We’re going back for a bottle of $2.99-buck Chuck and some English Coastal Cheddar.

It’s TJ’s Value Nombre Trois:

Produce customer wow experiences: We celebrate the special way we treat and relate to our customers.”

 

The description says everything we need to know–it’s all about how TJ employees treat and relate to the customer.

Now take this not just into the audition room but into life.

How would things change if we were focused on celebrating the special way we treat people?

Yes, do the work. Train. Prepare. This is Value Number Two. You bring forward your best work for that day.

Then there is the way we relate to the people in front of us.

Let’s look at an audition. Let’s say we’re singing.

A common internal monologue might resemble the following:

The accompanist is playing a little fast. I knew I gave that tempo wrong. I’ll try to slow down when I sing. Are they looking at my stomach? Should I have picked a different song? She just looked down. Now she’s whispering to the other woman. Maybe they’re saying I’m right for another project. I can’t even connect to the work I put into this. Who’s my scene partner again? My breath is shallow. Take a deep breath. Oh, wait, that might make my stomach look big. Suck in. That note sounded bad. Did that sound bad? Maybe I’ll start over. No. They’re in a hurry. I don’t want to waste their time.

Thank yooooou.

Don’t forget your book.

Who was the protagonist of the above monologue?

As the green lead of Wicked likes to belt, “It’s meeeeeeeeee.”

If I am celebrating the special way I treat and relate to my customers, I am going to open my heart.

I promise you this is as simple as telling yourself to slow the hell down, breathe in some kind of regular pattern, and think about your chest. Yep. Then think about opening that up. It can be a door, a gate, or a circa-1964 Jalousie window.

Now we’re sharing. Now we’re practicing hospitality. We’re saying, “Welcome to my home.”

You’ve done all the cooking and table-setting getting ready to share this time. So, open the doors and turn on the music.

Think about a performer who doesn’t have the prettiest voice (according to whose standard?) or the most conventional technique who leaves you saying wow.

For me, one that comes to mind is Ethel Waters’ “Suppertime” from As Thousands Cheer.

That’s how to wow. In Waters’ case, think of the life and heartbreak she chose to bring forward and share.

Let’s leave this one here today: