As a sales leader, have you ever stopped to consider what you could learn from the world of stand-up comedy?

While closing deals and making audiences laugh may seem worlds apart, the parallels between perfecting a sales pitch and crafting a killer stand-up set are striking.

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One of the biggest sales frustrations I hear from CEOs is:  “Most of the salespeople we hire don’t work out because they don’t live up to expectations.”

Hiring high-performing salespeople is hard. You’re right. I get it. 

However, if your sales growth plan is dependent on hiring a bunch of A+ salespeople who can just “figure it out,” I highly recommend you rethink this strategy.

The Wolf of Wall Street stigma stays inside people's heads.

And then when I enter an organization as a sales consultant, you find these really talented people (whether they're subject matter experts, tech architects, SEO specialists, UX designers) who are fantastic at sales, but they flat out don't want to sell.

“I can't sell!” They say as soon as you call what they're doing sales. They finally get in front of a prospect, they shut down.

What my message to them is, you're actually the best salesperson of all.

Imagine I dump a pile of Legos on your desk and ask you to build the Millennium Falcon without the instructions.

Even the best builders will struggle.

This is effectively what you’re doing when you hire a salesperson, hand them a stack of business cards, and say “double our revenue."

Great comedians say standup skills are like muscles. They’ll atrophy if you don’t use them. If an athlete wants to win the gold medal in swimming, they get in the pool every day. Want to win “the gold” at standup? Get in the pool.

Welp, I hadn’t been in the proverbial pool since 2019. This was my biggest in person crowd since pre-covid – roughly 125 folks in the room. At the last minute I got hit with a bit of stage fright that came in the form of dry mouth. I couldn’t help but smile while thinking my lips are so dry, I could do an amazing Fire Marshall Bill impression right now.

Here’s the thing I’ve learned about stage fright. Everyone gets it. If not always, at the very least from time to time.

And if anyone ever tells you they never get stage fright, they’re lying. Put that person in the right context, where the stakes are high enough, and they will get stage fright.

We get stage fright because we want to do well and be accepted. We get stage fright because we care.

My first ever stand-up gig was at the beloved Comedy Works. All new comics are given 2-minutes max. After that, if you don’t exit the stage, they cut the spotlight and mic on you.

It doesn’t matter if you are Chris Rock-level killing the room. If you go over your time, you will be abruptly cut off and embarrassed on stage.