BRILLIANCE IN PERFORMANCE Or... I Hear What
You’re Saying, I Just Don’t Know What You Mean
Originally published in ShopTalk on 5/25-26/98
In our last piece ("What Are You Feeeeeling?") we
embarked on a mission to the land of what must occur on the inside of a
performer to make the outside believable and human.
In it, references were made to the idea that in good
communication, thoughts come before words. Logically, this makes sense, since
words are supposed to express what we're thinking. However, we've all seen
situations where it just didn't work out that way for the poor on-camera
reporter or anchor. It started with the face, which became blank, or possibly
slightly stricken. Next, they spoke words you knew should be recognizable, but
just weren't. Yet the words kept coming - and coming - and you wished they'd
take a breath but they didn't - and you realized they were in a bit of a panic -
because they realized their gums are flapping unattended - and then you
started to panic watching them because you knew just what that's like, so
painful, and... . OK, enough.
That's one example of words coming before thoughts. It
can happen when you feel like you have to fill every nook and cranny of "dead
air" with your voice. Perhaps you've been trained to believe that
deadness-of-air is anathema to great reporting. While no one in their right mind
would advocate 5-10 minutes of quiet contemplative time on national television,
a pause here and there in a conversation lets everyone breathe and catch up.
Small pauses naturally occor when your thought/picture/feeling leads the words.
So will varied tempo of speech, natural-sounding inflections along with other
colorizations and textures that make your utterances intriguing.
Effective communication goes like this: IDEA--FEELING--WORDS. First you have a
concept, idea or story that you want to impart. Then you decide both what the
idea or story means to you and what feeling best conveys the meaning. Then come
the actual words. If any part of this equation is missing, the words come across
hollow and flat, as does the person behind them. This is the problem that occurs
when a person is "reading" and not "talking" to us.
Two examples of this working well (besides its
natural occurances in real life) come from my own experience. One was many years
ago, when I was a young, neophyte actor. I visited a friend in England, then did
some traveling around on my own. My first stop was the Royal Shakespeare Company
in Stratford, because unspoken law required that any self-respecting aspiring
actor go there. Not that I particularly enjoyed Shakespeare at the time - truth
was, it was only with great effort that I ever understood a word anyone was
saying. Lots of theatrics, not a lot of sense to my way of thinking. I figured I
just didn't possess the recessive gene that allowed for the Understanding of
Shakespeare.
So there I sat at the RSC, ready to soak in the general
culture, if not the actual meaning. I was about a half-hour into the show when I
realized that not only did I understand every last nuance and meaning of the
dialogue, but the actors didn't seem to be speaking "Shakespearean". At first I
thought this must be a modern adaptation of the piece with updated languaging.
Kind of disappointing. Yet, upon listening more carefully to the words
themselves, I was startled to realize that this indeed Shakespeare as it was
written. However, the actors were SO clear and committed to the meaning,
thoughts and feelings BEHIND their words - it felt like the actors could've been
speaking Swahili and I would have understood. The idea was first, then came the
thought/feeling and very lastly - the words, which acted in service of the
meaning behind them. It was a moment of enlightenment that has lasted a
lifetime.
More recently, I was watching Matt Lauer interview
someone who had written a book. He asked all the standard questions, nothing
special or outstanding. In fact, it should've been a fairly dull conversation.
But every single question was initiated by thoughts, energy and an attitude that
not only had the viewer curious about what he was about to ask next, but also
made him appear completely fascinated with the topic at hand. And perhaps he
was... but I rather doubted it. He was professional and in command of the
situation - also alive, curious and human at the same time. He was also
following the idea-thought-words formula.
You see, there is nothing quite so compelling as what is
ABOUT to be said. When your audience can see what you're about to say in your
eyes - you got 'em! If you've done that, you've also organized your thoughts
and feelings to go first, with the words following. This approach makes you
talk to us from the inside out. This type of communication is real,
fulfilling to do - and fascinating to watch.
It takes mindfulness to be conscious and to communicate
well, regardless of the situation. But it's really quite simple (though perhaps
not easy!); Be Natural... in Unnatural Circumstances.
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