Marc Hogan - Funny Business Blog

My Favourite City

marchogan — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:40:10 +0000

In August 2008 Marc Hogan was bet £1 that he couldn’t become a stand up comic in less than 12 months and perform a one man comedy show at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival in August 2009 for 21 nights. He won the bet!

Edinburgh. There has never been a place where the word summer means so many different things…

Well this is my third time at the Edinburgh Festival, the first was to discover what the world’s biggest arts festival was like and what had I let myself in for when I accepted Jim Lawless’s bet in 2008.

The second time, in August 2009 I performed for 21 nights and spent over 144 hours flyering to complete strangers.

And now in August 2010 I’m back. I’ve been on the Royal Mile 10 minutes and I have 9 flyers in my hand, for Apocolyptic sketch comedy to “Piramania” a musical about pirates (obviously).

Unbelievably in the 3 years one thing has remained constant – the Mexican / Indian nose flute group are still here, still doing hits from Braveheart!

One thing that has changed is that 1 of my comedy friends, Imran Yusuf has been nominated as best newcomer by the Foster Comedy Awards (formerly the Perrier).

I met him in November 2008 at the Amused Moose Comedy course information evening. He did a brilliant act. Afterward he had told me he had done the course a few years before, but life had got in the way and he hadn’t done much for a couple of years, but now he was back.

Over the last two years I’ve seen Imran at lots of comedy nights and competitions as well as seeing him in Edinburgh last year where he was sharing the stage with 2 other comics at the Free Fringe. In my mind Imran completely encompasses key 7 – “be a compass not a weathervane”. Since he started out 7 years ago he was blown off course a bit but look at him now, a Newcomer of the Year nomination. No one deserves it more and I look forward to seeing him on TV soon!

So next time life gets in the way of your goal remember Imran…

Click here to watch Marc’s showreel. If you would like to find out more about Marc, visit www.marchoganlive.com or to book him for a speaking event please contact your favourite speaker bureau.

Motivation Vs. Inspiration

marchogan — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 11:35:21 +0000

Last week I was introduced as a motivational speaker. It’s a term I’ve never really been happy with; I’ve always seen myself as an inspirational speaker. I know this sounds pedantic, but to motivate, and to inspire are very different things.

Because I’m Irish (and therefore English is my second language!) I thought I’d check.

According to the Collins Popular English Dictionary;

Motivate: Give incentive to

Inspire: To fill with enthusiasm, stimulate; arouse (an emotion)

The Oxford English Dictionary goes a step further;

Inspire: To fill someone with the urge or ability to do something. To create a feeling in a person.

To motivate someone will always be difficult. Some people will be motivated by glory, others by money, and others by getting home early to see their kids. However many managers still fall into the trap of trying to motivate staff with bonuses, red-letter days, vouchers etc. Now for some staff this will work but for others it (frustratingly) won’t.

To inspire people you need to build a vision of a better place, a world where your product or service is the very best it can be. You need to emotionally engage with them and then empower them. They must understand why they are vital and you must encourage the belief that they can deal with any challenge.

Trust me targets and spreadsheets will not inspire anyone. No one has ever been emotionally engaged to an Excel graph. But more importantly it’s not just your words it’s your actions. Do you listen, do you help, or do you admonish? Do you encourage? Do you stand up for your team?

If you do all of this then you will have people that are willing to go that extra mile to help their company be the best it can be. Inspiring will always be harder than motivating but the results far outweigh the effort.

My Edinburgh journey and the 7 Keys that helped me achieve my goal do not motivate, they inspire an audience to face new challenges, and empower them to take action. The question is what are you going to do differently today and are you going to motivate or inspire?

Your Most Precious Asset

marchogan — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 15:15:15 +0000

A little while ago I gave a keynote speech to one of the world’s biggest banks (and one of the very few who didn’t need to be bailed out). Before my session I spent a very enjoyable and interesting couple of hours listening to the proceeding presentations. (No, honestly I really did, these guys are good presenters!)

What I found fascinating and exciting was the passion in the room and the commitment of the speakers to improving company performance and helping their people achieve their goals and exceed their potential.

All the delegates were effectively coaches and they all understood and bought into the idea that their most precious resource was their people.

It was quite obvious they understood a very old but very true maxim, “If you look after your people, [and I mean really listen and encourage them] they in turn, will look after you.”

In fact I was so impressed by this bank that I will be looking to open an account with them very soon!

Trust Yourself

marchogan — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 10:02:05 +0000

“Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.” Dr Benjamin Spock.

Now, forgetting the unfortunate sci-fi connotations, I believe this is a very powerful truth. I presume we all have a boss, but what if you stopped looking at yourself as an “employee” and started to look at yourself as a “mini-business” where you are completely in charge of sales, marketing, production, accounting and personnel.

Does that change the way you feel about your job? (Maybe, maybe not?)

Now I want you to ask yourself:

What 3 things have been bothering me about where I work for the last year or two, and which would be the quickest and easiest to solve?

If I were in charge how would I fix them in the most cost effective and efficient way? How would that benefit me, my colleagues, the rest of the company and our customers?

Who else do I know in the organisation that has the same problem? Could I see if they have an idea that solves the problem?

Once you’ve thought about the answers to the above what’s stopping you (on your own or perhaps as a group) going to your boss or managers with your cost effective and efficient solution to these problems?

Is it your “Editor” (to find out more about the Editor click here)? The little voice that says, “that will never work” or “no one listens to me” and all the other negative rubbish it spouts.

Nothing will change in your organisation unless you do it. You can’t wait for someone else to fix it, you could be waiting forever. This isn’t about complaining, it’s about coming up with a cost effective and efficient solution. Quite simply it’s about making your company a better place to work.

Trust me, your boss wants passionate people who care about their company, so trust yourself and see what you can do to make your company a better place to work…

Selling The Vision Of Change. Part One

marchogan — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 12:55:30 +0000

Last week I spoke to you about “Skill and Will” today I will discuss how you can sell the vision of change.

When Demosthenes the father of Greek oratory stood amongst his peers, the statesmen, the generals and the nobility hung on this every word.

Why? Because he understood the 5 elements to a great speech

1) A great person.

2) A great event.

3) A compelling message.

4) A masterful delivery.

5) A great outfit.

He didn’t really focus on his outfits, one robe is much the same as another, but I guarantee you would get everyone’s attention if you stood in front of your slides wearing a bed sheet!

However before you get on stage how do you ensure you’re a great person?

Well, before you tell them your great idea, have you spoken to your peers about your proposal? Have you sought their feedback and buy in? Have you taken on their ideas and changes?

To really ensure that your people believe you are a great person, you need to listen to them and act on their suggestions, hopes, fears and thoughts.

When I work with a company the first thing I do is to seek feedback from employees before we officially launch our idea / change programme to the masses.

If you listen to your team before you officially launch your idea, and act on their suggestions they are much more likely to support your proposal.

Most of us approach this completely the wrong way! We come up with a fantastic idea, secretly prepare and then launch it to our people expecting them to think it’s the best idea since sliced bread, only to discover they prefer to cut the bread themselves…

I’ll cover the various other elements of selling your vision next time….

Desperately Seeking Stage Time

marchogan — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 09:57:13 +0000

Last week I performed at a great night called “Desperately Seeking Stage Time” in London where various comics of differing experience (and ability!) try new material. A couple of them are attempting their first one man Edinburgh shows this year, Anthony Dewson and Tom MacDonell.

Both are musical comedians and both are very funny. Good luck lads, I know you are going to have a brilliant time and I look forward to seeing both your shows. Remember bring a pac-a-mac and have a pitch for when your flyering, oh and most of all be funny when the reviewers are in!

And dear readers if you’re looking to see some funny comedians go and check them out!

Big Tartan Hugs

Marc

Take Risks…Little Ones…

marchogan — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:42:37 +0000

People of Hemel Hempstead I salute you.

I started performing comedy just under 2 years ago. I’ve performed for 21 nights at the Edinburgh festival, survived the King Gong show at London’s Comedy Store, and even survived a mauling from the Lion’s Den in Kings Cross, but I have never seen a drunker crowd than last night in Hemel (and I’ve been to an Irish wedding, so I know a drunken crowd).

Let me try to set the scene for you…

There was group of girls out for a birthday party. The birthday girl had brought her mother. Mother you should be ashamed – your daughter looked like she’d been drinking since January.

A fight broke out half way through the night between 2 other women simply because a girl asked a couple to stop snogging each other’s face off!

I asked them to “get a room” the truth was they had – it just happened to have 50 other people in it!

Despite all this, over the talking, roaring and heckling, they did laugh at my jokes, and laughed very loudly at my fellow comedians Stevie Grey and Trevor Lock.

However, even Trevor a very experienced TV and stage comic looked shocked at this crowd. I don’t think he’d ever seen anything like it!

For me the highlight of the night was when “Steve” who had obviously been taking magic mushrooms all day, decided to rearrange the chairs around him, halfway through Trevor’s set!

So does comedy still scare me? The answer is a definite yes. Did last night’s gig kill me? Well except for a few heart stopping moments …No.

So all I can say is this, perhaps there’s something at work or at home you’ve been putting off doing something because it’s scary or difficult. So I’d like you to remember Key 6 “Take risks…little ones”. Chances are it won’t kill you unless it involves a crowd of people from Hemel Hempstead….

As for the promoter remember Key 4 “If at first you don’t succeed, review!” I know with a few subtle changes and a bit less alcohol, this could be a great comedy gig.

All in all, another magical evening in Hemel Hempstead….

Hinckley Business Association Review

marchogan — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:01:52 +0000

Last week I had the pleasure of performing “Funny Business” at the Hinckley Business Association dinner.

It was a really enjoyable evening, and the range of companies involved was really inspiring.

Geoff Waters wrote a really nice review of the event on his blog, and you can check it out here.

All in all, a great evening with a lovely group of people, and if you’re looking to make business contacts in the Leicester area, I would strong recommend joining the Hinckley Business Association.

Back In The Saddle

marchogan — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:21:34 +0000

I’m appearing at what should be a Great Comedy night with TV’s Trevor Lock tomorrow night (Thursday 22nd) in Hemel Hempstead.

All the details are here:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=123659581003676

I’m only compering so you won’t have to listen to me much!

Skill & Will

marchogan — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 06:30:11 +0000

In order to motivate people to change their behaviour you have to look at 2 very important factors: skill and will.

Will focuses on the individual, in essence, “if I change my behaviour, will it be really worth it?”

Skill is broader. “Do I have the abilities, skills, and more importantly the resources to change my behaviour?”

So how do we make it worth it?

1) Firstly use Inch Pebbles: break behaviour down into small easy to reach steps. Explain to your staff why it’s important!

2) Encourage the behaviour you want, discourage the behaviour you don’t. Create a reward scheme, change the bonus structure!

3) Get your Stars (previous Blog) to show the others how to do it.

4) Keep repeating the message, share good news, let them see how their behaviour is changing things! Place reminders in key areas.

5) Constantly review performance, and provide support.

6) For those who are not changing, speak to them, shadow them, walk in their shoes!

If you have done all of the above and still some people are failing to make a change they need to be fired (I’m JOKING).

Every time I work with a company in this situation, generally the reason an individual or group is failing is not because the “will” is the problem. If you’ve done your job properly most people will want to adopt the behaviours and make the project / change programme a success.

When people don’t adopt new behaviours, it’s because they don’t know how to achieve the goal or worse, they don’t feel they have the skills and resources to do the job.

Identify key actions.
These are not behaviours or qualities; they are the actions you want people to do. So you want to hit a million in sales, well that’s a goal or a result. Now what are the actions to do that? Well, action 1 might be to get all your team to make 10 cold calls a day. You must give your people clear actions if you want them to achieve, and of course measure and encourage those actions!

Train your individuals.
Train your individuals in the behaviour you want. It could be 1 day of training or a six-week training programme.

Look at your resources and tools.
Is nobody filling their sales reports online simply because it takes 3 hours to do? Can you make it quicker and easier for them? Can you give them faster computers, better broadband, or reduce the information they need to input?

Are they overworked doing other tasks?
Are you inadvertently encouraging that behaviour through bonuses etc? I worked with a group of sales people who saw their job as seeing customers, not filling in reports. Their bonus structure completely backed this up. So we changed it to readdress the balance, and guess what, when their bonus depended on it, they filled the reports in!

Are other departments and mangers on board?
In most modern matrix management structures we have more than one boss. Is a boss in another department encouraging one behaviour, while you’re pulling your hair out to get them to do something else? Which behaviour is more important?

You have to work on the Skill and Will to change people’s behaviours. When I accepted the bet to perform in Edinburgh I may have had the will, but I certainly didn’t have the skills! That’s why I sought out experts to help me.

The will (is it worth it?) becomes important when setbacks and failures occur, but trust me if the goal is worth it and you give people the skills, and encourage the will, then your team will achieve.

Next time, I’ll talk to you about how to sell the vision of change.