Speaking when your medium isn’t language.
On the TEDxColumbus stage over the last three years, we’ve had a variety of performance artists: musicians, poets and such. This post is not about them.
It is about those individuals who have a medium other than their own voice, movement or acting to express their artistry (design, painting). I turned to wikipedia for a definition: An artist also may be defined unofficially as “a person who expresses him- or herself through a medium.”
But what happens when you ask an artist to communicate their thoughts in another manner – most commonly, language (written or spoken) – that also has critiques, deadlines, a huge audience and permenant record through video?
My hypotheses is that when an artist whose medium is not language is forced to communicate his/her work through language (spoken or written) the process is troubling.
So something oddly coincidental happened within the 12 hours before our TEDxColumbus 2011 event. Of the 18 speakers and performers, 3 of them attempted to impose changes to their slides within 12 hours before the program began. And by all accounts, they were the three artists of the group who were going to speak.
They otherwise distinguished themselves by a few screaming characteristics. And the fact is, I’ve had several other clients and TEDx speakers who have exhibited the same behavior. But it wasn’t until I saw them side by side within 24 hours did I finally get it.
The characteristics were:
– The process of preparing a talk was torturous. Having to meet any deadline, having to go through any edit or review, having to had the talk DONE before the talk itself was simply a life-altering experience. And not always a good one.
– Their topics kept evolving. Sure, they were generally in the same realm of the idea they originally proposed discussing, but the end result was fairly far distant from where we started. Imagine someone saying to you: “I’m going to be a devil for Halloween” and they turn up on stage looking like an angel. That might be great for Halloween but not a TEDx talk.
– To the aforementioned point, they never finished their talk so therefore they didn’t really practice it. And when they showed up to rehearsal, they were still in an edit mode. And the next day, another edit. And really, through their sleep the night before the event, another.
– In hindsight, they wanted to talk about a different topic altogether. Everyone wants to give a different talk after they’ve given one, that’s pretty common. But these folks wanted to pick a different topic.
Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of working with another local artist in preparing for a book tour. When we were done working on her talk, she said she thought she needed a second talk. The creative genius in her didn’t want to be done.
I am placing no judgment on the way these colleagues of mine navigate the pathway of getting on the stage to make remarks. I’m simply suggesting, if you are one of these people, please remember that the best talks benefit from rehearsals and practice. And if you are in a constant state of revision, then the talk never quite is done and well, probably is never really practiced.
Be okay with a moment, just a moment, of ‘done.’ There will be plenty more revisions to make to artwork, drawings, concepts and plans that don’t involve an audience trying to follow – or subsequently share – your ideas.
2 Comments
Visual, Verbal and Vocals, not just for High Schoolers
Allyson, my outrageously dedicated associate, got to take the stage herself this week for the first time since joining ar.tic.u.la.tion full time in May. She was invited to speak at a local high school – not our typical audience – so she worked hard to adjust one of our favorite tips for them on connecting your vocal, verbal and visual presentations. Below she shares her experience and a few ways she got her message to resonate:
A good friend of mine asked me to speak in her public speaking class at a local high school. I’ve helped to write presentations in the past, but this was my first experience creating it on my own for ar.tic.u.la.tion and presenting on my own. Needless to say, I was a bit nervous. Fifteen year-olds can be brutal and my friend didn’t provide me with much direction, “speak about your ar.tic.u.la.tion stuff,” she said. I thanked her for being so specific.
I finally settled on talking about connecting the visual, vocal and verbal in a presentation. (Knowing that they recently finished a unit on non-verbal communication, I thought this could be a strong topic- my friend agreed.) This is topic we’ve discussed 100 times with our adult clients, but how do I make it relevant to a high school student?
I broke it down. What are visuals? Most of us think that visuals are describing the powerpoint slides you create, that is not always the case. Visuals consist of everything the audience sees, including your appearance, your non-verbals (gestures, eye movement, pacing) and any visual aids you use. Easy enough.
Next, it was on to vocals. Most people probably think vocal and verbal are the same thing. Not so. When we say vocals we are describing the presenters pace, tone, volume, etc. This is where I caught the kids attention. Who remembers this ad from FedEx from the late 1980s? I knew they wouldn’t (they weren’t born yet) so it was fun to share :
The kids thought it was hilarious and not just for the outdated technology. They couldn’t understand him as he was a little loud and fairly monotone. This is exactly what I was hoping for. It is easy to let your nerves get the best of you to and speak too quickly, especially as a new speaker. It is important to pause so the audience has a chance to process what you’re saying. These pauses also allow you, as the speaker, to collect your thoughts before you move on to the next topic.
Finally, we discussed verbals and the importance of choosing your words carefully. No one wants to sit in a presentation that is filled with jargon that they don’t understand. I illustrated this by using jargon from Harry Potter. Most of the kids in the room were familiar with the Harry Potter books or movies. So, they understood the idea of muggles, horcruxes and quidditch. However, if they were explaining the story to their parents using these terms might be confusing (if their parents aren’t familiar with the story). The students could truly relate to this topic. This was a perfect example of knowing your audience. Had I been in a room full of adults, this example might not have worked so well.
I finished my presentation by watching a clip of performance poet Sarah Kay, who does an excellent job of connecting her visuals, vocals and verbals in a very rehearsed but seemly natural way that the students would understand.
Connecting the visual, vocal and verbal is something that every presenter needs to remember and practice. It doesn’t matter if you are a 15-year-old public speaking student or a seasoned presenter, we tend to neglect connecting these elements and the audience can tell. Spending a little more time practicing the content will help any presenter decide where to place pauses to be most effective, how to gesture during a particular section, where to add inflection and when to change the slides (if you are even using them).
No Comments