Using Acting Techniques To Be An Amazing Speaker
By: Doug Stevenson
Acting is a very technical medium. Whether it’s on stage or in front of a camera, actors have to be able to replicate what they do time after time. In theater they do the same scenes from the same play with the same lines night after night. In movies they do the same take over and over again until the director is satisfied that he or she got it. In that way acting and speaking are similar. Keynote speakers do the same speech time after time. They have to replicate their speech with a high degree of consistency regardless of the client or physical circumstances. One of the main differences for actors is that their set, the physical space that they act in for a particular scene remains the same. For speakers it changes. One day you’re in a hotel room with 50 people seated behind tables and the next day you’re in a conference center on a raised platform in front of 2000 people. Technique is what levels the playing field. Regardless of the outer circumstances and condition, with proper technique, you can always be your best.
By proper technique I’m referring to a set of tools, skill sets that speakers use. The carpenter has hammers, screwdrivers, saws, drills, wrenches and so forth. Each tool has a specific use. Speakers have vocal dynamics, comedic timing, dramatic movement, phrasing and pacing, gesture, facial expression and choreography. Stories are a tool. Quotes are a tool. A question asked in the right way at the right time is a tool.
Technique is the conscious understanding and use of the right tool at the right time. Technique is a premeditated choice. It is the opposite of winging it and hoping to get it right. When you watch champion figure skaters you are watching brilliant technique. Every move, turn and jump is a calculated use of technique. And yet I have found myself moved to tears watching someone skate brilliantly. Why? Because the skater in the moment of performance infuses the technique with spirit, emotion and grace. The technique does not hinder the performance, it frees the performer. Technique at its highest form becomes invisible. While we know the skater spent thousands of hours consciously working on technique, during the performance the emphasis shifts to having fun and letting it happen. The technique becomes unconscious. It is the same in speaking.
Speakers must learn to develop their technique, to practice using different tools so that in front of their audiences, it just happens. And it happens with a high degree of consistency every time. That is the difference between an amateur and a professional speaker. Replicability. A professional is able to deliver the same speech with the same content in the same way and get the same laughs at the exact same time, every time. Of course the speech changes slightly with each audience based on the need to customize and bring fresh nuances to different industries, but the core of the speech remains the same. This ability to replicate brilliance is what separates the pros from the wannabees. Pros nail it every time. They don’t have any off days. They can step off a plane after a series of snags and delays, jet lagged and wrinkled and still step in front of an audience with ten minutes preparation and hit a home run out of the park, Why? Because they have technique.
Technique alone is not enough though. Spirit, emotion and intention must be present or technique rings hollow. What is your intention when you speak? To serve, to uplift, to motivate, to heal? Are you clear on your intention? Do you know what you are about when you step in front of the room? If not, get clear. It is that intention that connects you with your audience. They feel it. It is as tangible as anything you do. Technique without intention is like frosting without the cake. It’s like a car without wheels, it’s like skiing in Kansas.
I just used a technique. When used and delivered correctly your audience will laugh a few beats after the word Kansas. Look at it again.
Technique without intention is like frosting without the cake. It’s like a car without wheels; it’s like skiing in Kansas.
It’s called a triple. Where you would normally use one “for instance” you use three examples instead. In the triple you create a pattern with the first two examples and the third one is the zinger. The third is always the funny one. It’s the detour, the one that either doesn’t fit the pattern or has a comical connotation. Let’s break it down.
Earlier in the article I spent a few minutes preparing you with a discussion of intention in relation to technique. After explaining all about technique I then told you that technique alone is not enough, you must have spirit, emotion and intention. I then asked you what your intention was when you speak. This question caused you to ponder your response. At that point I had sufficiently explained technique and intention and went into my metaphoric examples. Technique without intention is like…That’s how it starts, Technique without intention is like…at that point I had to sit down with a pen and paper and start to choose my examples. The first one that came to mind for me was frosting without cake. I was looking for an image that would evoke form without substance. Technique without intention is like form without substance. If I said that however I may as well forget getting a laugh. The phrase "form without substance" may be what I want to say, but it’s very dry and philosophical. It sounds like a professor and that aint’ me. Like frosting without cake is a great metaphor. So I wrote about four more examples like that before I came up with a car without wheels. Now I had frosting without cake and car without wheels. I had set the pattern. All I needed now was my laugh line. I wrote down about eight more before I came up with skiing in Kansas. Why is that one the funny one? Because it is the most ridiculous, the most exaggerated, the most preposterous. All three examples evoke a visual image but only one is silly, skiing in Kansas. That gave me my triple. Remember what I said earlier. Technique is the conscious understanding and use of the right tool at the right time. Technique is a premeditated choice. It is the opposite of winging it and hoping to get it right. The triple is a technique of writing and construction. It didn’t just happen one day while I was speaking. I took the time to make it happen. Now all I had to do was memorize the three examples, which took me all of five minutes. I repeated them in order about ten times and that was it.
Now let’s talk about vocal delivery. When I perform the triple, I slow down ever so slightly on skiing in Kansas. If they can’t hear it, they won’t laugh. I’ve had to coach many speakers on their line delivery to slow down. It’s a very common problem. Inflection will make or break a laugh line. The pauses, timing and inflection make it work. The best speakers write, memorize and practice their lines. That’s why they are the best. They work at it.
My intention with the triple is to make the idea of technique without intention utterly ridiculous. By using the triple my audience gets the message not just with words, but also with attitude. When they laugh, I know they got it and I move on.
Here’s a very simple way to remember triples that get a laugh. Apples, Oranges, Plywood. The first two set the pattern and the third one is the surprise, the one that doesn’t fit. When I say apples, your brain has to do something with it, that’s how the brain works. So it categorizes it as fruit. When I say oranges, your brain recognizes the pattern and says FRUIT again. It is now waiting for the next FRUIT example. When I say plywood, your brain tries to fit it into the fruit category. It takes two seconds for it to realize that it was tricked and the knee jerk, pavlovian response it to laugh. Why do people laugh there? I don’t know. I just know it works. It always has and always will. Now analyze the musical or rhythmic pattern in the three choices. Apples, Oranges, Plywood. What do the three words have in common? Two syllables. Apples, Oranges, Plywood. In your triples always seek to create a rhythmic pattern. Here’s one that doesn’t work. Apples, Oranges, Television Sets. The word television alone has four syllables.
So what have you learned about triples? Write three examples instead of one. Create a pattern with the first two and then trick em with the third one. Create a rhythmic pattern as well. Write them, memorize them and then practice delivery and inflection. Do that and you will get a laugh every time.
The Sprint
Another technique designed to get you a laugh is the sprint. As it implies, the sprint is about vocal speed. You talk real fast and then stop. While you’re studying comedians on comedy concert tapes, watch for this. Many of them do it. Correct placement is the key. Look for a place in your story where you are in a state of stress, frustration, anxiety or panic. Perhaps you’re up against a deadline, things aren’t working out the way you planned or someone is making you crazy. The sprint is another form of exaggeration.
Imagine this scenario. I missed my connecting flight from Chicago to Kansas City making everything real tight on the ground in Kansas City. I had one shot to get my luggage, run outside to the curb and catch the 5 O’clock shuttle. If I missed it I would be late for my meeting and that would be bad for business. I made it to the curb only to watch helplessly as the shuttle drove right past without noticing me. It was a moment of panic. The sprint sounds looks like this. “And for 60 seconds I just froze like a deer staring into the headlights of an oncoming truck.” I then freeze and make a stupid looking face with my eyes and mouth wide open to emphasize and exaggerate the moment. It looks like I’m frozen in a silent scream. The sprint works because of two things, placement and execution. First you have to decide where in your story to place sprints and then you have to write, memorize and practice them.
Say this sprint out loud and see what happens to your mouth. “And for 60 seconds I just froze like a deer staring into the headlights of an oncoming truck.” Now say it faster as a sprint. “And for 60 seconds I just froze like a deer staring into the headlights of an oncoming truck.” The reason you have to write, memorize and practice your sprints over and over is technical. Once you have the words memorized you can add the speed a little at a time until you can do it as fast as is comfortable. Practice sprints in your car to find the perfect sprint pace for you. Just ad-lib anything, describing the surroundings around you. It may sound like this.
"I’m on the freeway heading to Denver for lunch with Randi and it’s a sunny day in Colorado. The traffic is crummy and I’m practicing my sprints because I’m nuts and people are looking at me and I’m looking back and how fast am I going I’ve got to be careful or I’ll start speeding while I’m doing my sprints.” If you sprint too fast, you’ll mess up and you’ll get your tongue stuck in your ear. You’ll trip on your words. Start by speaking a little faster than normal until you find your ideal sprint speed. Go as fast as you can without losing control. You’ll find that sprints add spice to your program and more often than not, get a laugh.
Article Source: http://public-speaking-source.com
For more information on how to be an amazing speaker and storyteller, purchase Doug Stevenson’s book, Never Be Boring Again – Make Your Business Presentations Capture Attention, Inspire Action, and Produce Results. Also available is the Story Theater Audio Six-Pack. It’s like having a coach in a box. Six hours of detailed audio content to help you become a better presenter. Learn how to use inflection, tempo, volume changes, comedy timing and delivery. Free newsletter. www.storytheater.net
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