What is the difference between what actors do and what speakers do? I talked about this question last fall in a post that, summarizing, noted the following differences:
Actors generally speak someone else’s lines; speakers generally speak their own. Actors generally observe “The Fourth Wall”; speakers don’t. Acting is reacting; speaking is a conversation.
And similarities: Both actors and speakers must learn the basics of communication and body language.
There are, of course, many exceptions and qualifications to these basic observations. But as I watched a spectacular show of musical theatre the other night, thanks to a friend who couldn’t use the tickets, some further opportunities came to mind for speakers to use the craft of theatre to improve their keynotes.
The show was improbably titled “Meow Meow + Thomas Lauderdale,” and it consisted of a chanteuse with a lot of attitude and a band of supporting musicians, with Thomas Lauderdale on piano. Lauderdale is based in Portland, Oregon, but best known for writing “Sympathique,” one of the most popular songs ever in the French-speaking world, with another singer.
Meow Meow is a strong singer with a big voice, and she could certainly carry a show just on her singing alone, but she chooses to present a post-post-modern version of herself as a singer simultaneously mocking and involving the audience, talking about the difficulties of the singer’s life, and invoking a sense of music as a universal language that crosses culture in a time when the world has retreated into narrow tribal roles. In other words, she tells a story, and weaves her songs in and around the basic storyline.
What can a speaker learn from all this post-post-modern camp fun?
Attitude is key. The entertainment is anchored in Meow Meow’s attitude of a put-upon singer who has to do all the work of the show herself. The result is funny, but also ultimately affecting. When Meow Meow sings about loneliness, the songs pack more punch because the attitude has already set up the idea in a comical way that she’s on her own. Speakers similarly need to get clear about their attitude toward their material and use it to sharpen the points that they make.
Vulnerability is essential. Audiences are interested in your struggles far more than they are your successes. We laugh with Meow Meow when she has to provide her own turntable, and the resulting song is hilarious. Had she just done a song on a turntable, the moment would not have had anything like the same punch.
Involve the audience in (a bit) of the backstage goings-on. We don’t want to see the whole story of putting songs on a stage; at a certain point, we just want to hear the music. But a little of the backstage fun and struggle is fascinating and delightful. Speakers in the same way should figure out how to let the audience in on one or two secrets of their craft. Not too many, but just enough to give us something to share at the next cocktail party.
Finally, you can’t beat music for bringing emotion to the show. Meow Meow had to deliver as a singer first; if she had disappointed there we would not have listened to her with anything like as much enthusiasm. But if a speaker can deliver the keynote well and figure out a way to make music an integral part of the show, the emotional impact will take the speaker and the audience to another level.
I agree. Studying different “forms” is the real key to improving as a performer. And I consider speaking to be just as much a performance art as any of the others you mention.
I’m reminded of two shows I went to see in the same week about a year ago. The first was a music/theatre show about the life of Patsy Kline, which included occasional asides directly to the audience (in a similar manner to the show you describe). The second show was a stand-up comedy gig from comic Daniel Kitson who often plays with “the form”. In this show, it was mostly serious storytelling with occasional asides to the audience.
I was struck by how similar these performances were in form, but how differently they were received. The only real difference was in the audience: one audience had come along to see a serious theatre show and the other had come along to a comedy gig.
Many speakers (quite rightly) try to incorporate slightly theatrical elements into their presentations/performances. This blurs the line between speaking and the other forms, and it means we pull techniques from these other forms.
And yet speakers often say to me “what I’m doing has nothing to do with acting or stand-up or anything else, I am just a speaker.” I think this a great shame, as we can learn a huge amount by just accepting that we are performers and opening ourselves up to learning from all types of performers.
Cheers,
Alex
Thanks, Alex — I wholeheartedly concur with the project of drawing from any kind of performance for learning the ways of connecting with an audience. Why limit yourself with arbitrary definitions? In the end, it’s all about taking an audience on a journey, whether musical, speaking, theatrical, political or musical-speaking-theatrical-political.
Thanks, Alex and well said Nick. The key to passing information that is important to an audience in this day of electronic distractions, especially in Keynote or CE sessions is engaging the audience and giving them a vested interest in the outcome, thesis or solution that you are presenting. Entertainment is key to involvement and retention. If you want to pass on the result then capture their heart. You can have the most important message in the world but if you don’t have the audience you have nothing but a secret.
Thanks, Jim — love that last line especially. As I often say, if the audience doesn’t get the speech, it hasn’t happened.