BRILLIANCE IN PERFORMANCE
Or... Get the Picture?
part 1
Originally published in ShopTalk on 8/11/99.
One of the marks of a really great presenter is their
ability to sound like they're talking only to you. They're real...
conversational... natural. Is it a gift? Is it only bestowed after years of hard
work? Is it learnable? Probably all of the above. But like anything else, there
are ways of grasping this particular skill sooner than later.
We've all been conditioned to hear the news a certain way
- there's a particular sound or mind-numbing predictiblility to it. It's
sometimes known as the dreaded "news read". Most seem to fall into its clutches
at some time or another, usually early in their career. Some find it tough to
get past. We all recognize the symptoms: predictable punches, tempo, inflections
and vocal patterns. In short, it sounds like reading - not talking.
Even if you write a terrific script - or someone has
written one for you - you still need to go back and make some decisions about
how you're going to speak it. This is a different skill than writing it.
However, it's the same skill you use anytime you tell a friend a story
about an event. When you talk from your own experiences, you usually do it from
a picture you have in your head. This picture contains certain
impressions, feelings, thoughts...which you then convert into words, unless
you're adept at telepathy. Mind you, this process happens so fast, we don't even
think about it. But when accomplished successfully, these words then convey your
experience back into living color to your friend. If you're any good at telling
the story - they get the picture... and bingo! Good storytelling.
The trick when reading a script is to do an "on purpose"
version of the same thing. That is, use the words in your script to create a
picture in your mind; then speak the it, of course using the words from your
script.
Decide: what is the bottom line feeling, idea, or
impression that these words are intending to convey? The dry facts will always
be there; what about conveying the image and full impact of an event that has
occurred? If you're reporting it, it must have been important to someone.
Get behind these people, feel them... and help us feel the story too. Are you
giving us the full, technicolor version of what happened (the picture), or are
you conveying dry facts in outline form (reading words)?
Sometimes this is easy - sometimes it takes some doing.
There is a moment in a film called "The Mighty", where a genius kid is trying to
teach a less-than-genius kid how to read. It's tough going; and he wants his
pupil to get into it more. So he tells the boy to close his eyes and think of it
this way: "Every word is part of a picture: every sentence IS the picture.
All you do is let your imagination connect them together."
It sounds so simple - and it is. However, like so many concepts labeled
"simple", it isn't necessarily easy. You're trying to perform a perfectly
natural act - telling a story - under unnatural circumstances. Anytime you add
cameras, countdowns, deadlines, IFB's, cranky, stressed out photographers,
producers, news directors, selves... "Hey, just be conversational!" Yeah, right.
There are more ways to wrap your brain around this than
you can shake a magic wand at. But here's one for you: figure out what
the "button thought" is. What's that, you ask? Simply put, it's the basic
feeling, idea or point - that you can distill down into a one-button response
within yourself.
For example: Say you're doing a feature story on the
latest cool tech gear. Maybe the script goes something like; "Flat screen
monitors are finally affordable to everybody". Your "button thought" might be "
This is cool... check it out!". By doing this, you create the thrust and meaning
behind the words, which of course injects that sense/feeling into the words. It
makes it easier to speak scripted words without getting mental about what words
to punch. Instead, you go for the center core - what picture they're
trying to create. Going for the picture tends to take care of how to say
something - and allows you to say what it means.
It takes some focus to do this, but the results; delivery
that sounds like you have something interesting... urgent... and compelling to
tell us. We'll stick like glue to you to see what it is and get the picture!
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