In square dancing and in other areas of life, have you ever noticed that the more positive an attitude a person has, the more success that person achieves? Take this simple test to find out your A.Q. (Attitude Quotient).
1. Successful callers:
(a) are fully aware of their abilities, yet they are humble.
(b) are not fully aware of their abilities, but suspect
they just might be greater than even THEY think they are.
(c) are fully aware of their abilities, and want to make
absolutely sure that everyone else is ALSO fully aware of how great they
are.
2. Successful callers:
(a) dress and act like the leaders they are.
(b) call, and let others do the leading.
(c) don't care how they dress and act, and if you don't
like it, you can just go dance elsewhere.
3. Successful callers:
(a) always act like they are having a good time at a dance.
(b) always let their true emotions show, because to do
otherwise would be dishonest.
(c) only let their emotions show when they are NOT having
a good time.
4. Successful callers:
(a) get in the right frame of mind BEFORE arriving at
the dance.
(b) get in the right frame of mind AT the dance, but only
if everything is going well.
(c) don't worry about such silly concepts as "frame of
mind".
5. Successful callers reach an agreement about their fee:
(a) BEFORE the dance starts.
(b) DURING the dance.
(c) AFTER the dance is over.
6. Successful callers believe their purpose is to:
(a) provide enjoyment for the dancers.
(b) show everyone how good a caller they really are.
(c) get paid for this lousy dance, and move on to the
next lousy dance.
7. If a dancer asks for a certain song, successful callers:
(a) are glad the dancer asked, and are happy to honor
the request.
(b) will honor the request ONLY if they were already planning
to do that particular song this evening.
(c) make a point of NOT doing the requested song:
after all, NOBODY tells a GOOD caller what to do.
8. Between tips, successful callers:
(a) try to greet every person at the dance, by looking
around for people they haven't greeted yet, and making an effort to get
around and talk to everyone.
(b) talk ONLY to people they know, because it's not proper
to talk to strangers.
(c) stay in a tight clique of their own close friends,
and make sure no one breaks in on these important conversations.
9. Successful callers:
(a) concentrate on the dancer's enjoyment.
(b) concentrate on impressing other callers who might
happen to be in the hall.
(c) concentrate on their own self, to make sure others
know how great and wonderful a caller they have the privilege of dancing
to.
10. If something goes wrong during a dance, successful callers:
(a) treat the adversity as a comical event, and continue
to provide for the enjoyment of the dancers.
(b) worry about how this adversity will affect their fee
for a future engagement in this area.
(c) look for someone to blame.
11. Successful callers:
(a) thank the dancers for attending, the club for hosting
the dance, and any others who have made efforts towards the dance.
(b) publicly praise some of the dancers, but criticize
the ones who didn't do enough work or who didn't show up.
(c) tell the dancers how lucky they are to have had the
privilege of dancing to such a good caller.
12. When talking about another caller, successful callers:
(a) show the highest respect for their professional colleagues.
(b) insult the other caller, but only in jest.
(c) let you know in a hurry that the other caller is simply
not as good a caller as he/she is.
13. When another caller is calling, successful callers:
(a) recognize that it is someone else's turn to be center-stage.
(b) try to distract the other caller, and make him "goof
up".
(c) try to divert attention away from the other caller
and towards himself.
14. A frequent topic of conversation between a dancer and a successful
caller is:
(a) whatever the dancer wants to talk about.
(b) the exciting tip that the caller just called.
(c) this evening's program, the technical specifications
of your sound equipment, how to set up the neat getout you just used,
your next or most recent or biggest or best dance ever, etc.
15. A surefire way to start a conversation with someone you've
never
met is to:
(a) ask them a question about themselves, and then take
a sincere interest in their reply.
(b) ask them a question about yourself.
(c) tell them how good a caller you are.
16. "Talking to people" really means:
(a) doing more listening than talking
(b) doing more talking than listening
(c) doing all the talking.
SCORING: Are you giving one-hundred-percent (100%) of your maximum
potential to square dancing? If not, ask yourself what changes YOU
can make so that YOU will be in a position to give as much as you possibly
can to this wonderful activity!