Theatre for Civilians

I recently finishing teaching a Sage After Work course on persuasive speaking. The make up of the class was very broad. No theatre people, but an accountant for the state, a registered nurse, two IT professionals, an account executive for Pitney Bowes and assorted nine to fivers looking to improve their communication skills.

The students studied rhetorical devices by Shakespeare and Aristotle, plus made up a few devices of their own. With the help of youtube, we analyzed persuasive performances in films like Network, A Few Good Men and V for Vendetta. We also analyzed historical speeches ("I Have a Dream" and "The Gettysburg Address" and speeches from literature (To Kill a Mockingbird, Inherit the Wind).

Finally, we spoke. Then we spoke some more. We ended up speaking a lot.

Columbia University recently hosted 50 fellows from the World Economic Forum for a week of "...voice, breathing, rhetoric and improvisation." The New York Times article on the event describes student resistance to such activities as "tapping their buttocks" to release tension and learning to use "the entire body and not just words" to express themselves.

I have had similar experiences training speakers, like those in the Sage After Work class. When a human being takes a breath, they prove their mortality, express vulnerability and build confidence all at the same time. More often than not however, breath is the first thing to go when public speaking. Now, imagine telling someone who has taken years of breathing for granted that, "I'd like to see you breathing more!" Their eyes roll, there is perhaps an impertinent sniff and a short, unproductive breath that moves the shoulders more than fills the diaphragm.

This is the challenge and delight of teaching theatre skills to civilians. When working on these skills we are doing no less than recreating ourselves to be genuine, believable human beings, not waxworks or pod people. This takes time and this is why we train. Learning to be comfortable in possibly uncomfortable situations. Using breath to relax and knock down the walls that obscure our aura. Speaking colorful rhetoric to awaken the ears of sleepy, unfocused listeners. Trusting the body to work for us, not against us.

According to the article, the students at Columbia ended up doing well. The students at Sage did too. They wrote and performed final speeches that were passionately expressed on meaningful topics. This is the reward of working with students who may never appear onstage, but use new skills to bring authenticity and theatricality to everyday situations.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/10/theater/10acting.html?_r=1&th&emc=th