We’ve all been there. You know what it’s like. It’s those moments when the stress is real, when we’re not bringing the best of ourselves, and things can get very ugly very quickly.
So I want to share with you some ideas that I have learned along the years that will help you to get through recital – for everything to be calm, for everything to be organized, and for you to keep a smile in your face the whole time. Let’s be honest – it’s not an easy thing. But these tips are going to give you a huge head start.
Tip #1: Be organized.
This first tip may seem so generic, but I want to take this to a whole other level. Tip # 1 is to be organized. What we train our Studio Evolution clients to use for recital planning and organization is an amazing free tool called Trello. Trello is our best friend. It’s essentially like a project management tool.
How Trello works is that you have one board, or one project, just for recital. Everything goes into this board, from a picture of each costume to all of the music. Everything is attached to your recital Trello board so that it’s all in one place. You also add the timelines of what happens two weeks out, four days out, the day of, the day after, etc.
What you build in Trello is essentially a rinse-and-repeat formula for every recital in the future. When the next recital comes around, you duplicate the whole thing and then swap out the details, the music choices, the costume selections. This formula works.
When you develop the structured formula like that, it takes away all the questions that come to you and drive you bonkers, things like, “Oh, am I meant to be here and then?” You can say to your teachers and to your team, Everything is in Trello. Every detail you will need.” In Trello, you can also checklist. You can have due dates for assigned tasks.
Planning your recital on Trello will keep your life so organized that you will never think of recital with that sinking feeling in your stomach ever again.
Tip #2: Put someone else in charge of social media.
Tip #2 of how to get through your recital without a meltdown is to put someone else in charge of social media. This will be such a godsend for you.
Get one of your fantastic, young, very tech-savvy teachers to be responsible for all of the social media promotion for your event. They will do things like a Facebook Live look behind the scenes of the first rehearsal or the dress rehearsal. They will take photos, do quick little interviews with students, and take sneak peek tease videos.
If you don’t have to think about social media at the same time your recital preparations and performances are underway, it will take an enormous pressure off your shoulders. You can focus on just making sure the recital ship is going in the right direction.
This is one of the best things you can do not just for you, but also because it will ensure that there’s a lot of buzz and hype around the recital. You’ll capitalize on this from a marketing perspective without having to do it yourself.
Tip #3: Outsource, automate, or delegate.
Tip #3 is a little bit hard. But I guarantee, if you can do this, you will be in a very good position. What I want you to do is to grab a piece of paper right now and write down number 1 to number 20. Then write down twenty things – this is the challenging part! – but yes, write down twenty things that you can either outsource, automate, or delegate when it comes to recital, things like designing the program or burning CDs to give to kids.
What I want you to do is to think of twenty things that you could organize for someone else to take responsibility for so that you don’t have to do it.
We want to elevate your role in this recital just to pretty much coordinating everything, not having to be the worker bee. You’re going to become the queen bee.
Tip #4: Charge more.
Your tip #4 for getting to your recital without a meltdown is a really important one. It’s to charge more. I know a lot of you feel the pressure when you’re putting on a big production of this scale.
But when you also feel like you’re not even sure if you’re going to make money or break even, it adds a whole another level of anxiety, tension and if we’re honest, just awfulness to the whole experience for you.
However, if you know going into this recital that you’re going to make a profit, it makes everything calmer. So I want you to think about charging more. Consider adding a recital supplement fee into your tuition costs or charging more for tickets. Look at how you can sell merchandise on recital day. Sell cupcakes and other refreshments for a premium. People would buy them!
Take a minute to brainstorm other ways where you can make more money in the recital. The exercise is worth it. When you are confident that you won’t be financially at risk, you will be calmer.
Tip #5: Schedule a pajama day.
Tip #5 is my favorite. On the day after the recital, I want you to book in what I call a pajama day. Your pajama day is literally the day after recital. You have full permission from me to take this day. You can even say, “Chantelle said I could have a pajama day.” Here’s how pajama day works.
On your pajama day, you get to sleep in for as long as possible. You get to stay in your pajamas all day. You can even eat whatever you like. If you want to have ice cream and chocolate chip cookies for breakfast, you can. Those are the rules on pajama day.
After everything you’ve put into this whole recital, you deserve to take the day to just purely give your body the rest that it needs and to truly bask in the success of this whole enormous event that you’ve coordinated. And knowing that you’ve got this sweet, sweet day ahead of you seems to somehow get you through all of the workload leading up to recital.
So pajama day – book it in now. You’ll never regret it.
Systemize Your Studio
I’ve shared my favorite tips on how to get through recital without bringing on a meltdown, so now I want to know. How do you get through your recitals? Share with us. Share your wisdom with all who read this article. The more that we know on how to make recital easier, it’s going to bring so much joy to all of our lives.
