What do you want from a demonstrator?

[bodrighywood]

Thinking about the discussions regarding demonstrators that have been in the magazine, what do club members want from a demonstrator? One experienced turner told me that ideally a good demonstration is 70% entertainment and 30% turning and I have to say that to some extent I agree. When I sit at a demo I personally find it much better if the person up front not only shows something that is different but also interacts with us, mind you it means that we should also be interacting with them. As a demonstrator the worst ones are those where you are faced with a group that says nothing the whole time and disappears rapidly when you have finished. You go home wondering if you were a totally failure. What do those of you who don't demonstrate want from those of us who do? Could be interesting and enlightening.

Pete

[fuzzyturns]

I am primarily on the receiving end (having given only 1 demo to my own club so far).
Yes, entertainment is certainly a big factor, at least 50% of the value. I haven't seen all the demonstrators on the circuit, only about 2 dozen in total. Of those that I have seen, the best so far were (in no particular order): Mark Hancock, Mark Baker, Nick Agar, Les Thorne, Ambrose O'Halloran.

I'd agree that engagement from both the demonstrator and the audience is a must for a successful demo. I'd expect a demonstrator to show me something I haven't seen before, some special technique or a little trick, or how and why a particular shape or technique works and another doesn't. If that isn't there, then I would at least expect a show of technique that almost leaves me in awe. Or, as was the case with Ambrose, inspirational direction.
I have seen demos where we were shown how to make a candlestick. OK, there are candlesticks and candlesticks (I should know all about that). But this was an ordinary one. The talk was uninspired, the result more so, and the techniques to get there bread and butter for even mediocre turners. Why anybody would do that in a demo is beyond me.

[Les Symonds]

Put simply.....I want to be inspired, motivated and taught something that I didn't already know, and perhaps that is the demonstrator's dilemma. After all, he or she doesn't know what inspires me, motivates me, or my current level of knowledge. Thus, I guess it's down to the demonstrator to do something original and entertaining......most do!

Les

[GBF]

Everybody wants to see something new and something they have never seen before. How can demonstrator's keep coming up with something new and unseen before it is imposable
My Demo's were always aimed at the novice turners in the audience as they are the ones that need to be inspired and learn techniques that are new to them.
One of my demo's was turning a three piece two foot high church type candlestick This demo covered how to set out a template so they could make repeats,then how to turn and Finnish. This always went down well even if it was basic because most turners only know how to make one offs rather than multiples Another of my demos was mostly colouring and texturing, basic but always went down well and started a lot of turners off doing this sort of work.
In most clubs 90% of members are novice turners so what is the point in showing them things they cant understand because it is too clever.
I do not do Club demo's anymore I don't think they are worth the trouble and one of the reasons is that I could not keep thinking up things people had never done before .

Regards George

[bodrighywood]

90% novice turners? So far I have found disapointingly few novice tuirners in the clubs I have demo'd at. Be much easier if there had been more. I usually ask at the beginning si I know what level to aim for e.g. explaining basics etc. and usually there are just one or two, or maybe people are too shy to admit it. What has surpised me is just how many members of turning clubs don't turn for one reason or another.

Pete

[Mark Sanger]

For me it is not so much about being entertained, I can go to the cinema for that ( however an engaging personality is good if I am not to fall asleep), I am after precise, clear technique and understanding so I can learn.

There has not been a demonstration I have gone to where I have not learnt something useful which personally is what I want. On the other end of the scale I have been to demo's where the demonstrator loves there own voice, is full of jokes and little ditties that are all amusing while they lean on the end of the lathe regaling stories of travels and who they have met along the way, most dull and uninspiring. Thankfully this is few and far between as I deliberately don't watch them, and in some cases they charge the most money !!!

[Eric Harvey]

In my experience,most demostrators do a good demo,even if it isn`t something new,the good ones explain their techniques,ie; tool control,way to hold tools,the angles of the grinds they use on their tools,which is different for virtually every demonstrator,I have seen a couple of demonstrators that are dangerous and should go on a health and safety course before they damage a person,I think most people just watch to update their techniques where they have got a bit lax in their own workshop,and for the newbies most demonstrators are a great learning curve,cheers,

Eric.

[GBF]

It is my job to book Demonstrators for our club and I agree with Mark if I wanted somebody to stand and tell jokes I would book a comedian.
Demonstrators who want to come and set up a table for selling stuff don't get booked at our club


Regards George

[Tom Sherman]

I enjoy the demos that are both interesting and informative. I sometimes appreciate even the most basic demos, they serve to slap me back into something I may have been doing wrong. I don't mind the demonstrators that have products to sell, there are those folks that just can't do with without the next best tool or whatever. My particular beef is with the demonstrators that wish to sell something and think that everyones pockets are lined with gold.

[burywoodturners]

As someone who does all the booking for my club I have a few ideas on what I look for in a demonstrator.
Most have been covered  in this thread and I agree with most of them, where they apply to a single night. I do however have to think of the club and that primarily means the members.

I have to have a program that keeps them coming back, bums on seats really do matter. I have nine bookings to complete for any year, and I have to consider the cost, and we cannot afford the top liners every month. Fortunately I have so far, found that some local turners will come for a modest fee, and these help to cover the cost of the more expensive demonstrators. We do not exclusively rely on turning, I book at least one wood related demo every year, and these go down well. So far we have had a talk on archery, carving birds, a luthier, a chief ranger from a local park and a walking stick maker. Our next session is with the supplier of blanks for the shop we use as a venue, he promises to tell us about seasoning and preparation of blanks and a short turning demo.

When I start to book for the coming year, I have 2016 sorted and started on 2017 already! I look for the well known and consequently expensive turners, and the lesser known ones. I have on several occasions booked blind, and so far they have all been successful in entertaining us.
I try to avoid booking the same turners two years running.
What do I want from a demonstrator? Well to know about them for a start, not just who does a good demo, we are beginning to get a handle on that, but to know who will demonstrate, not all of them will have their contact details in the AWGB web site, and word of mouth helps but only up to a point. If we don't know who you are we can't book you!

I need their contact details, and I collect business cards at shows and talk to any one who may be able to help.

I will contact a demonstrator with a date, usually by email, and I get a quote for the costs and in the month preceding the demo I contact them again to see how we can help them during the evening.

What I need most though is good communication, I have lost count of the enquiries I have made to demonstrators who do not respond to an email.
It helps if they turn up on time and so far they all have, and to let me know if they have a problem, I have had to get some in at short notice in the past.

A lot has been said on whether the audience asks questions of the demonstrator. We get a few and I find for a really good demonstrator the questions get save for the end of the evening when we are all trying to pack up and go home.
Ron

[GBF]

I think you have it dead right Ron.

Regards George

[MCB]

Demonstrators who want to come and set up a table for selling stuff don't get booked at our club

Regards George

Personally, I  don't have a problem with demonstrators who bring some of their products and sell them (during the break or at the end of their demonstration)  for less that it would  cost to buy those products from shops or by mail order.

I  also find it helpful to handle equipment that I'm  thinking of buying rather than only seeing photographs in a magazine or on a web page.

Provided these activities don't detract from the demonstration, of course.

One has the choice to buy or to ignore the sales table

MC

[bodrighywood]

Iusually take some pieces as examples of the sort of thing I am demonstrating but not for sale. However if someone wanted to buy something I doubt I would refuse them LOL. Only place that has happenned though have been at demos at shows.

Pete

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

I too usually take something away from the demonstrations that I attend. You see a technique or a tool or whatever and use it or adapt it, this is how stoneage man would have evolved, they would have seen a way of doing something and improved on it. I like to see new tricks of the trade that I can use in my everyday turning.
         Sometimes though when you are demonstrating you have to take the audience into consideration, I used to have a venue where I demonstrated to the public
13 times a year, it was a good earner but totally different from demonstrating at a club. At that venue you had to attract a crowd so turning something noisy or telling jokes was a way of attracting a them and once the crowd was there you'd then start showboating, turning small stuff that could be made from start to finish in less than 3 minutes or you lost the crowd. One of the things we did was turn a large mushroom, big enough for a child to sit on and place it near the front of the tent. Sure enough kids would sit on it while mum and dad were watching the demo, up above the mushroon was sign pointing out genuine live pixies!!
 Those were the days, long hot summers, plenty of sales and not a health and safety person in sight.

[ALAN THOMAS RPT]

When I get requests about doing demo's for a club, I usually ask if there is anything in particular that the members want to see or have questions about.Maybe they have seen something in a mag or at a show and want some more information. However the usual reply is " do what you want" which is great for me in one sense but can be a tricky balancing act to get right especially if I haven't been to the club before. Fortunately most clubs ( in the South West at least, come on the rest of you, you know you want to! ) have seen me before or checked out my webpage and so have an idea what I make. I have a "traveling box" that generally goes with me which contains a range of items the members can look at through the evening or whatever and this helps start discussions and questions. It is very difficult to demo to a "dead" hall so I usually try to get everyone relaxed before I start by listening to the conversations going on around me as I set up, then picking up on them when I start the demo. Also the old gag about asking if anyone plays cricket then getting them to sit right in front of the lathe "just in case"  goes down well and helps break the ice.