When I walk out on stage, it’s not to impress. It’s to reignite something most adults have lost. That little gasp. That sparkle in the eye. That glimmer that makes them question if what they’re seeing is real.
That feeling is wonder.
And in a world driven by deadlines, facts, figures, and productivity, wonder seems like a luxury.
It’s not.
Wonder is fuel.
It fosters creativity. Enhances focus and builds authentic connection.
Having performed thousands of shows for corporate audiences, I can tell you that the most wondrous thing you can do for a room full of adults is not share information or bring entertainment. It’s to create awe. The second they’re in wonder, they’re vulnerable. They’re interested. They’re alive.
Wonder is not childish. It’s a reminder of how we should all view the world with an open mind once again.
We Don’t Outgrow Wonder. We Bury It.
Children exist in a world of newness. They don’t need explanations for why they should appreciate rainbows, paper airplanes, or bubbles in the air. Adults, however, stop being curious and become certain. We no longer ask how, but instead boast about our knowledge—we subtly convey our perception and take pride in what we already know.
Yet we never lose the ability to be impressed.
Instead, we fail to remember how to look.
I’ve performed in many boardrooms and ballrooms across North America. Rarely do I leave without someone telling me how impressed their team was or how engaged their group was. It’s because I’ve seen what happens.
A group enters, serious yet polite. Focused on their schedules. Midway through the show, they’re leaning forward with grins, laughter billows from the corners, and guards are dropped with wide-eyed innocence.
They haven’t become childish.
They’ve transformed back into human beings.
The Shift in the Room
There’s one moment that stands out in my mind.
I performed for a large technology company midday (after a long day of meetings). The audience was polite and quiet, yet slightly lethargic, and the air felt heavy with the weight of PowerPoint decks and impending deadlines.
I started with something simple: I asked a volunteer to come onstage and think of someone meaningful in their life. Without touching them or asking any questions, I began describing who this person might be. Their eyes widened. I predicted the first name. The entire room gasped.
In that instant, the world shifted.
Laughter came easily; people started sitting up straighter, and conversations broke out across the tables.\
The room became animated in ways it had not been moments prior.
It wasn’t the trick that changed everything.
Instead, it was the revelation—the understood notion that something was truly occurring right before their eyes—and that feeling rewired how they approached the rest of the day.
That’s the power of wonder—it breaks down routine and reminds us we are part of something larger than ourselves.
Wonder Fuels Creativity
In the corporate world, creativity is currency, and companies hire consultants to tap into innovative potential daily; however, one thing companies often dismiss as a possibility is awe.
When people are in wonder, their minds are freed from expectation. Patterns usually set aside become deferred approaches to thinking about what could emerge instead of what has already been done.
I’ve witnessed it firsthand; people tell me that after shows, their teams leave buzzing with ideas that are unlike any idea generation they’ve experienced before. An executive recently said to me, “It’s like the magic freed their minds.” That’s precisely what wonder does, it liberates thought.
This is backed by neuroscience—studies show awe expands perception and increases openness as people shift their focus from themselves to something larger than life itself. This mental reboot is invaluable for problem-solving and creativity.
In wonderment, no one tries to control everything; instead, they begin to explore, and exploration leads to innovation.
Wonder Sharpens Focus
Yes, and here’s why: when your mind is awed, attention is tunnel-like.
Anyone reading this has experienced something breathtaking in all its wonder, be it a view, a profound performance, or a trick that seems impossibly unrealistic, but during these moments, we’re not distracted by notifications; time slows, and our worlds become aligned with what’s right in front of us with absolute certainty.
During one financial services show, I performed a routine where an envelope had been taped to the corner of the table since the beginning of the performance; at the end, with a participant’s free choice, I revealed the word they selected as the same prediction sealed within, there wasn’t even a pin drop as silence blanketed hundreds of people before my audience. They were so enraptured that you could hear a pin drop miles away.
That wasn’t emptiness; it was focus.
An attendee mentioned how it was the first time they’d focused on a single thing in months as clarity rushed over them.
That’s an element of wonder; it reboots everything. That clarity isn’t just nice to have; it’s essential for making informed decisions and gaining meaningful insights.
Wonder Builds Connection
We spend too much time defining ourselves by roles in corporate life; teams can exist in the same room and still operate as strangers; wonder changes that perspective relative to all involved.
When a group builds rapport through shared laughter or experiences a moment of sheer identical disbelief, gazing at each other, that’s a shared emotion and an instantaneous bond.
I once performed for a group comprised of executives from various departments who rarely communicated with one another. Nearly every routine included random numbers, cards selected, and words chosen, all revealed together from a collective final decision aligned with their core mission statement.
This wasn’t performed for them but instead developed among them.
For just an instant, there was no hierarchy; they were all just people amazed by the same occurrence together.
Later, a manager said, “That was the first time I recognized that we were all on the same team.” Wonder connects people because it’s universally experienced among all involved, regardless of title or position; it’s felt, and behind every title is a person who, despite their best intentions, often fails to remember that they want to believe once again. More importantly, it’s good for business when teams connect.
Wonder Improves Corporate Life
You don’t need a magician to create wonder within professional existence; instead, wonderful moments emerge all throughout corporate life, it’s unnecessary for major grandiosity—sometimes they present themselves as minor events.
A poignant story shared by an authentic boss who reminisces about where they’ve come from—or the transformation over time as an idea that was momentarily grounded and then rediscovered recently opens new doors—these experiences bring gratitude as teams recognize what they’ve accomplished thus far without even realizing it.
Some companies do this through retreats designed around creativity; others embrace recognition ceremonies or experiential opportunities down the line, regardless of its structure, the intention must be clear: bring awareness back to employees, recognizing they are part of something significant, bigger than themselves, keeps leaders at ease while cultivating a fear-free world filled with curiosity instead through idealized approaches to corporate life.
How I Create Wonder at My Shows
It’s not about fooling everyone; it’s about making them feel reconnected once again through what they see fit as awe.
Before any performance or show, there’s almost always an hour of research, including conducting audience studies behind the scenes, who are they? What pressures do they have? What values exist among them? Then I formulate moments that no longer meet their expectations through deception, but instead break boundaries at specific reveal times.
Sometimes it’s mentalism that reveals deeply private data they’ve shared; sometimes it’s psychological visuals too clean for explanation purposes; other times it’s comedic set-ups that evolve into something so poignantly profound that clear-minded compassion becomes their method of understanding.
The method does not matter; the shift does, the moment someone cracks through defenses into curiosity, when rationality stops midway through, takes hold—instead of allowing heartfelt components surrounding human vulnerability—to punch some emotional tickets clear into sentience.
That’s when boundaries drop and messages land like feathers, a system fully in place because wonder isn’t just a feeling about which we can communicate, it’s a door metaphorically flung wide open for those willing and for those interested enough not to care, so why should anyone lose sight of what makes humans feel most alive?
The Cost of Losing Wonder
How many brilliant professionals have I met over the years? All of them are incredibly efficient and organized yet deeply logical simultaneously, and they are exhausted.
Without influxes designed to promote awe-based wonder, work becomes mechanical; meetings merge into one another; creativity falls flat; relationships die down like lost steam, with everyone operating in their simplest forms incapable of branding themselves uniquely enough where presence highlights their value instead of mechanical systems through which people give autonomy up completely until their batteries need recharging—and we’re just not capable of functioning like machines; we’re meant to feel.
Wonder exposes us to where we’re meant to function; we reduce our access without it, where we pre-emptively avoid emotional flourish for practical certainty, instead, and lose out on creative control, limiting our functionality as humane beings.
Wonder opens our eyes to more than just an existential checklist; it saves lives. It creates stories we can’t write or predict; it’s like opening up a fiction novel to create our own ending without getting caught up in striving for perfection every step along the way.
Wonder Fosters Awe as Leadership Qualities
The best leaders I’ve met all share one commonality—they know how to create wonder!
Not through illusions but instead grand plans through which people must ascend metaphoric mountains beyond themselves—they paint their pictures through possible visions, enticing everyone else along for the ride afterward.
Awe allows people to rise from kneeling on the ground, redirecting attention toward an ambitious horizon, building hope! Join me! Trust me! Motivation springs as cultivated potential emerges across the distance accumulated through stability.
To ease people into this experience takes remarkable insight!. Within one company where I worked behind the scenes with outside help, the CEO started his opening address during his annual conference, reminiscing about the first client challenges he’d faced earlier in his life—the audience was silent; some cried; however, this became critical during the first leg afterward.
Wonder isn’t always grandiose—but instead fills us with incredible hope, subsequent reliability rendered through brutal honesty, and candid moments straight from emotionally receptive mouths, right into hearts everywhere!
Reclaiming Wonder Everyday
You don’t need a magician to appeal every day! You need only yourself! To cultivate wonder involves developing observations focused on truly amazing things! Start with what’s free! Watch a sunrise or get lost within moving music or absorb content cultivated through anything you could not ever critique because positivity abounds! .
This relates both metaphorically and literally; in your work, pay attention! Bring situation awareness into play! Notice what’s working! Celebrate minor curiosities that surprise unapparent results! . When you discover something amazing, keep quiet!
Don’t rationalize your way out! Just respect the feeling! . Wonder is a muscle! The more you use it! The better it gets!. Every human possesses one right–handed person who has stronger connections than others. Yet, no one has gotten through life unscathed without circumstances creating holes that never truly feel like holes.
My Personal Moment of Wonder Still Exists
There was one show that I’ll never forget.
It was an annual corporate holiday performance late into December, where hundreds of employees gathered after an exceptionally tough year. You could sense tension overwhelming possibilities, lingering within some overcrowded recess attempts at avoiding empty threats; not many others had even cared enough to spend time developing prior.
Near the end of my show, I invited everyone on stage, truly limited only by those involved, with one request: think of one word that represents your goal for next year. Obviously, without prompting, many selected similar ideas: growth, connection, and peace. At last, I revealed an envelope sealed shut from earlier, but under no duress; it revealed only to me. The word inside matched everyone else’s presumed joy, inspired resonance—evidenced by the simultaneous silence of everyone present. To make everyone -. Not coworkers—but supporters longing for something beyond what’s expected.”
That night, people lingered long after my invisible magic had ended: they talked, they laughed, they shared. The magic wasn’t presented in results but instead bonded together because they finally recognized their existence, too, when otherwise none may have cared since moments existed before challenge rendered suggestions point until now(in crisis:);
As Business Professionals, Why Wonder More Than Anything Else?
We’re bombarded by overwhelming information at all times, too much noise exists far too often, which creates tumult versus peace, but wonder takes us back above those red flags concealed peace higher than ever appreciated status.
Wonder teaches us what it’s like to be connected, curious, and conversant. Nothing calms a human operating in someone else’s business like anything else deemed true joy. Vida doesn’t naturalize life;
Ultimately, people who’ve lost sight may never fear exploring vulnerability; yet, as we know, without work, business won’t survive, and a life worth living is impossible. That’s why problems/professions/things worthy of attention are always waiting; all are risks that truly empower! They forget! Otherwise, you’d get slaughtered by lost efficiency, life prospect/illusion/lucky-defining circumstance.
Final Thoughts
After thousands of performances, I realize that opportunity no longer occurs by chance, but is imperative for the moment created. As insight exists, time goes by, or an immediate impression is forced upon a second entrance, exerted effort is given to anyone at any logic-defying expense, hoping to exceed the notion realized, turns, and smiles!
Awesome/dependable/compact/cost-effective!
That spark beyond illusion, production – usually presents enjoyment that prevents frustration, though it heals and energizes new attention, transformed with gaps, and security, allowing for a 100% believable hour to pass. Never predictable wins popularity beauty anyway!.
So, if you’re leading teams, turning employees into imaginative workers who discover their desires daily, explore/imagine gainful employment, life’s full-time attention requires a supportive general sentiment; please appeal every chance you can.
Transform lives through magical reality.
Thus making existence worth existence beyond avoidable possibilities.
