Five Sense Rehearsal: Taste

In this series on rehearsing using the five senses, we have covered SOUND and now move on to TASTE. Yes, taste. How do we taste the words? We play with the words in our mouths.

We practice tasting the words whenever we use technical terms, terms of art, jargon, foreign words, acronyms, and names. It’s also helpful if we find ourselves tripping over certain words or phrases.

When in the play, The Other Place,by Sharr White, there was a particularly sticky phrase I could not pronounce without slurring, tripping, or dropping the words. It was a simple phrase: “What good would it have done?” However, I could not get it out of my mouth.

In my warm-up I added a practice of “tasting” the phrase, savoring each word. I would OVER-enunciate, exaggerating the sounds and mouth shapes of the words a few times. And then let it go. Remember, once we practice something, it is baked in. Then, when I came to that line in the performance, the phrase would come out crisp, clear, and completely natural.

Try it!

WHAT GOOD WOULD IT HAVE DONE WHAT GOOD WOULD IT HAVE DONE WHAT GOOD WOULD IT HAVE DONE

Aside from ensuring a crisp and clear delivery, this practice makes sure that we we give weight to these words and phrases while speaking so that the audience is included. When we quickly slide through words that are familiar to us, but out of context or new to the audience, we leave them behind. Always give weight to the names of people, places, books, articles; savor foreign words, terms of art, jargon; either add a period between the letters of acronyms or if pronounced as a word, define it clearly the first time used; tease apart the sounds of sticky phrases.

Warm-up words and phrases:

• Terms of art

  • “burden of proof”

  • “mutual gains approach”

• Technical terms

  • “antiketogenesis”

  • “agile software development”

• Jargon

  • “availability heuristic”

  • “hyperbolic discounting”

• Acronyms

  • S.E.L.C. (Southern Environmental Law Center)

  • BATNA (pronounced as the word, “batna” so say, “BATNA is the Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement”)

• Foreign words

  • “savoir-faire”

  • “ad hominem”

• Names

  • “Darcy Gentleman”

  • “Malala Yousafzai”

• Sticky phrases

  • “What good would it have done?

  • “A batch of mixed biscuits.”

This week, when we prepare for a conversation or presentation, look for phrases that trip us up or words that need more weight so our audience can follow us. OVER-ENUNCIATE, chew the words, play with them, taste them.