Two to Tango

28 Sep Two to Tango

Recently, the magic/entertainment duo of Penn and Teller spoke about being a successful act for 50 years. When the Smothers Brothers were retiring, Tommy Brothers said to Teller, “We’re passing this along to you.” This was the chance to make a name for themselves as a duo. Their secret sauce? Poking fun at one another while showing respect, and being opposites in style and delivery.

Duos are everywhere in entertainment: Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, Cardi B and Bruno Mars, Rihanna and Drake, Martin Short and Steve Martin– and from the 1960’s, Nichols and May. Even in business, duos are a terrific way of presenting material and winning business. We speak from experience. Eloqui co-founders, Deborah and David have been speaking and training together for 25+ years.

Effective team presenting includes assigning big picture to one partner and detail to the other. Also, use a downward inflection when completing a sentence—which cues your partner to pick up the content. And when you are not speaking, always look at your partner, subtly nodding and smiling to direct the focus to them. Audiences love contrast and different points of view. Give it a try. And bring back this classic art form. It takes two to tango.