Novelty sells.

At the Fringe there are a few hundred shows every hour across every genre of performing arts - how does one attract a crowd?

One approach is to do something different.

Anecdotally, the most talked about sellout shows were wildly creative, innovative, and/or frankly weird.

I've returned to Dublin after a chaotic, fascinating, and inspiring week at the Edinburgh Fringe Fest.

If you’re unfamiliar, the Fringe is the world’s largest performing arts festival, which has taken place annually across the month of August for the past 77 years.

The festival’s ~3500 (!) daily shows cover the entire spectrum of live performance - stand-up comedy, theatre, spoken word, magic, dance, music - in venues ranging from thousand seat theatres to six seat trailers (seriously).

Several hit television shows and plays debuted at the Fringe, here’s some you may know: Baby Reindeer, Fleabag, Flight of the Conchords, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Stomp, and Mr. Bean.

In stand-up comedy, the physical space plays a huge role in the quality of the show and how engaged the audience feels.

The best comedy clubs have low ceilings, no windows, dim lighting, a stage close to the audience, and a full house.

The best corporate training spaces share key elements: natural light, a comfortable (but not too large) size, no distracting background noise, and a temperature that doesn’t leave people shivering or sluggish.

Learn practical tips on how to make your presentations more interactive, which is the key to engagement and learning.

The reality is that no matter the subject matter, there’s always an opportunity to bring the presentation to life. In the first post of a series, we'll share tips to engage an audience, starting with how to kick off a meeting/presentation/speech.

A comedian shares why he suffered the worst performance of his stand up career and what it taught him about public speaking and presentation skills. The key takeaway: know who’s in the audience, and pivot in the moment if the ship is sinking.

Stand-up comedy and public speaking have more in common than one may think.