What To Say ...

Whilst some 'painters' may have come via the entertainer route, or even a teacher or child minder, others have (naturally) come through the artist funnel. This means that they are perhaps less experienced in the skills of 'patter'.

One artiste recently said: " I am more of a painter than a chatter, my social skills are poor".

That's not a problem. First 'lesson' is to stop saying that you are "poor" (or that's what you will be!) Start to say to yourself that you are getting better and better all the time. Then learn from other situations YOU have been in.

Think about times you have been with professionals .... some talk, some don't. How do you feel at the hairdressers? Or in a taxi? Or at the nail bar etc? What kind of 'chat' do they do? Next time take notice and see what works / does not work for you and why.

The important thing is to remember that the child is probably just as nervous and wondering what it will be like as you! As has already been said, stuff aboput names, what you are painting etc is easy. One easy thing is to chat and not necessarily expect a response. If the child is nervous too, they will be more comfortable just listening. SO ... you can just describe what you are doing. "Now this is the yellow base .... I'm using a sponge for this ........ oooooh, that looks great on you ..... now, my big brush ......... bit of green first....... half done now......."

Remember they cannot see what's going on. This helps them. Also an occasional time reference so they know it's half done, finished the undercoat(!), now the detail, then the final glitter etc etc. This won't distract you either.

"I get so focused on what I am doing that I often forget to talk to the kid and other times, I just don't really know what to say".

In time, having to focus will be more 'second nature'. There are 4 stages of learning and you are probably at stage 3 of 'Conscious Competence' (where many get 'stuck') but if you work on it, you can reach the better final stage where you will be able to do it perfectly and also be able to be 'present' and notice what's going on around you and participate more. It called 'Unonscious Competence'

If the child is talkative (and some are, aren't they!) ... just ask an 'open' question and you can leave it to them.

Market Research
Why not use the chat times for some market research too? IF you are taking photos and getting email addresses or giving out photo album weblinks, you may discover some useful info about a potential client ie that they have brothers and sisters. Gotta do this with care, of course. This can then be added to your list database so that more personal, targeted marketing can follow.

Or use the conversations for an impromptu survey. Ask them what face, if they could have anything, they would really like next time. Whilst you will probably get the usual favorites, this may be a way of finding out the popularity of some new trend. Right now I am sure that boys are requesting Pirates again. An early warning survey means you can be prepared.

Till next time ...

John Gordon
The Infotainer
www.WatchThisFace.com