The Good Parts

The lifeless Bio figure (what was left of it), suspended in a translucent, golden-colored, gem-hard substance, its biological eye stuck nearly popped out from his wretched skull, his look frozen in time like an insect preserved in amber from the moment it had been trapped 20 million years ago. The only difference was that the man—what was left of him–still lived. He did have a body of sorts now.

The hexahedron slab of amber, some ten feet high and four to five feet in diameter, hung in the air without apparent support. There were no visible wires or chains. Beginning its descent into a green colored vat below, it rotated on an invisible axis, spinning slowly, causing the image of the Bio inside to appear as a distorted, disjointed, disfigured form to anyone who might see it. Once there, the opaque amber gemstone began to melt as it touched the green nano-gelatin. What was amber in color was now green. As the chemical reaction took place, the man melted, too, becoming a creature hardly recognizable, a blob of cells. Yet he lived, held prisoner in the glassy green gelatin composed of tiny single cell-size nanocyberts that were rearranging his cells to form connectors to his nervous system so his new stainless steel and titanium body would answer to his once human brain. Hidden in the microscopic Cyber design, of course, was Makr’s will.

Am I leaving out the best parts of the novel when I give you snippets? Yes, I think I am. Most of what I have taken is from the front of the novel when characters are first introduced. The piece below is taken later in the novel. It could be a spoiler for you if you are planning to buy the book anyway, it’s one of the “good parts.” Spoiler Alert!

Physically he would never see, hear or feel like he did before, but he would have sensors with far greater capacity than his original Bio sensory organs. Had he dreamed up this transformation himself, he would have been delighted to lose his ugly exterior. He had always wanted to be smarter and stronger, but that hadn’t been humanly possible. However, it was Cyber possible. He was what he was and that was that. He wanted more—more of everything he was and what Makr would make of him. He wanted to be smarter and stronger. Could he also be invincible and more powerful?

A voice boomed in his head again.

“You’ll have all you desire and then some. You will indeed be more of everything; you won’t be a Bio anymore, but you’ll be a perfect product of Makr. You’ll be something totally new. You’ll be a creature feared for its power. You’ll be among the giants of this new world.”

With those last words, Harlan Leach’s moment of ecstasy was nearly over. His lifetime of horror had just begun.

Sickening, hideous images.

In his mind, he saw his own body sucked into a machine, shredded and regurgitated. He witnessed his own death—in stringy spaghetti threads of humanity swirling about until it all became liquefied and one substance. He saw Death waiting patiently. He grieved for himself. He felt a loss knowing someone very important to him had died. Was there any such person? He didn’t think so. Now he knew that he was the one who had died. No one else would feel his loss; he was sure of it. He had no specific memories of anyone who might care—not even the parents who had abandoned him as a baby.

Suddenly, unbelievable pain. He felt a hundred heartbreaks and disappointments, as many fleeting moments of happiness, and unbearable loss. Soaring joy. Unfathomable sadness. Memories. Past. Happy. Sad. Remembered. Forgotten. He sensed he was screaming. He was screaming! Nothing came out! He couldn’t scream without a mouth. He heard screams all around, but not his own. The eternal agony of others… He knew the awful helplessness of being Bio, fragile, trapped and doomed! In a millisecond, he sensed an explosion, a tearing apart of his own soul… Hopelessness! He wailed. He moaned. He became one of the screamers. Once he was with them, they stopped screaming and were singing.

Then, no singing. No voices. No sound. Now music. No music. Nothing. No! Memories gone. Who? No matter. Feeling content. Warm, comfortable, cozy, secure. Makr! The man, who no longer remembered he had been anything, realized he was not alone. There were billions like himself. And, yet, he still felt alone, totally alone. Although he knew he must be in a factory where Bios lost their minds and were reconditioned, but this—this had to be different. The Bio man, Leach, awoke, a little tired, but otherwise not feeling worse for wear. Whew! What a dream, he thought. Then he noticed it. It hadn’t been a dream! He discovered the shocking truth. His body was gone. In its place were shiny, finished metal structures. It was only his Bio mind that remained. Had he a mouth he would have screamed. Actually, he had a way to speak; however, Leach had not figured out how to use it yet.

Worse than that, Makr had left him most of his tongue (minus that part that had been bitten off) and a single human eye.

It is always interesting taking another deep look at your work. You think, “Wow, was I that profound,” or “that clever?” But you also say, “I think it will work better if I say it this way.” So, I made some minor changes over a couple of days and republished at both Amazon and Smashwords. Both have their advantages. Harry’s Reality is now available through both Amazon in kindle format and offers a free app, and Smashwords in many formats, including mobi format, which is for kindle, with instructions on how to download to your device. There, of course, is only one way to read between my lines…

Blue Day, Bitch! Get Over It!

Some days are like this. It’s been like this all my life. What’s that smiling picture doing to my right? I started life as a smart-ass. Continued that way for some time. Never really know when to stop. You evolve into a know-it-all, or got-to-tell-you-my-story. Told myself that’s because I was smart. Bitched about anything in life that wasn’t fair. Never stupid people. However… ignorant people, mean-spirited people, people who hurt children and animals, people who hurt anyone for that matter. Laws that didn’t and still don’t make sense. Disparity between the rich and the poor. Starving people. Super rich people. Extremists of any kind.

Life wasn’t fair and it was hard to make a living–so I struck out like a bitch and fought like a bitch to get here. Then, here got tedious and I moaned. I moaned. I moaned. There seemed to be more excitement as a smart-ass. Now, I have a smart-ass of my own (that means he’s smart) and I know why some people tolerated me–barely. Moaning, I found, was status quo–almost no struggle, but no striving either. That was my fault I suppose. Then, I got lucky for the second time; I think the smart-ass in me helped, but I was getting legitimately smarter, too. Moaning set in again. My fault again. Some days there’s groaning. That’s worse than moaning. Life and I are growing tired. Having a blue day.

When you’re young you make life. You take it, explore it, have fun with it. I suppose I did that, too, when I wasn’t bitching, moaning or groaning. The answer is: don’t bitch, moan and groan your life away, and don’t be a smart-ass because you’ll lose your place in line of living that life.

In case, you’re all wondering what the hell am I doing! I’m doing my version of some blogs I see. These are the dark ones. The light ones dance on flowers, butterflies and clouds. Feeling odd today, trying to figure things out. Humans are funny that way. Philosophers have done it for a millennium, but they had better words.

How about a piece of Harry’s Reality to cheer us up? Maybe later.

When Theatre Trains Leaders

People often wonder how with my speech, theatre and psychology education/experience that I find it not such a large leap to business practices and from there–in particular, to the training of leadership.

I suspect those of you in theatre or any of the performing arts will understand almost immediately why that is so. You know:

• why actors can grab and hold an audience.
• what we know about establishing credibility.
• what we know about finishing what we start.

Every play I see as a critic reminds me of any organization evolving from cradle to grave–well, maybe to prime is a better analogy. I didn’t see it so much as an actor; as a director, I do it. Having lived the theatre life and worked for the government and private sector, I’ve seen it, and lived both lives. With one difference: I’ve always looked at the non-artistic side from another perspective.

What will you do when you’ve stopped performing? Please continue to study the world as you are and you can’t fail.

If only THEY looked at their business or non-profit with a different perspective, too… Who’s they? Organizational trainers and leaders, of course.

First, theatre is a business. Second, actors and other performers use the same skill set as business leaders. “Whaaat!” you say. The following quote may help to summarize what I mean:

The same set of skills that actors rely on to deliver a riveting performance can be found in our most innovative and successful business leaders. Actors must speak with presence, with passion, and intention. Great leaders in all fields rally our emotions, our allegiances, and our commitment in just that fashion.
—Susan V. Booth, Jennings Hertz Artistic Director of the Alliance Theatre

So, how do the top leaders get there? There’s no one way. That’s why I wrote a blog on Why Isn’t All Training Like Training for Your Black Belt? that changes our approach to how we look at training and leadership as a whole. It is similar in what theatre does to put on a show requires the employees share the same vision, dedication, cooperation and leadership, which are absolutely essential aspects necessary in leading a successful company. What does this have to do with training. It means our training charter can change.

Kevin Daum represents the business side of things, and his latest blog article, 4 Great Leadership Lessons From The Arts, gave me this idea for training based on his four points. Kevin published a journal article, Entrepreneurs: The Artists of the Business World, which makes sense since Kevin has an arts background along with more than 15 percent of entrepreneurs, making more than a million dollars a year, who belong to the elite Entrepreneur’s Organization. By the way that million dollars is the minimum requirement for membership in that organization. As Kevin says, that 15 percent “must be doing something right.”

Here’s what Kevin says theatre or any other performing arts leaders do and not-so-remarkable business leaders do not (the comments underneath Kevin’s points are mine):

• Lead a Project from Start to Finish
  • I’m developing and directing a play to performance, which means not one plan but several plans to start with and see to through fruition.
• Manage Dynamic People Effectively
  • I’m holding auditions, hiring technical and design staff and making sure all work together while I am directing a play, and making sure this cooperation will continue during the performance phase.
• Ensure Total Accountability
  • I’m directing a play, responsible for the quality of opening night to the audience, to the board members of the theatre, to the funding sources, and accountable that my employees do not have to work under stressful conditions.
• Implement Big Picture Thinking
  • I’m directing a play and believe I have a unique vision to share that can make the play stronger in the eyes of today’s audience than when it was originally presented, and I have to sell everyone on this vision or it will not work.

It’s rather obvious isn’t it. If you are familiar with my own training blog, What Would a Cave Man DO or How We Learned What We Know About Training; this is a perfect example where outside sources unrelated to your business can provide untold insight. I actually wrote and published an e-book, called The Cave Man Guide to Training and Development; yes, the title is spelled correctly. The “cave” refers to our work place or our home today, but the principle is the same. I also wrote a dystopian science fiction e-novel, Harry’s Reality, available from Amazon and from other major vendors, probably for free since it’s just coming out. It is about what’s real and what isn’t, but beyond that, it’s just a good read in my humble opinion. Actually, it’s full of mystery, adventure and humor, but who wants that these days? And, we blow up a few things, too.

For a more in depth look of the four points from my perspective, see my complete article, Using Theatre to Train Leaders on my training and development site at The Free Management Library.

As for those of us already engaged in bringing the arts to business, we need to keep up the pressure not only the businesses, but in the schools. Businesses say they want certain individuals ready to work, but are they sure that’s they really want. Is an arts degree so bad after all? The media has been saying it all along. We know you need two jobs to do theatre or dance professionally until you hit a touring company, a Regional Theatre, or Broadway or the West End. Maybe, that’s not all there is…

Again, there is the obvious. Just show these four points to business and hope they buy into it. I say incorporate creative arts into your leadership training.

These four points resonated with some of my theatre friends who applied for jobs in business and were turned away. Perhaps they shouldn’t have been turned away. With what we know now–these very people are the creatives and creatives innovate. And, those people that innovate?

My thanks to Kevin Daum for his inspirational post of the four points here and ideas that might have been triggered by him for me to put on my own particular twist. An Inc. 500 entrepreneur with a more than $1 billion sales and marketing track record, Kevin Daum is the best-selling author of Video Marketing for Dummies. @awesomeroar

If you like this blog and others you’ve found on this site, please follow me. Or, if you are more business-minded, check out my international training and development blog, or my training and development group on GovLoop.

The Importance of “Warm and Fuzzies” in Business, and in Life

I never thought of training as a “warm and fuzzy,” but I get it now. I suppose training is to business like the study of literature, speech and theatre is to the study of business and management analysis. When I taught English and speech at the U.S. Air Force Academy, I taught those “warm and fuzzy” subjects to future pilots, astronauts and other officers who would leave the Academy with the equivalent of an engineering degree no matter what their major. There was no English major by the way, and certainly not theatre, although we did have a film club, a speech forensics club and a drama club. So there was interest in those “fuzzy” subjects even if they did seem off point to the cadet career goals; some actually liked them, but wouldn’t admit it for fear of being uncool.

Imagine the challenge of teaching these “warm and fuzzy” subjects to students who think in “black and white.” I wanted them to look at gray areas, have opinions and back them up, and I wanted their creativity. If I’ve got it wrong, I’m sure you’ll tell me. There is a reason why we call these subjects the humanities; it is because they make us human. I have a hard time putting training (although education works) in that same category, I think there are similarities in this context and it is the same force at work.

I believe it was my job as a teacher of “fuzzy” subjects, as now, to take those “warm and fuzzy” subjects and demonstrate their relevance in the real world. When you’re a teenager, even a smart one, you still see the world in black and white.  I probably won’t surprise you that I delighted in getting them to see the gray areas and venture out in the colorful creative world.

Funny thing.  We admire those heroes who think outside the organization protocols; if what they do benefit us, we are happy.

If you’re interested in seeing what a guy does with the theatre arts under the of training and development, I have a training blog, translated into 60 some languages, and I am author of the Cave Man of Training and Development. By the way, “caveman” is not misspelled, but a “Cave” way at looking at the place we work and learn as the similar Cave as the caveman had, and looking at training from that perspective. To use on overused term, outside the box. My blog articles there tend to be longer and I use my background in theatre, education, psychology, training at the corporate level, my military experience and civil service.

Not all actors, act all the time. I was fortunate to a have a real job and do some professional theatre and commercials, although often I wish I had poured more energy into the theatre and did wait on tables until the next show came along. Who knows how different life would be? I did learn an actor learns more than just acting, an insight into reality in much the way a psychologist gains insight into behavior.

Here’s the link for my Training and Education Blog at The Free Management Library. BTW, if you are interested in reviews I also write for STAGE Magazine from time to time.

Acting for Non-Actors

Is acting a valuable skill to non-actors? I think so, and to prove it just look at my website. Look to those who have the training, education and experience in theatre and do something else for a living. Is a salesman a better salesman who knows how to work an audience? A manager who can read his workers? A leader who exudes charisma and his or her people will follow gladly. Yes, there is value in teaching non-actors acting.

Professionals like attorneys and doctors need help with communicating. A writer may know how to write, but to sell his or her books, needs to know how to present a message in a dynamic way. This is what theatre does best. Who would deny the courtroom is a theatre? A lawyer must present a deposition, a statement or argument to the jury, and communicate it in such a way as to have credibility. Celeste Walker, a fine actress, director and theatre professor teaches attorneys acting.

Actor, director, and educator Celeste Walker is a consummate professional who brings over 25 years of experience to all the facets of her multifarious career. Comfortable and adroit at working with both young acting students and seasoned professionals, she is adept at bringing all she has learned to the task of discovering exactly what the individual student most needs to learn, and teaching it, not as dry academic discourse, but as a living, dynamic practice.

This is, of course, just one example. There are actors (and those similarly gifted in other areas of theatre) who apply their craft by teaching non-actors about what is applicable.

I admire those who have been able to ply their craft in ways that make them happy. I am finally able to do that myself, but I still have a mortgage to pay so I keep my government job; I even burden my family and my health doing what I can to contribute and participate in my theatre passion. There are so many talented individuals and so few opportunities that those in theatre must employ themselves in other ways to feed families and live the American dream.

There is a need for those theatre skills we have. Because of the stark reality, I even fought being a professional actor or director for a number of reasons, mostly financial insecurity. What can an actor, director or writer do who does not “work” in theatre do? I have to stick to the fields I mentioned because those are my particular areas, but there are many other specialties in theatre that can applied in other ways. For brevity’s sake, I’ll stick to what I know and my own experiences.

If you look at my website, you can see where I have focused on teaching business executives, teachers, trainers and other professionals how to work with an audience, how to move on a stage, and how to make training come alive for an audience. My focus: know your audience, know your subject, and know yourself. While I may not be the one who coaches actors (because I didn’t learn from the prestigious schools or study the many approaches in detail), I have found a niche that suits my background and talents. I take advantage of my “day” jobs that have been in related areas of communication like public affairs, public speaking, outreach, teaching, training, and customer service all of which I can pull from my acting repertoire of information and experiences and apply them. Can I “perform?” I can. Can I teach or train? Why not?

I am hoping to make enough money with my approach, and be happier than I’ve been in years because I can finally make the connections work together. My day job becomes my passion, albeit a bit modified, but life isn’t perfect. Who knows? Change and opportunity may be around the corner. In fact, I know it, but it’s not in stone so I don’t want to give it away.

I’m sure I covered this topic before in some way, but there is always that question looming from actors who are unsure of their commitment, and others who see the value in the acting lessons to be learned to take on life’s other jobs and pleasures. I am all of the above as I know many of my friends are. We love the theatre or we wouldn’t do it for free sometimes. Oh, we like it when we get paid for it, and it’s necessary when the “real” day job goes away.

The reality is that of the many talented people a few actually make a great living at acting. It is a job that depends on location, location, location, and opportunity as well as talent.  Being in the right place at the right time, being willing to do what it takes to have an opportunity, i.e., wait on tables, do any menial job you can quit at any time to take a part, or do something related that satisfies the urge. I found myself the master of avoiding the scarier aspects of not having security. Maybe it comes from an insecure childhood, not having a stable environment to fall back on, not having parents who could bail me out of economic disaster.

I couldn’t believe it even when I was “discovered” doing community theatre and offered a real job in professional theatre; I took the job, but gave it up in favor a more secure related job in radio. Later, I continued acting professionally in commercials and in plays when I could. For security’s sake, I still applied my communication skills in radio and in television–until I discovered those safer opportunities at my level didn’t pay well either–and finally the military and the federal government.

Today, I write, act and direct. Sometimes I get paid for it. This is one passion. My other passion is teaching others how good communication in the hands of anyone is a powerful tool. For this, I will be paid the most because it is business. This is pragmatic. Art, it seems, comes cheap–unless your name and the right connections can make it big business; that is the reality.

There are aspects of acting that are talked about in many other fields. An actor can sometimes make it more interesting by giving it a different perspective. It is my goal to prove that. This column, Acting Smarts, is one way of expressing my passion. I have another blog that talks about Training and Development. Please check it out. My hook: I am an actor, who has experience in the trenches of training and management, and I have acting insights in how to make your “Mission Impossible, An Affair to Remember.”

Catching Up with Some Personal Notes

An old headshot of mine, California-style from the eighties.

Before anyone gets any ideas, I have to tell you I like most music done well. I even like some Country, but wife, Amy, and son, Aidan, are the real fans. We all like Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles. I still remember days going to classical concerts, even opera, and jazz clubs in days of old. I listen to 90.9 (National Public Radio), 92.5 (Country) and occasionally 98.1 (Oldies, but not too old), but mostly I listen to NPR. I was actually fascinated by a recent discussion and samples of Cajun music.

After being a DJ throughout college and listening all day long to top 40 whatever, you tend to drift to something else in your spare time. I went through an R&B stage, and knew enough about the music in telephone interview to be offered a job as a DJ at an all-Black radio station in Kansas City. The in-person interview was a hoot. The Station Manager couldn’t help laughing and called in his staff to meet Jack Shaw. Felt a little like Buddy Holly when he played at the Apollo, not knowing his audience. The Station Manager and I agreed I could definitely DJ, but personal appearances might be difficult–certainly unusual, but mutally decided it was a no-go. I probably could have made all kinds of discrimination complaints, but eveyone was so nice and respectful even though jaws dropped when I announced I was hoping to be the new afternoon DJ. (The interview was really more a meet-the-boss-before-you-start sort of thing.) I left smiling and I hope they were, too.

Here I am as “Candy” in a recent version OF MICE AND MEN in New Jersey.

As concerts go, I’m not the fan of raucus large crowds, which you tend to get at popular music concerts, although I do like to watch people.  I don’t get the rush some people get when their “star” walks on stage, or the “happy feet,” or feel like bumpin’ and swaying when the music starts. Guess I’m just not made that way. Probably would hurt my back, but I try to be respectful and at least I abandon my seat and stand there because it’s the only way to see what I paid to see. No offense to anyone that it thrills–just not my thing.

I like baseball, too, but I don’t like to go to the games like I used to–mostly because of all the people, the hassle of parking, and over-priced food.  Used to be a huge fan when I worked in radio and played the games on the weekends and was treated with free media passes for the Kansas City Royals, but today I find myself just too busy. But I do enjoy film and reading, more introverted stuff, I guess. I don’t hold it against you if sports is your thing; just don’t hold it against me that it’s not mine. Not now. I wrestled and ran track in High School, albeit not to stardom. I played some tennis in college for fun, not competition. I like the Olympics and seeing folks achieve personal bests. Maybe, that’s why following the big team sports aren’t my hobby. Maybe being a bit small made me only eligible for the sports I played, and disinterested in those in which I felt “discriminated” on the basis of size.

I still haven’t figured out if theatre audiences are mostly there in serious theatre to be intellectually stimulated or just be entertained. But there are always enigmas; I guess this is one for me.

I believe we should all go with our strengths, not dwell on our weakness in all things–including theatre. I’m officially a senior now, having lived more that half a century. I’ve worked to survive rather than love what I did for work, but now I want the passion to drive me. I find most things interesting for awhile. Theatre, public speaking, interpersonal communication, training and development, and psychology have hung in there, and are so incredibly linked to my life. I am faced with some incredibly hard decisions if I have to change what it is I do in my life because all things are important. I no longer am the Performance Examiner for the Wilmington Examiner; that decision came easy since I didn’t live there but was trying to localize stories, which is easy to do with peformance in general. Frankly, it was taking too much time I wanted to devote to family, and pursuing my efforts to embrace a new career in coaching business and nonprofit professionals in the art of public speaking as well as pursue my theatre blog and columnist role with STAGE Magazine.

On a slightly different note, I have started to make in-roads with potential gigs, partners, and even adjunct teaching. I still act occasionally and I hope to be moving back into directing shortly–one of my favorite projects in the offing.

If I Am An Actor, Why Am I Here?

“I y’am what I y’am, what I y’am.”

Now, I am an actor, a speaker, and a trainer–as well as a writer.  When I act, I act. When I speak, I speak. When I train, that’s different, too.   As I said earlier in my previous blog, acting is more than “being someone else” or “a scripted performance.”   Keep in mind that there is a huge difference between those actors on film and those on stage–so don’t give me the unprepared actors’ speeches at the Academy awards routine.

Here’s something to think about: I use acting coaching methods to help speakers and trainers to better know how to interact with their audience. Why?

While some people believe actors need a script to act, the best do not.  Just between us, there is a lot more to acting than some people think. Some actors can make it look so natural.  Actors do interact with their audience and they damn well better be aware how they are affecting them. Actors need to be sincere and real in their delivery as well; if they are not, believe me, they will get told by me as a performance critic that they are not doing their jobs.  So, it goes for anyone who is communicating with an audience.  Trainer and public speaker come to mind.

There were some great comments and, unfortunately, some not so well-informed ones made in response to the LinkedIn question on actors and speaker differences that prompted the blog above.  The very fact I come from an acting background and use “Acting Smarts” as the title of my company and blog may make some “business professionals” think I teach only acting. I teach communication. I don’t make a speaker become someone else to deliver a message; I help that person use who they are–the best of who they are–to present his or her message.  The ability to act only makes me more comfortable at connecting with my audience in a personal way.  We, actors, often reach deep inside and are willing to share those truths.  But the same can be said of many people and many professions, yes?  It just happens to work for me and entertain as well.

By the way, my background includes a masters in social psychology as well as an interdisciplinary dual masters in English and Speech/Drama with an emphasis in performance criticism.  As for practical application, I have 30 years in government and the military as a spokesperson, trainer and writer.  Actors are not only actors, speakers not only speakers, and trainers not only trainers, but a polygamous marriage and more; each are communicators in his or her own rights, and the best of us do whatever it takes and learn whatever we can to get the job done.

This makes me think of a great follow-up:  What makes a great trainer?  What is the difference between a public speaker and a trainer?  A speech or training session? Next time.  I invite your comments and questions.  And, if you are looking for someone to communicate to an audience any of these things, please let me know.

Trainer, Speaker or Actor? Why Not Acting in Business? In Training?

“Now, you’ve gone and done it,” I said to my LinkedIn colleagues of actors, trainers, speakers and assorted other related professionals. Someone had asked the question on my LinkedIn group:  In your opinion what is the difference between an actor and an speaker?  At first I was offended because many of the comments addressing the question showed a real lack of knowledge of what acting is all about, and for what communicating is about, for that matter. And, some of these people actually get paid to speak or train.

Acting, and any professional will tell you this, is not just about pretending to be someone else; it is not just a scripted performance, but an interactive experience with the audience–the same we hope for in training or public speaking. Sometimes I get the urge to do a show because for the moment I think just saying the words from a script would be easier.  Then, I remember how complicated good communication really is.  As trainers and professional communicators (that includes actors), we know better than to memorize scripts, except for a part of them. See my blog on memorizing.

It may seem like I’m going off topic, but I think the combination of acting and public speaking principles actually makes for a pretty good trainer. Actors are not only actors, and speakers not only speakers; I’d bet the best of both professions, are not singular in their thinking about what works and learn from all areas what gets the job done.  Granted, not all that an actor knows or should know to be a good actor is applicable in all circumstances; the same can be said of a good trainer or a good speaker.

I may have mixed up my education, but each of those parts help with the whole.  The English and theater departments appreciated that I could bring a psychological perspective to literature, drama, and performance.  The psychology department loved that I could communicate behavior.

And, to that, I say to all of you:   Bring all your knowledge and skills to bear on your performance–be it as a trainer or speaker or actor.  It’s all good.

Don’t Assume ANYTHING in Training Workshops

Do prepare your speakers with all the information you can about the conference, including theme, size and organizational expectations for the conference or meeting.  Don’t let speakers assume it’s business as usual.  Sometimes, those of us who speak or train need reminders that we shouldn’t assume too much either.

I recently had the pleasure of speaking at a conference, and I was the one who did the assuming.  I have no excuse.  It was a last minute affair and I admit the occasion was most important for me as a visibility opportunity.  As speaker who talks about communicating and a trainer, it seemed a no-brainer.  No insult intended for the organization.  I caught myself assuming way too much.  Normally, I present on subjects including presenting, on training, on getting an audience to listen, on the “how-tos” and “why-fors” of communication in general so I should have known better.

As anyone–trainer, seminar leader, facilitator should expect when invited to present at a workshop or conference, there are some basic logistical details to begin with and then more details, those about your audience, for example, once you know.  This was a group I thought I knew.  As a trainer, I was sure I could handle any situation that might arise from not having a microphone or projector or screen, but what I had not counted on were audience expectations in how I would present that material.  This particular workshop was for coaches, trainers and training developers, sales managers, etc–so pretty much communicators themselves.  While it seemed to me I was to be speaking on the topic of the workshop–communicating credibility, which I did, I hadn’t thought I’d be expected to “walk the walk” of the trainer to demonstrate my own credibility by using icebreakers, activities and discussion.  Apparently, my slide show didn’t reflect the latest trend in slide preparation and my talk, although engaging, was not what was expected…from me anyway.

While all the other speakers and presenters who were speaking on similar topics at the conference took the standard route of interactive speech and presentation as I did, I was expected to use all the training tools in my arsenal instead of just talk.  Had I known the expectation ahead of time, that I would be viewed as the speaker/trainer extraordinaire by audience, I could have given the audience more of what it expected.  Granted, it was my fault, but now I will remind myself and others that, when it comes to training and planning training, there is always something we can’t know unless we ask.

Actors Teaching Attorneys – Courtroom Drama

What does an actor have to teach an attorney? Acting, improvisation, communicating, moving on stage. Sounds like an acting class. Don’t be surprised. It is.

Most of us would agree a lawyer’s education is mostly about the law; but the practical application of law requires research, practice, experience and some knowledge of speech and acting skills that may not taught in depth in most law schools–just few classes on courtroom procedure, some mock trials, etc.

So, how does a litigator gain those communication skills that help him win over a judge and jury, how does an attorney present depositions to court, help a witness remain credible, even though he or she may be scared to death of being on the courtroom stage. Believe it or not, he hires an actor. Often that actor may be partnered with an attorney or someone with a similar background.

However, here, in the Delaware Valley, I discovered an equity actor and educator, Celeste Walker at http://celestewalker.com who teaches a course she developed called Courtroom Drama, which almost sounds like a theatre genre, but in reality her course is designed to loosen up attorneys and prepare them for the practical uses of confident and effective communication in the courtroom. She uses theatre exercises, warm-ups, improvisation and other methods leading up to storytelling. After all, in a courtroom, it is all about storytelling.

“It’s also about audience,” Walker says. “An attorney can’t talk to a jury if he or she isn’t aware of who makes up that jury. He has to win that jury’s trust and he’s not going to do that if he talks down to them or can’t look them in the eye while he is talking to them.” It’s all about good communication. Yet, another job for an actor–besides acting.

An aside. I was surprised to learn that Celeste had actually performed a scene from The Verdict with Paul Newman in 1994 while she was in graduate school.  Newman’s much acclaimed film, The Verdict, came out in the ’80s.  Celeste holds a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Acting from The Actor’s Studio Drama School at the New School University in New York.