BRILLIANCE IN PERFORMANCE
or... What are you feeeeeeeling?
Originally published in Shoptalk on 5/21/98
Here are a couple of topics for today's discussion;
Motivation, Subtext and the Internal Agenda. Actors love this kind of talk,
broadcasters (espcially the old guard) are prone to seizures and foaming at the
mouth at the mere mention of these terms in the same breath as news.
For starters, let's define "motivation" and "internal
agenda" for the sake of this discussion. They could both be very simply rolled
into the concept that speaks to "That which is on your mind while you're
delivering your story; your predominant focus". I've seen old timers roll their
eyes and scoff at this; because obviously your STORY should be first and
foremost on your mind. Which is true. But maybe you're not a seasoned and
unflappable news veteran yet and other stuff still goes through your head
sometimes. Perhaps you need a boost to bridge the gap between "distraction" and
"focus". A few possibilities for distraction could include;
* It's 4:45, you're live at 5 and your photographer is
late.
* Your story is... yet another fire, courthouse drama, car wreck/drunk
driver at fault piece - and you're just plain bored. 2 years left on your
contract in a small town... and counting.
* You're cold, tired and reporting late at night on a story that's been done to
death - and there's nothing new TO report on it, but you've been sent out to do
it anyway.
* You're working on your voice and delivery to sound more credible and
authoritative - your news director just yelled at you, you're coming unglued -
and now you have to go 3-2-1 live.
* You're in an airtight booth, tracking the story you did earlier that day. It
requires a different energy than you have now, a voice to match the one you used
on camera (back when you had the situation and circumstance of the moment to
help) - and you just can't recapture the mood.
The list is long, these examples are few... but the
bottom line really is;
1. You're attempting to do a very natural thing
(storytelling), in a completely unnatural environment. Which negates the
rather tired advice everyone seems to get at some point; "Just relax and be
natural!".
2. In this insanely competitive industry, you really don't have the luxury of
years of on-the-job training to get the kinks ironed out.
3. It's entirely possible to learn a few tricks-o-the-trade to shorten the time
frame between "I suck" and "I'm credible and competant".
Learning how to motivate the unmotivated (whether it's
you or the story) is one of the "tricks".
Think of your "motivation" (predominant focus) as the
lens through which your words will be heard. Unfortunately, this is often chosen
unconsciously. For instance, if your primary thought is to be
"Professional and Authoritative"... yawn; this lens generally creates a
presentation that is dry, distant, devoid of warmth and one-dimensional. It
actually separates you from yourself. That's because by themselves, those
qualities don't have any life or spark in them. Unless you want to be written
off as an obnoxious blowhard (or as Ted Baxter, for those who remember him),
you'd never walk around in your life posturing with those qualities. Yet that's
how many young reporters approach their delivery (and sometimes even older
ones!), often simply because they don't know what else to do to be taken
seriously. The catch-22 of authoritativeness, credibilty, professionalism - is
that they are all the end result of other things working correctly
in your storytelling. Writing is a large part of this... but right now, we're
focusing on you, your focus and performance.
So... one key is that you need to be connected to
your audience. This is a must in good storytelling. You need to engage them...
how? Well, ideally, the story itself is so intense and compelling that it takes
care of everything. Big time score. But if not, go back to what makes people
"warm up" to you. Yes, warmth... also compassion, genuine concern and interest -
whatever is appropriate to the story you're doing. This is the beginning of
"motivating" a story. Engage yourself in the purpose of the story. It's a
"story" for a reason... otherwise why bother telling it? So, dig in and find
some genuine human connection with your content. Yes, reporters are
suppsed to be objective... but you are reporting on people, events, emotions
that affected someone and had consequences. Tell that story... make us GET it by
making us FEEL it!
Along with motivation goes something called "subtext".
Subtext is the thoughts or feelings behind your words, which lend shades
and textures to your meaning. Let's say you tell someone; "I think you're just
AMAZING!". If your thought is actually "You have GOT to be slimiest dirtbag
sucking up air on the face of the earth!" - it's completely different than
meaning; "You're one of the most talented, generous people I know. I am in awe
of you". Try it yourself; say that sentence out loud, with each of those
subtexts behind the words. They'll come out totally different; based solely
on what you are really thinking or feeling. We do this in real-life all
the time. The trick is to bring this same skill into your delivery.
What if you want to be more real and
conversational in your delivery? Following the above model, first get clear
on intent. What's your point? (If you don't have one, why say anything?) Then,
what do you want the audience to "get"... or feel... or think? And... what one
main feeling tone will convey this particular message the strongest? That's what
you have to focus on and you have to be specific. Do you want us to feel
sad, scared, concerned, amused, puzzled, wanting to know more? If you decide
what the point of your story is and how you want us to feel about it - then it's
easy to see where you have to go to motivate it - what subtext to employ - what
feeling to use as the lens to color your words.
You do this everyday way when you complain about what
some idiot did on the road today, call up a friend excitedly to tell them about
a great job offer you just got, or tell your sweetheart that you love them to
the moon and back. You know exactly why you're telling your story,
what you want the other person to hear, feel, etc. and how you're
going create that feeling in that moment. So, USE these natural born skills in
your unnatural environment! Performing really is an experience of the
"extraordinary ordinary", as my mentor Dr. Joan Kenley called it. Meaning, when
you stand up and deliver to a camera, it's totally unnatural and extraordinary.
The trick is to be an ordinary person - one who is real, alive, approachable and
human - whilst performing the extraordinary. To be successful at this, you have
to rely on what's real in you. Real feeling. Letting the thoughts lead
the words. It's relatively easy to get the externals down - the gestures, how to
hold the head, where to stand, etc.. What makes a person fascinating
(rather than merely efficient ) to watch, is when they can make the simplest
story into something we can feel - and remember - well beyond the telling
of it.
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