Communicating with Ease
Weekly Presence Prompt
Photograph by Camiyn Leone
As communicators, we seek to have a sense of ease, fluidity, and play when we speak. Ease takes experience, practice, and then letting go. I cannot emphasize enough the requirement that communicating with ease takes work on the front-end. And absolute trust that when we truly let go after all that work, the magic begins.
How do we prepare on the front-end? No way around it: research, craft content, and practice well in advance.
How do we let go when so much is at stake? The preparation is our base, our safety net, our home. And then, we practice letting go. The more we do it, just like anything, the more we know that we will survive!
Recently, I did a production of Queen Lear, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy. We had a very long rehearsal process over many (many) months, starting with short meetings, talking through the text, editing as we went, working whenever we were free between other productions, day-jobs, and life events. I started memorizing the text and was “off book,” six months before we were scheduled to perform. I ran every line of the play out-loud every day for those six months and continued to do this every single day of our three-month run. Why? So I could be completely present with the actors and audience, so I could play fully and with abandon, so I could speak the poetry with ease…
This week, we think about an upcoming conversation or presentation where we would like to show up with ease. We prepare thoroughly and in advance. Then, we walk onto the stage or into the boardroom, and let go.
#communicatingwithease #queenlear #kinglear #shakespeare #camilynleonephotography
I love the idea of getting so comfortable with the lines that you can exist in the presence of the moment. I have been getting these Brando reels from his screen test, ON THE WATERFRONT, and A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE. The ease with which he imbues every single moment with living and presence is still humbling. Although I didn't see QUEEN LEAR, I certainly wished I had. I bet you gave every moment the same feel of authentic self.
Your ease radiated as Queen Lear! After learning from you, when I see a beautiful performance, I always think "I just watched years of practice and preparation."