In this scene from Disney's "The Jungle Book", King Louie sings "I wanna walk like you/talk like you". He "gets" it that the way we MOVE can send messages as strongly as our words.
During improv class, I lead silent exercises that explore PHYSICAL behavior. In this way, my participants create a visual image from which others make immediate assumptions.
The exercise begins with simply walking, then, I ask participants to shift their body weight and center of focus so they are carrying themselves in different ways.
Then I ask, what does that physicality TELL you about that person you've become? What immediate assumptions do you make? For example, if you pass by somebody who walks very firmly with their chest puffed out what assumption do you make? Pompous, self-assured, cocky, jock, full-of-themselves is what I typically hear.
Its fun to explore physical behavior as a spice to improv class, and an enhancement of the characters we do in scenes. In real life, I challenge you to spend a day paying attention to what you THINK about others just by the way they walk and carry their bodies.
Next, I challenge you to pay attention to how YOU carry yourself? When you are interacting in the scenes of life, what messages are you sending?
The scary thing is, that you are probably creating a positive (or negative) impression whether you speak or not!
Since I'm an actor-type, I observe people and their behavior (and speech) all the time for my work. In an improv I might pull out a physical behavior or voice that I've seen out in public! This is great in the real world too, because once you can really hone in on someone's specific behavior, you can creatively deconstruct it and have an easier time addressing it!
I once coached a manager who had an employee she wanted to put on a performance plan. (Translation: We want to fire this dude but we know we have to do it legally.)
The employee was a generally nice, positive guy but "kind of slacker," she said. The manager really had no concrete examples or reasons to want to put him on a performance plan.
I asked her what she meant by the word "slacker" since this man certainly didn't present himself that way when I saw him around the office. After beating a few bushes, it came down to this: the VP of the department didn't like him. The VP of the department was the one who thought this employee was a "slacker" and wanted this guy gone. Adding fuel to the fire was the fact that this employee sometimes failed to do what he'd agreed to do in those meetings.
"Does he take notes during these meetings?" I asked.
"No," said the manager, "He doesn't even bring anything to take notes WITH," she said.
"Does he sit up straight in his chair and lean in when others speak?"
Again, the answer was a "No." In fact, when the manager really broke down the behavior, this employee would push his chair away from the table and stretch out, lounging in the chair, almost as if he were watching TV. Sometimes he'd even put his hands behind his head and look at the ceiling.
If that isn't an "I'm-not-working-right-now" pose, I don't know what is!
"So, basically, this guy is giving the impression that meetings are break times and there's nothing noteworthy going on." I said.
No WONDER the VP thought he was a slacker! He was basing his opinion of this employee purely from the BEHAVIORAL cues this guy was sending.
I suggested that the manager simply ask this employee to sit up straight at the table and bring something to take notes with. Writing down the things he'd promised to do would at least give the IMPRESSION that he cared about the tasks the VP had assigned him. After a couple instances of "forgetting" note-taking tools, the manager finally got honest with the employee and told him that he was giving the wrong impression. The employee finally did as asked. The act of taking notes brought him closer to the table and the instances of him completing promised tasks went up significantly. Also, the VP stopped talking about having him fired!
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