What Qualifies a God?

This is an important question. Can we create a god? Not in our minds, hearts or souls, but in science. First, this is not a religious debate. Second, I don’t wish to offend anyone with this rhetoric. The big question is can we create a deity, or something that defines our definition and criteria? Some would say it’s all in our minds… We still need a criteria.

How about we play with the definitions–just those that appear in our society today?

We have gods and a god concept in our minds. Our definition of a personal god is easy; we are taught what defines the presence of one in our lives. Most of us believe in something whether it is spiritual or science, i.e., the Christian vs the atheist, or it could Islam versus the Unbeliever  It’s not really that complicated is it?

Ironically, some people know the definition because their religion tells them, but allow “other gods” to exist in their imaginations–not believing but accepting another god concept for a moment.

We all will accept that a character on a screen, in a book, or even people in reality may be god-like totally separate from our beliefs. For example, super heroes–Thor in particular is a demi-god; Hercules is also. They come from the past but we accept them for the sake of a good story. Maybe there’s more.

Mythology, of course, is full of gods, many of them the basis for a people’s religion. Some doctors have a god-complex. Kids are told through stories that some beings are superior in such a way as to be gods. Fantasy tales, for example.

Science fiction plays with the concept as well. It depends on how we define god. Belief systems have a criteria, or you wouldn’t believe. Sure, we all believe in truth, but we “humanize” everything. As we do so, we are pretending we live in a different world. From talking to our pets to reincarnation–a whole different matter.

Then, there is the concept of power. Why do some want it or need it?

Who wants to be in charge of everyone or be responsible for everyone?Those who really believe they are gods are institutionalized away somewhere away from us sane people.

Is it supreme intellect, the ability to create miracles, or have super powers, or by virtue of being a more powerful species overall?

The last would make us all gods, wouldn’t it? It is the basis for many myths that include two worlds, one stronger and more powerful and a lessor one, subservient to the first.

In Makr’s Shadow, humans save their planet from self-destruction. To do so, scientists create a super cyber server by combining the power and data available in the world in one place. The idea is that the machine can make all the hard decisions needed to save the earth so neglected by humanity. Unwitting, they have created a monster that believes he is a god–the only one on the planet. Nothing on earth is more powerful. I didn’t set out to discuss the question in my novel. The idea and discussion evolved as I imagined the society, and the splintered groups, in particular, that go separate ways. While ninety percent of the population are under Makr’s spell, ten percent are not.

These humans are unpredictable. It’s not belief or disbelief in a deity; they resist as humans do–to change. However, that group naturally splinters into smaller groups of varying beliefs and other reasons, some being just survival. This splintered society is our society.

We are all different, but that’s about to change when a man appears who is unique to both groups. Is he a freak of nature, a missing link, or a messiah? Makr creates memories and realities proper to run a Perfect Society. In this society, there is no dissention, no laws, no feeling or thought that cannot be controlled and managed.

That is, except for one man–an anomaly named Harry Bolls who can see through illusion. He doesn’t know how or why he is able to do this, and he has lost a chunk of memories. It is enough to send him on a quest for the truth.

Is the world around us real or an illusion? Is reality what we see, we think we see, or what we know? And, how do we know it?

Whereas the omniscient Makr, as the most powerful and intelligent being on the planet believes Himself to be a god. In Makr’s Shadow, the truth is not so simple. Anymore, and I give away the ending. Rather than face religion head-on, I tried to create a satirical situation begging the age-old question: which came first the chicken or the egg? Or, in this case, Makr’s goal is to make humanity believe, in fact, that they are Bios–simply a weaker species of machine using a biological design.

Why doesn’t Makr delete the humans and clear the planet in favor of better, more controllable inhabitants? Human behavior  does not compute; it’s not predictable. Could it be he wants to know all that the humans know before he eradicates the entire race? Still he has to fight those who attack his PerSoc.

Do we know the minds of the lower species? In this case, Homo sapiens sapiens. What happened to Homo sapiens neanderthal? We can only speculate, but the fact remains, our species survived and theirs did not.

In Makr’s Shadow, the social sciences are at work, too. As is the psychological impact of living in such a society. Would we one day be willing to live in a world that had no consequences, or design a life of our choosing? It’s tempting. Some humans worship Makr as a means to personal survival, believing that a superior being must be merciful. Even the splinter groups recognize Makr’s superiority and power. However, they are only admitting that there is a sentient being of superior intellect, strength and power is worthy of the highest respect.

If we compare Cyber and Bios as separate species, which they are obviously, there are differences. Makr has created a “race” of Cyber or specialized cyberts. Each is task-oriented; each one in its place. Cyber appear superior to Bio machines in intellect, adaptability, strength and durability. But no human is exactly the same (except in the subset) and so unpredictable. A human’s place is where he or she chooses in the theoretical world. Unfortunately, that isn’t always true in reality.

Is Makr a god? For his Cyber maybe. The rest is for you to decide.

In Makr’s Shadow is available wherever e-books are sold.

Scarier and Meaner than Reality.

Another clip from Harry’s Reality — Book One – Symbiosis by Jack Shaw

“Look, I’m here because someone I respect very much seems to think you can help us,” she said impatiently. “I can’t tell you everything. Some things you’ll just have to learn for yourself. The true dangers out here are not what you think. In fact, they’re worse. Scarier, meaner…you pick.”

Harry looked even more nervous so she continued, “And those are just the things you can see for yourself. Hell, my people don’t even tell me everything.”

She was right. He could see it for himself by thought-blinking. Admittedly he hadn’t been forthcoming with that knowledge. What could these “Touchables” possibly want with his thought-blinking? It’s not like he could give it away. Besides, he had his own demons to wrestle. So far, he’d only found thought-blinking lately to result in lots of pain he rather not go through again.

Desiree heard a faint click.

“Down!” she screamed. The sky exploded with a blinding light and a deafening roar. She grabbed Harry and pulled him down, covering his body with hers as tiny particles shredded the clothes covering her back with stinging, searing, pain. Because they wear locked together, the shock wave that followed caused them to roll and slide for about 20 yards. Now, in addition to the minor lacerations, both are bruised and scraped.

Harry ended up lying on top of her, face-to face, with a childlike helplessness at this moment as he found himself in a most intimate of sexual positions.

“Are you all right, Harry?” she asked evenly while still on the bottom.

“Fine. You?”

“A few bruises and scratches.”

“Makes me feel truly alive. Real pain.”

“Good for you,” she rolled her eyes and grunted. “You can get up now, Harry,” she said as she nudged him in the side with a knuckle. “It’s over.”

Embarrassed by his sudden physical arousal, he nervously slid off her but stayed somewhat glued to the ground face down for a minute.

“What was that?” he asked, breathlessly.

“I’m not sure.”

“Are you all right?”

She knew her back probably looked like raw meat beneath her tattered clothing but she didn’t want Harry to know. That could only serve to increase his fears at a time when she needed him to be confident and brave.

“Feels like I’ve been run over by a street cleaner,” she said.

“What?”

“Funny little cyberts—kinda cute actually—clean the streets of debris. Seems not all cyberts are agile enough to dodge a little trash.”

Harry eyed her curiously.

“They’re harmless, Harry. Primitive communication capability. Local only. No danger if you stay out of its way.”

“Are you hurt?”

“A few bruises, scrapes, cuts. You?” She faced him to hide her back.

“Same. Sore.”

As they stood to brush themselves off, Desiree looked in the direction of the blast to survey the damage. Buildings looked intact. Harry seemed intact as well. Her back stung and burned from the blast, but she’d get something for it at the meeting place.

“Shock grenade, I think,” she said. “I’ve heard they stop cyberts for quite a radius. Means Shadows…”

Without warning, a Shadow separated from the darkness and moved into the light. He held two heads—small but deadly cybert heads—in one hand aloft, his cloth-covered fingers in a single eye socket in each head. With the other hand he tossed his hood back exposing his face and grinned. He was a handsome dark-skinned Bio, with dark gentle eyes and a wide grin that seems to say he was no threat. He held up the cybert heads as if proclaiming victory, or some kind of peace offering, then, without a word, he placed them in a bag made out of the same coarse fabric as the rest of his garb. He reached inside his cloak to retrieve something. He tossed a small object to them. It clattered to the ground. A small cybert shaped roughly like that of an insect—a bee.

The gesture, simple as it was, exclaimed, “Watch your back. Makr knows.”

Then he was gone.

“That…Sha…Sha…Shadow?”

Harry couldn’t help the stammer. He saw the Shadow change into a man and then become the Shadow again.

A Couple of Characters

Reviewing one of my favorite Arthur Miller plays, A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, tomorrow night. Hopefully all will go well for all. Break legs and all that.

Harry Bolls, like all of us, is not always the bravest or coolest, except when it counts. You find my heroes flawed like that–human, but are willing to do what it takes. Sometimes the tragic flaw leads to self-sacrifice like in the classic tragedy, sometimes not, but always a human reaction. Well, this time I’ll introduce a couple of my favorite characters in Harry’s Reality…

“The Shadow pulled Winston’s limp body into the hovercar. He plopped the unconscious man in the seat. Then pulled a laser ax from inside his Stealth cloak and placed it on the side of the man’s jaw. He then reached over with his other hand and touched the smooth area toward the back of the ax weapon and tool. It hummed to life on stand-by.

“Winston jerked awake at the vibration, saw Death bending over him and Winston’s eyes uncontrollably rolled to the back of his head.

“That wouldn’t do.

“The Shadow pulled him sideways in the seat and slapped him hard across the side of his face, then a back hand to the other side. He did this repeatedly until Winston looked up once again at the hooded Grim Reaper, the Shadow of Death, and accepted his fate. Winston knew what he wanted as he found his face being forced to submit to the retinal scan on the dash to activate the vehicle. The hovercar flashed a light to indicate it was ready for flight. Just as the Cyber vehicle was about to greet its driver, the laser ax sliced into the dash and severed its communication connection completely—Winston’s Outside lifeline to Makr, permanently disabled. The ghoulish stranger pushed Winston away from the controls to the right side of the car. Winston’s head hit the side of the clear canopy hard and he lost consciousness again.”

***

“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.

“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 that was what Makr would make of him. He wanted to be smarter and stronger. Could he also be invincible?

“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. YOU’LL BE TOTALLY NEW. A PERFECT PRODUCT OF SYMBIOSIS–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. Unknown to him, his lifetime of horror had just begun.

“It began pleasantly enough…it always did. I’m alive! Can’t believe it–alive! Everything is wonderful! I feel fine. It’s beautiful here. Then, a question. What’s that I hear? Music. Singing. Then, the horror. Screaming. Can’t stand it! Hideous images. Deplorable feelings.

“In his mind, he saw his own body sucked into a machine, shredded and regurgitated, but he didn’t feel it. 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?  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, he felt unbelievable pain. Can’t bear it! 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…Oh, the 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 fine. Whew! What a dream, he thought. Then he noticed it. It hadn’t been a dream! He discovered the mind blowing truth. His body was gone. In its place were unfinished, twisted metal structures. It was only his Bio mind that remained. Had he had a mouth he would have screamed.

“Worse than that. Makr had given him back his tongue and a single human eye.”

For those of you who continue to look for Acting Smarts articles or search for my old Acting Smarts Training Web Site, they no longer exist. I am, of course, still willing to speak and train. I am directing. Acting may be a little different story, but I am focusing on my writing at the moment and using this domain/blog site as my jumping off point. From here, you can still find my theatre reviews and commentary and interviews on STAGE Magazine and Training and Development articles on the Free Management Library. This site is http://shawsreality.com or https://shawsreality.wordpress.com. You can reach me at jshaw@shawsreality.com.

A Waste of Air

Everyone’s reality can be a story. Everyone’s story is their reality. We all can be part of the reality, but not all part of the story.

Two films I saw recently suggest how we all experience different realities in our lives. These films also provide evidence that nothing is black and white. Of course, the reviews of the films won’t talk about realities and I won’t talk about the reviews. INHALE was the first movie to get my attention. Dermot Mulrooney stars as a lawyer/father who goes to Mexico desperately searching for a doctor to find a way to buy lungs for his dying daughter. Reality, in this case, means socio-economic-politico environment. The reality in the U.S. is far different than it is in Mexico, and he finds his choice is easier to make, whether we agree or not. It’s his story. It’s an excellent movie with people struggling with their own realities of the world they live in.

Next, came a British film with Emily Watson called ORANGES AND SUNSHINE. Watson plays Margaret, a social worker in the 80’s, who is approached on the street by a woman from Australia who has come looking for her “mum.” She had been “orphaned” when she was four, told her mother was dead and shipped off to Australia. The social worker finds out there are no records of ships transporting children in either Great Britain or Australia. That being the case, this situation amounts to illegal deportation.

Apparently, the children were offered “oranges and sunshine” to coax them to get on the ship calmly. Hence, the title. Often the children were told their parents were dead when society had merely deemed their parents unfit then. This was especially true for those children of single parents since it was practically criminal to be an unwed mother. Margaret discovers thousands of children who were a “burden” on the social system were shipped out to the colonies and “provided as slave labor.” She hears the “children’s” (all grown by now) stories, some hard to listen to, as she seeks to help them find family–especially mothers. Here, reality is represented by the stories of lives so hard, some abused mentally and/or physically and/or sexually, and all missing family members. Although Margaret is making a difference for some of the “children” and in telling the world their story, the reality of the others is wearing on her and her family to the point she develops symptoms of PTSD. It is not until she accepts her part in the “children’s” present and past reality that she able to continue her work.

By the way, 130,000 children were deported illegally from 1941 to the 1970s and the British Prime Minister in 2008 finally apologized for it. On the government’s part, that is appalling and surreal in itself. “All they want from you is to know who they are!” They want to know their whole story.

In Harry’s Reality, there is a complete and total fantasy that masquerades as reality, and the reality the illusion is hiding is so stark that it seems unreal to be almost unbelievable to those who see it or live in it.

With your help, I’d like to explore some of those moments in between our realities, where we can’t believe it’s happening–it’s surreal. As an actor I’ve explored the imagined world of many a character as I tried to give that character a life. I’d like to think there is some of me in every character I have played. I think every actor should feel that way about his craft or something is wrong. As a social psychologist, I look at individuals alone and groups interacting among themselves, and their environments. As an actor I was always part method and part psychological in figuring out my character; in essence, I psychoanalyzed my characters. Okay, I hated improvisation. Do you suppose I’m too grounded?

You would think it would be the training or speaking business world or the government work in particular where I was most staid or settled; however, it is in these environments, where I was the most unsettled. I had to act the most–put on my best show of being like everyone else; it was where I found the most nut-jobs, and where I had to use the most creativity. Being involved in the theatre and using psychology to study people always stimulated me. Doing what I had to do to make a living stultified me. Truly, there is such a word. It means “to make one feel ridiculous or stupid or a waste of air” or words to that effect. So, I’ve decided never to be stultified again. You with me!

Tell me what you think. What’s your reality? Your story.

Audition or Interview: Don’t Hard Sell Your Talents

Jenna K, a commercial and film actress

It is a story that started as way of promoting the soft sell to the training business, but I think the same goes for those auditioning or interviewing. Over-sell or hard sell turns people off regardless so soft sell is the answer either way. With soft sell, those clients with whom you are auditioning or interviewing will remember you fondly–not the jerk who thrust his resume in their faces–oblivious of the fact that they, the clients were looking for a look, and notice the jerk was not listening at all to them–the clients, the very people he came to impress.  Or, over-impress. Over-sell.

While my article above may have been illustrative of a training situation, it may not one common to many of us. It is to me because I am a voice actor, actor/director, communicator and trainer. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to think in terms of absolutes. There is the trend to put everything with a number–the three things you need to know, ten ways to do this or that, five secrets to wealth and posterity.

Pardon my substandard English: It ain’t possible! While the number gives an absolute answer–and absolute answers are comforting, life is too complicated to be set in stone. From my customer service days I have a different perspective regarding clients.

Clients are our livelihood; there is no denying that. Without clients, we cannot survive. But we have to engage them in a professional, oftentimes subtle way. Clients have to want you–and you in particular if your business relationship is be successful.

We all need help, but we like to ask for it. So ask for it–softly. A subtle offering, a soft sell, may be the answer.

***

I played tennis when I was much younger. I used to go off by myself and practice serves in a local court. One day, an older woman in her sixties was watching me play.

“You need some help badly.”

Was I that bad?

I tried to ignore her. I knew I needed to work on my swing.

“I can help,” she continued.

“Really,” I said sarcastically.

I was young and had been taught to respect my elders so I didn’t have a rude comeback–just the sarcasm, which she ignored.

“You can use my Wimbledon racket,” she said.

She got my attention. Her approach was curious, but she got my attention by letting me know in a subtle way she had the “chutzpah” and the “chops” to work with a kid like me.

Eventually, I learned from her. She became my unofficial trainer and coach. She had played at Wimbledon truly, albeit many years ago, and she was still pretty good. When I got to where I could win a set or two occasionally, we stopped–but only because I had school. I had no real designs to be a pro. I played in college, but only for fun.

Play for keeps. A client that needs you and qualifies you in his mind is the one you want.

I think what I learned is that, if I hadn’t felt I needed the tennis training to begin with, no amount of “you need training to succeed” sentiment was going to make me ask for it–let alone pay for it. I knew I needed it and the “older” pro let me know her qualifications–take them or leave ’em. I took ’em.

We need to make our qualifications known in such a way as to draw attention to them in the right way. Not egotistical or arrogantly. I don’t care how good we are, if that’s the way we express our qualifications; that’s how we lose customers, that’s how we lose clients. We can’t get too “big” for them. Bully me into using your services. You might, if I think I need you badly enough, get me once, but not twice.

Better to compliment the good, say you can help. Give potential clients the opportunity to see for themselves or hear from others how you good you are. The likelihood of a fit and long-term relationship is much enhanced.

End of shorter story. By the way, I still have that Wimbledon racket.

By the way, let me know by liking my last post if you want me to continue to post excerpts from my novel. I started with a mild excerpt. I have much grittier ones if you prefer.

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.