Continuing Education for DJs

By Liz Daley, WED®, ABC™ – “A Passion for Performance”

Is it really necessary for DJs to continue their education? Better yet, should DJs even bother to educate themselves in the first place?

My answer, although it may seem slightly self-serving is “Yes!” Why? ​Because what we DJ entertainers do is a lot more difficult than it looks.

Talent and Skills

First, you need to have innate talent as a performer. If you don’t have a certain energy, a certain charm…no amount of training is going to help you. However, assuming you “come to the table” with a certain natural level of talent, you should be able to enhance your skill level to a degree where your talent can shine even more through training, practice and critique.

Focus and Style

When I fell in love with musical theater as a little girl and decided I wanted to be a professional actress, I had no idea the amount of work and heartache that was in front of me.

I had natural talent but didn’t have focus and it took me YEARS of training (and a lot of money) to get to the point where I was able to make a modest living as a professional actress.

Artists are continually defining our style. We are always progressing, we are always transitioning, and we are always growing. Every performance is a building block toward these attributes.

Learn To Be Your Best

A lot of DJs resist continuing education because they are under the incorrect assumption that teachers are trying to “create clones.” Nothing could be further from the truth.

Any workshop “worth its salt” is going to focus on helping you be your best! Our differences as people and as entertainers are what makes us shine.

For example, Peter Merry and I both do personalized introductions. We both collaborate extensively with our clients on the script, we both use music, and we both use humor – however, our presentations and delivery are as “different as night and day” because we both have distinctly different personalities!

My take-away message? Attend workshops, seminars, classes and trade shows; read books; watch videos; find a mentor; network and share. Continually do something to make yourself better at your craft. Don’t ever make the mistake of believing you’re done improving yourself.

And speaking of improvement…check out Peter’s and my “Make it Grand! Workshop,” which equips wedding entertainers to deliver the most personalized grand entrances ever!

Pictured Above: Mike Walter