What Is a Ringman? Lessons From 30 Years of the Professional Ringmen’s Institute
I have just returned from the Professional Ringmen’s Institute (PRI), and my voice is nearly back to normal. This year the Institute marked 30 years of training ringmen, and I was delighted to be part of its anniversary class.
If you have attended a live auction, you have almost certainly seen a ringman at work, even if you did not know what to call one. The auctioneer is on stage, calling the bids. The ringmen are on the floor, moving through the crowd. They encourage guests who are thinking about raising a paddle and pass each bid to the stage with enough energy to lift the whole room. A good ringman is the auctioneer’s eyes, ears, and voice in the crowd. A great one makes the auctioneer look brilliant and raises more money for your mission.
One Job, Five Very Different Rooms
The most eye-opening part of the course was seeing how the same job changes from one kind of auction to another. We studied five of them.
At car auctions, speed is everything. Dealers know what they want, and a car can sell in less time than it takes to read this paragraph. The ringman’s job is to catch every signal and keep the lane moving.
At livestock auctions, the buyers are often regulars who bid with the smallest of gestures: a nod, a lifted finger, a touch of a hat brim. A ringman who misses one of those signals has cost someone a sale.
At personal property and estate auctions, the crowd is mixed. Seasoned collectors sit beside families who have never bid on anything. Here, the ringman also serves as a guide, helping newcomers feel comfortable enough to participate.
At real estate auctions, the stakes are high, and the ringman helps the buyer and seller close the deal, whether it's a residential home, a lakefront vacation property, or a 500-acre, multi-parcel land deal.
At charity benefit auctions, the room is different again. Your guests are not professional buyers. They came to support a cause, see friends, and enjoy an evening out. The ringman in that room is part ambassador, part host, part coach, and part cheerleader. The aim isn't just to collect bids, but to help generous people feel good about giving more.
Practicing the Turn In
Then came the practice. We drilled turning in bids to the auctioneer again and again. It sounds simple, and it's anything but. Doing it smoothly, with a crowd in front of you and an auctioneer chanting behind you, takes real skill. PRI founder Brian Rigby watched every turn in and critiqued every move, drawing on decades of experience. It was also a great deal of fun, and I laughed more over the last three days than I have in a long time.
Why This Matters for Your Benefit Auction
For a nonprofit, the difference between a live auction item selling for $2,000 and selling for $3,000 is often a single additional bid from a guest who needed a little encouragement. A professional ringman talks to the guest during the cocktail hour, greets them in the ballroom, makes eye contact, and offers a warm, personal invitation to stay in. No bid goes unseen, the room keeps its momentum, and the auctioneer can concentrate on the chant, the pace, and the hammer. Professional ringmen more than pay for themselves with higher final prices and multiple sales.
What Comes Next
I came home convinced that the ringman is one of the most underused tools in benefit fundraising. At Capital Benefit Auctions, we are bringing professional ringmen to our client events, and I look forward to seeing what they do for the rooms we serve.
Congratulations to the Professional Ringmen’s Institute on 30 years of teaching people how to work a crowd, and thank you for one of the most enjoyable experiences of my professional life.