Sharing the Stage
There’s an old joke about community theater. Imagine a group of young, scrubbed, overall-clad youngsters in a barn. One projects loudly, “We’ve got a barn! Let’s put on a show!” The others ad lib with big smiles, “Sure thing!” “I can build the sets with this old scrap wood!” “We can use this sheet for a backdrop!” “I can sew these old rags into costumes!” Then, all at once, the whole group stops talking, orients towards a kid standing on a hay bale, settles into varied comfortable but affected positions, and gazes expectantly. The kid on the hay bale launches into a monologue and/or song.
This stereotypical trope from amateur theater is easy to satirize (Christopher Guest’s Waiting for Guffman does this with love). And I am not recommending that anyone do this on stage, exactly…but the truth is that the audience looks where we tell them to look. The audience looks where we focus our own attention. In the above scenario, the acting company exaggerates their focus so that the audience knows what’s coming up and where to look. It’s like a spotlight. If one of the non-speaking players starts making big, fast, movements, being silly, drawing attention during that monologue/song, we call that “upstaging.” No actor wants to be told they are upstaging another. It undermines the story. While in the background of a scene, we keep our movements small and slow.
When we are co-presenting or on a panel, it is vital that the non-speaker focus their attention on the speaker. If the non-speaking presenter is looking off into a corner, the entire audience looks into that corner. If the non-speaker is picking their nails, the audience starts riffling through their bags for a nail file. If the non-speaker looks around the room, smiling at friends in the audience, the audience waves back. The speaker is forgotten; their words lost. This is true in video, as well—when sharing the screen, focus on the speaker.
We do not have to stare, riveted, body turned towards the speaker, we just have to have to pay attention to them. We need to be truly listening. We can do this by looking down, smiling, and nodding in agreement. We can do this by looking up when they say something particularly pertinent. We do not need to be glued to the speaker or be stock still. Small, slow movements, are fine. Fast, sharp movements will draw focus. The intention, “to pay attention” or “to listen" is vital. Remember, it is a gift to the other speaker to shine the light on them. Don’t we all bloom a bit under an attentive gaze?
Often, the reason we are not paying attention to the speaker while on stage, is that we are focusing on what we are going to say next; we are focusing on ourselves. And if you’ve been following this blog, you know what I think about that! Focusing on ourselves disconnects us from the audience and from each other. We are no longer present. In theater we call this, “anticipating.” Actors apologize to each other saying, “So sorry, I was anticipating your entrance.” “Sorry, I jumped on your line—I was anticipating.” Simply put, actors know that anticipating means we are NOT in the moment, not reacting honestly to what our scene partner was giving us. We are in our heads. It’s a great habit to break.
This intention, to focus on the other, is helpful even in conversations. Again, we do not need to be riveted and forced. Think of our attention as a warm light on the other.
This week, we notice what happens when we turn our focus onto others. What happens to the speaker? What happens to the audience?
Bonus: not only will the audience know where to focus, the speaker will bloom.