Autumn Harvest
I'm very lucky that as autumn begins to creep its way across the garden, I am able to take advantage of my own little harvest work wise. Each year during September and October I work for a large corporate client, staging some large conferences. With one in the sun and one nearer home I’m helping a group of people who have now become good friends be at their best on stage.
The fact that it’s meeting up with people whom I greatly respect, and who shine in their jobs, who are now entering the unfamiliar world of a live event means that we have a great exchange of knowledge. I always learn something from them, an incredible successful company with a fantastic record, and I would hope that they learn something from me.
It’s a good time to highlight what we do well as actors. Punctuality is the thing that always brings to mind. Actors are on time. Given that it’s very difficult to get. rid of somebody for bad acting-after all, who can say what is bad? -punctuality or lack of it - is one of the reasons they can dismiss you from a contract. Actors don’t saunter in at five minutes past the time the meeting started.
What one notices is that the people at the very top of business are also very punctual. They are prepared for their meeting, ready to receive you, make the most of the meeting, and draw things to a close at the appropriate time. The latter is something we could learn from. The number of meetings or creative discussions I have had where the nub of the problem has been solved quite early on, but the discussion has continued to go round and round in circles.
I’m very lucky in that though I’m not working in my own habitat, I’m allowed to keep my own behaviours. Use them to hold a mirror up to nature, and to examine just what it is that we do if we are to be effective on the stage. This is not about turning people into actors. It’s about highlighting the natural effective behaviours that they do when they comfortable, and to ensure that they can replicate those behaviours when thrust into the spotlight. Whether that’s the glaring spotlight of a high-tech conference production, or simply standing at the end of a table to address a team of people, pressure can make us behave in ways that lessen how effective we are.
I worked with a large group of young people at a creative agency in the West End of London recently. Four sessions of half a day, each with five or six people at each session and it was a great joy to watch them discover how one or two simple behaviours can change the effectiveness of their spoken communication. Great to see them take these behaviours on board to become the best versions of themselves that they can be.
Having staged these conferences I will be ready to step into the spotlight myself, availability and dates allowing, and do a little acting in the autumn, but good to know that, as the nights close in, each year I get this special little harvest of my own.
The fact that it’s meeting up with people whom I greatly respect, and who shine in their jobs, who are now entering the unfamiliar world of a live event means that we have a great exchange of knowledge. I always learn something from them, an incredible successful company with a fantastic record, and I would hope that they learn something from me.
It’s a good time to highlight what we do well as actors. Punctuality is the thing that always brings to mind. Actors are on time. Given that it’s very difficult to get. rid of somebody for bad acting-after all, who can say what is bad? -punctuality or lack of it - is one of the reasons they can dismiss you from a contract. Actors don’t saunter in at five minutes past the time the meeting started.
What one notices is that the people at the very top of business are also very punctual. They are prepared for their meeting, ready to receive you, make the most of the meeting, and draw things to a close at the appropriate time. The latter is something we could learn from. The number of meetings or creative discussions I have had where the nub of the problem has been solved quite early on, but the discussion has continued to go round and round in circles.
I’m very lucky in that though I’m not working in my own habitat, I’m allowed to keep my own behaviours. Use them to hold a mirror up to nature, and to examine just what it is that we do if we are to be effective on the stage. This is not about turning people into actors. It’s about highlighting the natural effective behaviours that they do when they comfortable, and to ensure that they can replicate those behaviours when thrust into the spotlight. Whether that’s the glaring spotlight of a high-tech conference production, or simply standing at the end of a table to address a team of people, pressure can make us behave in ways that lessen how effective we are.
I worked with a large group of young people at a creative agency in the West End of London recently. Four sessions of half a day, each with five or six people at each session and it was a great joy to watch them discover how one or two simple behaviours can change the effectiveness of their spoken communication. Great to see them take these behaviours on board to become the best versions of themselves that they can be.
Having staged these conferences I will be ready to step into the spotlight myself, availability and dates allowing, and do a little acting in the autumn, but good to know that, as the nights close in, each year I get this special little harvest of my own.
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