ing the podium, completely unaware that
the microphone on the table is causing
the sound system to boom (as Oberacker
witnessed Bill Richardson do in one primary debate) or a speaker addressing a
large room that is in fact only half full,
not reacting and adjusting to your environment robs it of life.
“Every room is different, every audience is different and every circumstance
is different. Should you really give the
same speech at 6 am that you gave at
6 pm? Or perhaps you rehearsed for
a crowd in a good mood, but on the
morning of your speech, the stock market crashed; if you haven’t allowed that
10 percent of breathing room for spontaneity, you are sunk,” Oberacker says.
with your hands, use pockets or a
podium. If you’re a pacer, get a chair
and force yourself to sit there for ten
percent of your speech. He adds that
even the way we dress can alter our
demeanor, since we behave differently
in different clothes.
made to look like liquid; it detects velocity
and projects the liquid image in real time—
small steps disrupt it while a body slam creates a big splash. This concept took four
years to develop and six months of intense
physical work-shopping on the part of the
actors to live in that environment.
Breaking the Routine
Making small physical changes in set,
costume and routine also can force a
more spontaneous performance, Oberacker explains. Manipulating your environment forces your body to make
unexpected decisions in real time and
the words that come out of your mouth
will sound new. “You’re disengaging the
mind from a decision it’s already made
so your performance doesn’t sound
rehearsed.” Cirque du Soleil directors
change the lighting to surprise the
artist, such as using strobes. “The
human body can do multiple things and
sometimes we communicate better
while doing something,” Oberacker
adds. Actors are often asked to perform
a task while practicing a monologue—
picking up a deck of cards from the
ground, for instance—and the delivery
of the material is usually better.
As a speaker, you are your own director, so willfully pull the carpet out from
under your own feet. Small changes
that break routine can work too. If you
always ask for the light to be in the
same place, change it. If you are used to
having the lights on in the house, turn
them off, or vice versa. If you toy with
your lapel, wear a turtle neck. Conversely, if you need something to do
Analyze every inch of your performance, warns Oberacker, and “be your
own policeman” when it comes to
habits or repetitious movements that
distract from what you are saying.
Do you punch the air the same way
30 times when you speak? Behavioral
crutches like this begin to seem false. Is
there tension in your body? This creates
a wall between you and the audience.
A speaker who has stiff shoulders may
be restricting his lung capacity, and the
audience may be missing as much
as 50 percent of what is said.
The scene is but one example of the
spectacular, gravity-defying spectacles
that Cirque du Soleil is famous for. But
if you ask Oberacker, the real craftsmanship—the magic keeping the audience
glued to their seats—is the performers’
way of communicating with the audience. “They have convinced you that
this reality is real. And that is the difference between a mediocre performance
and a true masterpiece: When the audience can’t take their eyes off of something, it’s because they are experiencing
a real human exchange.”
Telling a Real Story
In the final martial arts battle in KÀ, 20
actors are fighting on a surface perpendicular to the stage, which gives the audience
the perspective of looking down on a battlefield. Each actor is on a movable platform, attached at their center of gravity to
a cable, and must use their athletic ability—and significant abdominal muscles—
to remain in a completely perpendicular
position to the wall while manipulating a
hand-held joy stick which controls their
movement, all while executing the swift
fight choreography. The wall’s surface is
Kristen Wolfe Bieler lives in New York
City and is a regular contributor to
Every Day with Rachel Ray, Women’s
Health, Specialty Food Magazine, CITY
Magazine and Runner’s World. She is
the editor of Food & Wine Magazine’s
Annual Wine Guide publication,
as well as the
Beverage Media
publications.
