Bad Acting

When I was an undergrad I had a scene study class with a professor who was a professional actor and in that class, we worked on scenes from well-known plays and movies.?

I can still remember getting up on that stage in front of the class and going through a scene with the intention to impress everyone.?

I wanted this teacher to KNOW I had the chops.?

I memorized my lines.?

I memorized my scene partner's lines.?

I got up on that stage, ready to rock it and when the scene was over...

He had PAGES of notes.?

Practically every moment was critiqued in some way and it felt really hard to have to listen to all of that feedback, but while he was going through it, he shared an insight with me that I will never forget.?

He said,

"Mike, you need to forget there's an audience. When you do it for the audience you're not believable. I can tell you're acting"

?It stung, but it was true.?

When I was trying to impress I did the opposite.?What I eventually learned in that class was that my best scene work came when I simply stayed in the moment of the scene and forgot about the audience.

?Interestingly enough, this made me a good director later on because I was able to call most of my actors on the moments when they were "acting" but the lesson extended well beyond my acting days.?

Here it is:?No matter what content we create we have to find a point where we forget there's an audience.?

The best talks, writing, and even selling come from the moments when we are just living the truth of who we are.?

When we're believing in the situation and listening in the moment.?

There's always the danger of "bad acting" when it comes to the things we create because so many people have ways we "should" be doing them, but if it isn't true for you, it will not feel true for anyone else.?

I was reminded of this lesson last week when I took a hard look at my newsletter here at the Linked Inn.

?I wrote about it HERE.?

Over to you.?

Where are the moments where you're trying to impress the "audience" rather than be in the moment??

How can you get back to what you believe??

Because when you start working like there is no audience...

That's exactly when you start building one.?

Excelsior!?

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