one introduced... one that I've been doing for a while). I skipped a meeting tonight so I can stay home and get my head into the game. I've decided that this is going to be the year for me. No matter what.So I rewrote my show outline to make it interactive. I think I can do this. I'm going to have to slow down and not worry about the 45 minutes and just do this. I'm going to have the entrees done (Tortilla Soup and Chicken Caesar Salad) and then make the microwave cake. Here's my plan:- Have everyone wash up with our soap and gather around the island.
- Make microwave Lava Cake
- Prep the power cooking bags
- Make the microwave Heart Dish Cake
- Move into living room and cover products used quickly so they know where they are in the catalog...
- Explain the host program and benefits
- Discuss show options (Bites & Bevs, Chocolate Bliss, etc.)
- Offer Business Opportunity and do Pass the Prize for 2 minutes
- Close with Door Prize Slip
- DO THE FULL-SERVICE CHECKOUT WITH THE 3 PILES!!!So that's the plan as of now. The reason I am skipping the meeting is to watch the Getting Started DVD again and think this through more.Please feel free to offer any suggestions!!!!!

 

[DebPC]

Good for you! My only suggestions are: go with the flow a bit if things don't go just right in parts- laugh and have a good time, no matter what- and remember Rome wasn't built in a day, it may take you a few tries to your new theme show just right.
Good luck and let us know how it goes!

 

[chefkathy]

Colleen, I did this on Tuesday night and my tip would be to COACH YOUR HOST!!!Have her greet her guests and direct them to the kitchen to wash their hands. Get rid of all the chairs--SERIOUSLY! Once their butt is in a chair they don't get up! Your host should keep encouraging them to gather and participate.

 

[finley1991]

Thanks Deb! I'm getting there an hour early (normally 15 minutes early!) and will coach her on how it's going to go then. I've coached her on it already but I think she'll "get it" more in person. She has a great island that we're all going to be around. I'm getting excited!!!!!

 

[pamperedbecky]

Colleen, I did this on Tuesday night and my tip would be to COACH YOUR HOST!!!

Have her greet her guests and direct them to the kitchen to wash their hands. Get rid of all the chairs--SERIOUSLY! Once their butt is in a chair they don't get up! Your host should keep encouraging them to gather and participate.

Great ideas!! Especially about getting rid of chairs. I did an interactive show tonight for the first time. It was too much on a whim and I didn't talk a ton with the host about it ahead of time. I had a couple people come and use some tools, but most sat on their butts and said they didn't want to. I liked the suggestion about realizing this will take a few times (or more!) to get it to flow nicely. I also found it hard to do with a big group (I think there were 17 or 18 people there) because it got loud VERY quickly and they just didn't focus on the demo because I wasn't necessarily talking to/with them.

Here's a good "they'll let ANYONE do this job" story....THe interactive recipe was supposed to be the Antipasto Vegetable Pizza in the bar pan. The host bought one tube of crescent rolls instead of pizza dough, so there wasn't enough to really cover the pan. Then I set the timer wrong on her oven (my kids broke my PC timer!! dang it.) so I very nicely crisped the crust (in reality, I burned it almost to a crisp but the greatest thing is that it didn't stick AT ALL to the stone....that showed that woman/guest who opened the show after I said we were focusing on stoneware that she hates stones and EVERYTHING stuck to them).

I need to plan this better and have a better outline. I think the host coaching is key. I like the idea and I hope it gets better for me. My sales were WAY lower than I thought they'd be with that many people...only at $535!! AT least she got above the $500. I really don't think it's because of the format of the show. At least i hope so!! These women just didn't seem to need much because orders were pretty small.

Great input everyone! Next time I'll get the chairs put away. I'm going to try it again Sunday because that group should be smaller...well, she didn't even have any confirmed people 3 days ago!! I hope she has SOME people I can practice with!

Good luck Colleen!! I'm sure we'll get some great ideas from each other the more we do this.

 

[micocina]

Great Ideas!!! I think I will get rid of the chairs at my training too!! Only one of my consultants went to Leadership with me and got excited I think the team will benefit from "seeing" how it should be done. Whoohooo. I'm excited for you Colleen, can't wait to hear about your results!

 

[pamela]

have to share the dream/nightmare I had last night!

I dreamt that I was doing my first interactive show at my friend Julie's show. I was making the potato soup and was showing how to chop bacon with the food chopper and wound up chopping the the bacon and the plastic guard the blades go through! THEN, somehow my host put hamburger into the soup recipe and it was RAW. THEN her DH threw away half of the ingredients when he was throwing away the bacon/food chopper pieces! THEN, the guests wouldn't stay in the kitchen and kept walking away asking "where is my catalog?"

I do have my first show of 2008 tonight and I guess the interactive idea was on my mind! I plan to try it anyway and am getting to my hosts house a little earlier than normal to make sure she is on board! She is a Creative Memories consultant, so my guess is she will be all for interactive!

It has to go better than the dream!

 

[dannyzmom]

Okay... so I'm throwing myself into the deep end of the pool! Tomorrow night I am doing a Power Cooking Show (not the new one introduced... one that I've been doing for a while). I skipped a meeting tonight so I can stay home and get my head into the game. I've decided that this is going to be the year for me. No matter what.

So I rewrote my show outline to make it interactive. I think I can do this. I'm going to have to slow down and not worry about the 45 minutes and just do this. I'm going to have the entrees done (Tortilla Soup and Chicken Caesar Salad) and then make the microwave cake.

Here's my plan:

- Have everyone wash up with our soap and gather around the island.
- Make microwave Lava Cake
- Prep the power cooking bags
- Make the microwave Heart Dish Cake
- Move into living room and cover products used quickly so they know where they are in the catalog...
- Explain the host program and benefits
- Discuss show options (Bites & Bevs, Chocolate Bliss, etc.)
- Offer Business Opportunity and do Pass the Prize for 2 minutes
- Close with Door Prize Slip
- DO THE FULL-SERVICE CHECKOUT WITH THE 3 PILES!!!

So that's the plan as of now. The reason I am skipping the meeting is to watch the Getting Started DVD again and think this through more.

Please feel free to offer any suggestions!!!!!

Good luck Colleen!
Would ya mind sharing your show outline?

 

[finley1991]

Thanks for all of the encouraging words ladies!!!! I've revised my outline a few times and will post it here so you can see it.

I watched the getting started DVD last night... well the Cooking Show Part anyway. I'm going to do it that way... where I still do part of it and then have others come up and chop, open the cans, mix things, press garlic, etc. She's expecting 14 (but then in the middle of the night I realized 2 rsvped to me and not her) so I'm thinking it might be harder with a group this size to do what I had in mind. If I weren't doing the Power Cooking show, I would divided everyone into two teams and have them do the recipes. So we will see... I majorly need Feb bookings so that's the focus. And of course, new consultants!

 

[BethCooks4U]

Great Ideas!!! I think I will get rid of the chairs at my training too!! Only one of my consultants went to Leadership with me and got excited I think the team will benefit from "seeing" how it should be done. Whoohooo. I'm excited for you Colleen, can't wait to hear about your results!

Could you tell us how you set this up (did it for your team meeting)? - well, I realize the meeting hasn't happened yet - but once you do...

 

[micocina]

Could you tell us how you set this up (did it for your team meeting)? - well, I realize the meeting hasn't happened yet - but once you do...

I sure will! I'm excited about it and even more so knowing that I may get my Director box in time to show it off at my meeting!

 

[finley1991]

Okay... so it didn't go as well as I had hoped. But I'm not giving up. Got the host to try some of the products but then she decided it would be "more fun" for her daughter who was upset that she wasn't invited to the show to try the products. Thing is... he daughter is disabled. So I indulged... what could I say? It was fine but no other guests tried any of the products and it was hard because I was working on the host's island and it was too tall for the little girl anyway. Just when I got to the point where I was going to do my recruiting talk and "pass the prize", her daughter had a major meltdown right at my feet... laying on the floor screaming and crying. So that part didn't go so well either! (The problem was, I had the "prize" wrapped up all pretty and she wanted it.)I'll try again at my show tonight... she's only expecting 5 guests and I have a feeling that one is her husband and another one is the husband of another guest... so really I think she's expecting 2. Oh well... she does a show for me every six months and I've gotten lots of business from her. Who knows... maybe it will work out great!!!!Of course, getting my products today would really put me in a great mood!

 

[chefkathy]

Colleen, my first interactive show didn't go so well either. Just keep at it! I have already started coaching my next host about it so hopefully it will go better.

 

[pamela]

my show last night was GREAT! I had the host put the chairs out of the kitchen. when guests arrived, they had no choice but to come in and stand around the table. I told them what we were going to do and of course I had some grumblers. I told thse folks I would still put them to work, they would just get duties that didn't require you to wash your hands (open cans, stir stuff, snip parsley...)
All went well...after we cooked, they ate, and then I took about 15 minutes to go over bookings and recruiting. I did the 3 pile check out and got a booking as the guest had out no on her DPDS! I even have a recurit lead!!!
Sales were over $700!!!
I have already emailed Jean Jonas!!!

 

[amy07]

I did an interactive show last night that the guests seemed to love. I kinda felt out of step some. I had finally hit a nice groove with my demos, so this change was different, not bad, just different. But the host did her agreement online while I was there so that's a PLUS!!!! ANd she had bookings! I'll keep trying it. My show tomorrow is Becky's Chicken Fajita Bar, so that should be a lot of fun!

 

[pamela]

OK-where do I find Becky's Chicken Fajita Bar info???? That sounds awesome!

 

[chefkathy]

Way to go MEg and Amy!!!

 

[amy07]

OK-where do I find Becky's Chicken Fajita Bar info???? That sounds awesome!

I'm pretty sure it was under bookings - about the DCB. I copied it and put it in a email to my team, here it is! I can't wait to do it today! Oh, this is copied exactly from Becky's post, so I can't take credit for it. Go BeckyD!!

Instead of a whole chicken, I do 3-4 chicken breasts. I slice up green and red pepper
and a large onion (I use the apple wedger) and put it in the bottom of the DCB,
sprinkle w/ some Southwestern Seasoning. Top w/ the chicken, and more SW Seasoning.
Put the lid on, and put in microwave for 12-15 minutes. I fill the mini baker w/
6 inch tortillas, cover it with foil and put it in the oven to warm (at 250 degrees)

While the chicken is in the microwave, I pass around a bowl w/ the salsa ingredients
and salad chopper and have guests make salsa, show them how to work w/ an avocado,
and have someone mix up the guacamole with the mix n masher. I have cheese already
in a small SA bowl, and then put the salsa & guac in bowls, and put them in
the rectangle woven - when the chicken is done, I shred it, and push the veggies
to one side of the DCB, and put the chicken back in on the other side. I set the
DCB, and the mini baker, on the large round woven piece and set it next to the condiments,
and let people help themselves. Then I talk about all of the possiblities of the
DCB - because they just saw me do a Fajita meal in less than 20 minutes....and there
are so many other recipes that can also be done in it in 30 minutes or less.

 

[DebPC]

What great ideas! Thanks so much for sharing all your experiences.

 

[shelliebeard]

I loved the idea about using the apple wedger on an onion. I actually tried it last night. What a fun tip!!

 

[amy07]

just wanted to add that I sold more knives at the chicken fajita show than at any other show in ALL of last year. :money: I had a male guest slice up the chicken and he was raving about the knife so I think that helped sales a bit. Oh, and he and his wife booked a show!

 

[micocina]

just wanted to add that I sold more knives at the chicken fajita show than at any other show in ALL of last year. :money: I had a male guest slice up the chicken and he was raving about the knife so I think that helped sales a bit. Oh, and he and his wife booked a show!

That sounds great!! We had our HO Director call today and some of the other Directors were less than enthused with the new format, some say they lost control of their show and that it actually took longer.

 

[shelliebeard]

That sounds great!! We had our HO Director call today and some of the other Directors were less than enthused with the new format, some say they lost control of their show and that it actually took longer.

I am still trying to keep a positive attitude about it. Last Fall when I had a training with Stacy Pressman she told us that she does all interactive shows. I tried it at my next few shows and had no luck. At one it was a big open floor plan in the house so while we were working around one table all but 2 women got up and walked over to the dining room table so they could carry on their own conversation. They were just an overall rude bunch anyway so I tried again. At my next show they had about a dozen adults and 2 teenagers there and only the 2 teenagers would contribute. I have tried having everyone wash their hands when they got there so they knew that it was interactive, but they were just determined to stay away from the food until it was time to eat!

I do think that better host coaching is the key. If the host is telling people this is what we are going to do...I think they will be much more likely to follow her lead.

Anyway, I'm not giving up. I will try it again. We'll see! ray:

 

[Mel5497]

I don't know if this will help, but try setting up 2-person 'stations' around the work area. It's a subtle message, but it implies that something won't get made if all the stations aren't manned....and guests are more likely to feel they are 'selecting' their station (versus just standing around).

I did an interactive show in Nov. (The host used my own home, so it was easy to control the set-up.) A couple gals were "oh" in their initial reaction, but quickly focused on finding 'their' spots. Once we got started, it was one of the most enjoyable shows I've done (and sales were $400+ with five guests.) We did go off on several tangents, but I always bring them back by saying I'm holding the dessert hostage.

I have a lot of PC products, so I can provide mutlitple cutting boards and knives. An option though, would be to offer a drawing for everyone who brings a cutting board. Because of back-to-back moves, I haven't done a cooking show in almost two months (yikes), but this is a format I think has a lot of potential. (Suggestion to PC: add two cutting boards to the kit or offer at a discount on the supply order.)

leggy

 

[BethCooks4U]

I have been more interactive since last fall. I am finding that most of my guests do not want to be cooking but there are a few who love it. I tell them that I would like them all to have the opportunity to try the tools they are most interested in and that they are free to play with anything they want once the food is prepared since I was everything once I get home. As people are coming in I ask if they can help with particular tasks to get things ready. The response is always good. They want a cooking class so once the prep work is done I take over (but still ask for volunteers to help), give tips and show the tools and ask those who helped for tips that I already shared with them or their own response to using the product.

I try to hold the show in the kitchen if at all possible. Even small kitchens work most of the time. Chairs aren't needed except for the elderly aunt...

 

[amy07]

I don't know if this will help, but try setting up 2-person 'stations' around the work area. It's a subtle message, but it implies that something won't get made if all the stations aren't manned....and guests are more likely to feel they are 'selecting' their station (versus just standing around).

I did an interactive show in Nov. (The host used my own home, so it was easy to control the set-up.) A couple gals were "oh" in their initial reaction, but quickly focused on finding 'their' spots. Once we got started, it was one of the most enjoyable shows I've done (and sales were $400+ with five guests.) We did go off on several tangents, but I always bring them back by saying I'm holding the dessert hostage.

I have a lot of PC products, so I can provide mutlitple cutting boards and knives. An option though, would be to offer a drawing for everyone who brings a cutting board. Because of back-to-back moves, I haven't done a cooking show in almost two months (yikes), but this is a format I think has a lot of potential. (Suggestion to PC: add two cutting boards to the kit or offer at a discount on the supply order.)

leggy

That is a great idea!!

 

[micocina]

I guess the trick is to get a feel for your crowd first and determine what most would respond too, not all shows are alike. I did my training and provided the cutting boards for everyone, they liked it. Stations definitely send out the message "someone needs to do something here."

 

[pamela]

I have talked to both hosts from this past weekend and they are reporting that everyone has commented on how much fun the interactive shows were! No one even cared that the show Friday night seemed to go forever ( they talked ALOT!). I have 4 more shows this week and plan to just keep going with the interactive idea, so we shall see!

 

[Mel5497]

I have talked to both hosts from this past weekend and they are reporting that everyone has commented on how much fun the interactive shows were! No one even cared that the show Friday night seemed to go forever ( they talked ALOT!). I have 4 more shows this week and plan to just keep going with the interactive idea, so we shall see!

Woo-hoo Meg! Four more shows this week...you are rockin!

 

[pamperedbecky]

Woo-hoo Meg! Four more shows this week...you are rockin!

That's awesome! Go double points!!!

 

[pamela]

Woo-hoo Meg! Four more shows this week...you are rockin!

I am SOOOOO excited, too! My show for Sunday has at least 13 coming and Thursday has at least 10! The host for Saturday has seemed to have been abducted m(), but my plan is to get her on the phone today no matter what! Friday's host is an older lady that is just too much fun! I seriously would love to get her on my team~she got an outside order and called me "just because I am so excited"! How cute is that?! She may have as few as 3 guests or as many as 20....no one is RSVPing and she has circumstances that won't allow for her to make too many reminder calls. I am just going with it as I think she is going to be fun to be around regardless!

My goal is to get the 6000 bonus points, and I can do it if these shows are as promised!

 

[pamela]

I am SOOOOO excited, too! My show for Sunday has at least 13 coming and Thursday has at least 10! The host for Saturday has seemed to have been abducted m(), but my plan is to get her on the phone today no matter what! Friday's host is an older lady that is just too much fun! I seriously would love to get her on my team~she got an outside order and called me "just because I am so excited"! How cute is that?! She may have as few as 3 guests or as many as 20....no one is RSVPing and she has circumstances that won't allow for her to make too many reminder calls. I am just going with it as I think she is going to be fun to be around regardless!

My goal is to get the 6000 bonus points, and I can do it if these shows are as promised!

DEAR LORD!!! We are at 21 for today's show!!!!!!!!!! I am in the midst of throwing the interactive idea out the window! I know it will be WAY to stressful for me if I try to corral 21 people into making the soup with me, so I plan to have everyone introduce themselves by telling their favorite product and then anyone after them can't say the ones that have been mentioned before! I will be doing the soup recipe while they are intro-ing and maybe, just maybe, it won't be a huge crowd control problem!

ANY IDEAS!!!!?????

 

[ChefLisa]

DEAR LORD!!! We are at 21 for today's show!!!!!!!!!! I am in the midst of throwing the interactive idea out the window! I know it will be WAY to stressful for me if I try to corral 21 people into making the soup with me, so I plan to have everyone introduce themselves by telling their favorite product and then anyone after them can't say the ones that have been mentioned before! I will be doing the soup recipe while they are intro-ing and maybe, just maybe, it won't be a huge crowd control problem!

ANY IDEAS!!!!?????

My show on Friday morning had 23 guests in attendance. I ended up asking for a couple of volunteers instead of having everyone help. It worked out great and my two volunteers had a lot of fun. One of them booked a show. While they were chopping or mixing, I got to keep on talking.

Lisa

 

[pamperedbecky]

My show today had 20 people ($2000 in sales so far....YIKES!!!:bugeye and I completly scrapped the interactive idea. Oh well. I did have a good number of people come up and play with my stuff after the demo, but I think this interactive thing will truly only work when it's a group of around 10 or less. Otherwise you totally lose people. Who knows, maybe it'll get easier, but I'm WAY happier having these big shows than trying to perfect the interactive show.

 

[chefkathy]

My show today had 13 guests and I did it semi interactive. We did the new Strawberry Cream Trifle from the S/S Season's Best (which is SOOOO good BTW).The set up of the house really didn't allow a totally interactive show so I just called people up who were willing to help and it worked out great. Out of 13 guests, I think 4 of them ended up helping and the show is just shy of $1000 with 3 bookings and 1 recruit lead.

 

[bethsbiz]

I've done 4 interactive shows so far and 2 were text-book good, just like the DVD (segment 2). Then show #3 everyone was LATE and either elderly or pregnant. Only the hubbies who stayed would work with the tools and the kitchen set up was horrid for interactive. This one showed me that I have to be very flexible to the interactive idea.

Show # 4 I just got home from. This show had only 4 adult guests...and 4 8-10 year olds who were the only ones who volunteered. I stopped asking for someone to come up and started calling up the adults. Still, the little tykes kept coming, like energizer bunnies. The host kitchen/dining room was a nightmare...both small and not way to move to the living room...where her hubby and other folks were all watching tv.

Long story short? I agree that host coaching can help a lot to make the interactive go smoother. I also like the idea of NOT having chairs in the demo area....my first 2 shows the demo area was separate from the area I set up with a product table and catalogs and those were much smoother.

What I do really, really, really like about the interactive shows, when they are working, is that they really do involve the guests and keep the show shorter. My max guest number so far is 12 and that was my best interactive. I think that less than 4 adults is stretching it a bit and more than 15 would be a pain...so coming up with flexible options is a good idea.

I know that I am loving doing the food preparation at the beginning...even if I am not able to do an interactive show in the future, for whatever reason, I think I'll still keep this format: 1) food prep; 2) catalog/guest pack review; 3) other product review (and discussion of collections, hosting, etc.) 4) door prize; 5) order taking with 3 piles.

Hey, if anyone has any ideas on how to diplomatically deal with kids who take over an interactive show, please let me know. The moms in this crowd were happy to let the kids do the work but it was much harder for me to press on because I had to make much more sure the kids were safely using tools.