How to Plan a Talent Show

Planning a talent show is a fun way to involve members of the community. Not only can they participate as performers, but they can also enjoy your talent show as audience members. If you are a teacher, you can organize a class talent show as a lesson to show diversity within your own classroom.

Things You'll Need

• Available auditorium/venue
• Telephone or e-mail access
• Paper
• Pencil
• Computer
• Printer

Instructions

1. In order to hold a talent show, you must first decide on a venue where performers can showcase their talent. You can have the talent show be a part of a local fair or festival. Call or e-mail the contact person organizing vendor booths at these fairs or festivals to inquire about prices to rent out a booth space for your talent show. If it is within your budget, reserve a booth. Other places to consider include parks or other open outdoor spaces. If you know the contact person for the local performing arts school, you can call to reserve the concert or rehearsal hall for your talent show. If you are teacher who wants to plan a class talent show, you can skip this step, as the talent show can be held in your classroom.

2. Once you have found a venue for your talent show, you need to secure your day and time reservation at that venue. Knowing how much time you have will help you determine how many performers you can have in your talent show.

3. After you have secured a venue and time for your talent show, you need to find performers. If your venue reservation is only for an hour and a half time slot, you may want to hold auditions to limit the number of total acts to take the stage.

4. Make a list of final performers you will have in your talent show. You may also want to create a waiting list of names, in case any performers cancel or become ill at last minute. Divide the number of total acts you have with how many total minutes you have reserved for your talent show. This will tell you how many minutes each performer will have. Subtract a few minutes in between each act to account for preparation time between acts. For example, if you have a total of 90 minutes, and you have 15 total performers, you would schedule time increments of six minutes each. You would tell acts that they have three minutes each to showcase their talent, leaving three minutes as setup time for the next act.

5. Open a Word or Excel document on your computer or use paper and pencil to create your talent show schedule. Running down the first column or left margin, list all performance times in the increments that you've just determined. Place each act's name next to a performance time. You can also list time increments in between each act to indicate setup times for all acts.

6. If you are planning a talent show that is open to the community, you may want to place ads in the local newspaper to promote your talent show. You can also contact news reporters to announce talent show information on air during news broadcasts leading up to the day of your talent show. Once you have finalized the talent show schedule, print out copies to display it near the stage as a reference for all acts and stage crew. Keep at least one copy in your possession as the talent show is going on to write down any last minute changes or notes.

Tips & Warnings

• When determining the order each act will take the stage, you may want to arrange performers so that the least amount of active setup time is kept to a minimum. This will keep the show running smoothly, so that all performers can finish their acts before your reservation time runs out. If you run over the time you reserved, you may have to pay an additional fee for extending your reservation.