Yesterday I promised to talk about the second of the the two things you should be doing before you start a speech.  The first was breathing — deeply — and the second is getting what actors call the ‘offstage beat’. 

What is the offstage beat and why do you need it as a public speaker?  Actors divide their scripts up into beats, basically short sections of the script when they’re feeling one emotion or have one thing they’re trying to accomplish — an ‘objective’ in actor-speak.  So, in Romeo and Juliet, when Romeo has exchanged insults with Tybalt and starts duelling with him, the beat might be something like, ‘I’m angry at Tybalt and want to kill him (despite my promise to Juliet not to duel with members of her family)’. 

The offstage beat is the emotion and objective you go on stage with.  The idea is that a character doesn’t just spring into life when he or she starts uttering lines, but comes from somewhere, wanting something, doing something, and so on.  When an actor comes on stage with something already going on, she is much more interesting to watch than if she’s just making an entrance in order to start speaking.  Look for it the next time you’re in the theatre.  You’ll be able to tell actors that come on with an offstage beat, and ones (if there are any) that don’t.  The difference is absolute. 

So as a speaker, you’ll be much more interesting for the audience if you start with an offstage beat.  While you’re breathing, before the speech, then, get an objective and an emotion into your head.  It might  be something like, ‘I can’t wait to tell these people about my special soap and I’m thrilled to the max to see them.’ 

The other advantage to this activity, besides making you a far more interesting speaker right out of the box is that you will spend less time making yourself nervous, which is otherwise the offstage beat you will have.  The difference is absolute.  A speaker with an offstage beat comes on focused, ready, energetic, and interesting.  A speaker without one comes on. . . nervous.  Not a pretty sight.