Communication

A mixed message is when our words say one thing and our bodies/vocal tones say another. (tight, deadpan voice) _ I love you._ Good communication is all about being clear across the board. Use this exercise to explore the concept of mixed messages and what they communicate. Sometimes we want a character to present a mixed message! Instruction:1. Start the exercise with a discussion. What is a mixed message? What does it look like and sound like? Give this definition: Mixed messages say one thing with the body and another thing with the voice. 2. Have your students ever been on the receiving end of a mixed message? It would help the discussion if you could provide an example of your own. Has anyone given a mixed message but was surprised to find out? How did the message come across? What is it like to receive a mixed message? 3. Model an example of playing a mixed message. Start talking about a presentation that you have to give. Use confident words. So I have to give this presentation and I’m totally prepared for it. I can’t wait to get in front of the class and share my information. I’ve got this. Contrast these confident words with an insecure tone. Hum and haw. Sound nervous. Sound unsure. After you present this, ask students about what they heard. Did they believe your words? Why or why not? Get them to be specific about their doubts to your sincerity. Highlight the contrast. The message is confusing because the words say one thing and the vocal tone says another. 4. Use the same example and use a physical contrast. Contrast the confident words with a physical insecurity and anxiety: pace, run your fingers through your hair, hold your arms across your chest. Be physically anxious. After you present this, ask students about what they saw. Did they believe your words? Why or why not? 5. Now students are going to try this for themselves. Get everyone up and in partners. Tell students to decide who is Partner A and who is Partner B. 6. Instruct the pairs that they are going to start a scene. Everyone will go at the same time. Partner A will start the scene with the line. “Hey! It’s great to see you.” Coach them to be sincere with their vocal tone and their physical body. They are indeed happy to see the other person. Let this run for about a minute and bring everyone to neutral. 7. Instruct the pairs that they are going to switch. Now Partner B is going to start the scene with the line “Hey! It’s great to see you.” This time, Partner B is going to send a mixed message. Ask students to decide on their mixed message: if the words are positive, something has to be negative. They can choose a vocal contrast. They can choose a physical contrast. Have them do the scene for a minute. 8. Afterwards, discuss the exercise. How did it feel to be on the receiving end of a mixed message? Was it frustrating? Why or why not? How did it change the scene? What was being communicated? 9. Ask students to think about how presenting a mixed message might be useful in a theatrical context. What would it be like to be a character who delivers mixed messages? Can they think of a character in a play they’ve studied who presents mixed messages? 10. Reflection: Have students reflect on mixed messages. Get them to describe the concept in their own words. How do mixed messages affect communication? How can they use mixed messages in their future acting work?

Guest blogger Jennine Profeta is a Second City performer and theatre educator, as well the instructor of the Drama Teacher Academy course Yes, And… How to Teach Improv. She shares her Top Ten Tips for Teaching Improv with us here! Tip #1 – There are no wrong answers.There are no wrong offers. Students are very reticent sometimes to put something on the table. They’re scared that they’re not going to say the perfect thing. Don’t worry about perfect. Just put something out there and know that things are going to spin out from it. Tip #2 – Improv is overwhelming.You can just choose from anything in the world and students are afraid that they’re not going to say that perfect thing, that they’re not going to be funny, or they’re not going to be able to contribute anything. We are aware of this and we’re going to address this. Tip #3 – Improv is a team sport.We are in it to win it together. We’re all friends, we all support each other, we all help each other out. When we do shows, a lot of us have adopted this thing called “I got your back” so we go around and we tap each other on the back and say, “I got your back” because, again, it’s a reminder that it’s a team sport. Tip #4 – Keep physically open.Students tend to cross their arms, cross their legs. I know I stand in a crossed arm position because it’s comfortable sometimes, but it’s also defensive and it shuts us down. You’re actually not really able to listen as well when your body is crossed. Get them to open up – uncross those arms, uncross those legs. Sometimes you have to remind them several times throughout a class. Tip #5 – Listening.It’s all about communication and collaboration, so we need to listen to each other. All acting is about reacting and improv is this in the purest form. You have to be able to listen and to react to your partner. Tip #6 – Focus on the wins and the challenges.This is an important tip when giving feedback – as opposed to focusing on what is right and wrong. Just focus on the wins. There is no wrong in improv as long as we’re listening to each other and supporting each other. Tip #7 – Emotion is your friend!I like that say that, in life, it sucks to be grieving. It sucks to be sad, to be terrified. But in the classroom, it’s a really fun thing to play with. It can inject a lot of fun and energy into your scenes. So, the more that they can embrace their emotions and just riff off of them, the more they’re going to have in their toolbox. Tip #8 – Funny, funny, funny.That should be a happy by-product of what happens. Not that we’re standing on the sidelines, thinking about the perfect joke. Improv is all about humor. We just want to start communicating our ideas, working on offers, listening, and accept the fact that the laughs are going to come as a result of this thing that we’re building together. Tip #9 – Avoid questions.We want to avoid questions in our scene work. Some students don’t want to commit to the scene or again they think that whatever they have to say is not good enough. So instead, they go into the scene and go, “So, what are you doing? What’s your name? Why are we here?” I stop and say, “Okay, let’s reframe it. Instead of a question, let’s make it a statement.” Say, “We are at…” and then you’ll watch them, like, “Uh… Disneyland.” Yes, perfect! That’s great. Tip #10 – Have fun.Every time I hit the stage, I like to play and have fun. In improv, there are often rules and structures that are introduced in a lot of the exercises and games that we play. It doesn’t mean that it’s not fun; those are there to help us have fun, to hone in on the points that we want to hit so that we can have a great time and just laugh. Want to hear more tips from Jennine? • Listen to the Theatrefolk Podcast Top Ten Tips for Teaching Improv. • Check out Jennine’s Drama Teacher Academy course Yes, And… How to Teach Improv.

Good communication is all about being engaged and listening. One of my favourite quotes about communication is: “Two monologues do not make a dialogue. – Jeff Daly” Instructions:1. Ask your class to form a circle. 2. Instruct everyone to think about a flower. You might want to throw out some suggestions if you see students with a deer in the headlights look. (Rose, Carnation, Daisy, Tulip, Bluebell, Violet, Buttercup, Primrose, Forget-me-not, Iris, Orchid, Lily, Sunflower, Crocus) 3. Take a large ball. (Something soft, like a nerf ball.) Explain that you are going to throw the ball across the circle. The person who catches the ball has to name a flower and then throw the ball to someone else. 4. When the second person catches the ball, they have to name a flower, and then repeat the flower of the first person. Then they throw the ball to someone else. 5. The third person names a flower, and then repeats the flowers of the second person, and the first. They then throw the ball to someone else and the game continues. 6. By this point, everyone in the circle should be focused on the list of flowers and listening. Make it a rule that you can repeat flowers but not twice in a row. (So you could have rose, carnation, daisy, rose, tulip, bluebell, violet, rose.) 7. Coach students to take their turn with purpose – don’t let them get into a “excuse mantra.” Keep everyone focused on the game and keeping the ball moving. Encourage others to help if someone gets in trouble with the list. 8. Discuss the exercise afterward. Was it easy or hard? Why? What was it like to listen to intently? How can good listening skills be of value during rehearsal or performance? Variations• Colours • Food • Cities • First names/Last names • Numbers

Communication is not just what we say – nonverbal actions play a huge part as well. How we stand, gesture, make eye contact, all of these physical choices communicate. Use this nonverbal exercise to practice the act of communicating without words. Instructions:1. Divide the class into groups. 2. Have the groups letter themselves (A, B, C, D, E) 3. “A” will be the first to go. “A” is given a card with an object/location written on it. 4. “A” must get the rest of their group to form a tableau which visualizes the object or location. All communication must be nonverbal. No words or sounds allowed. 5. You can make the exercise a competition. Give a two minute time limit for the group to form the picture based on the nonverbal communication of “A”. If they are able to form the picture within the time limit, they get a point and move on to the next card with “B” giving the nonverbal communication. If time runs out, they move onto the next card but don’t get a point. Keep repeating the exercise so that everyone has a chance to lead the group. 6. Discuss the exercise afterward. What was it like to try and understand someone without any verbal cues? Did they use any shorthand? Did they get frustrated at any point? Which objects/locations were easier/harder to communicate?

“Communication: the means of connection between people; the imparting or exchange of information, thoughts, opinions.” Communication is vital to a successful theatrical experience. A play is a two way street – what is sent from the stage gets an immediate response from the audience. There is an exchange that doesn’t happen in the movie-going experience or the reading experience. It is an actor’s job to communicate to the audience and they will answer back. Communication might be the most important 21st century skill students can learn in the drama classroom. We communicate with each other in the real world every day, in a variety of ways: verbal, nonverbal, physical. We often have to navigate the minefield of miscommunication with mixed messages or people who refuse to listen. A student may resist creative thought or creative action – “I can’t do that, I’m not creative. I can’t act. I can’t be in a play.” But every single human being benefits from learning how to communicate. We need communication skills in family life, in relationships, in the workplace, and in the school hallway. How can you practice communication in the drama classroom?Define: Define communication with your students. Find out how they communicate with each other and why they communicate the way they do. Explore: With 21st century students, it’s all about texts and snapchats. It’s much less about face to face interaction. Have students lead an improv game where they have to provide the instructions via snapchat. Observe what happens. Do students engage, because this is a form of communication they’re drawn to? Or is this an example of how in-person communication is still valuable? Explore: Over the course of a month, every student has to teach a warm up game at the beginning of class. Communication is a different experience when you’re the leader. What’s it like to be in charge? Do your fellow classmates listen? Why or why not? Did you communicate the game effectively? Why or why not? How would you change your instruction to communicate more effectively? Discussion and Theatricalization: Click below for a PDF downloadable Communication Quotes page. Divide your students into groups, have each group discuss a quote. What does it mean? Why is the statement being said? Do you agree or disagree? Then have each group theatricalize their quote. If they were going to turn the quote into a scene, how would they do it? Give each group 15 minutes to come up with a 1 minute scene to present. Reflection: Theatre is an act of communication. Reflect on this statement. What comes to mind when you read it? Why might theatre be an act of communication? Do you agree or disagree? If you disagree, why isn’t theatre an act of communication?

Sometimes it’s the simple games and the ones we’ve played over and over again that can offer the most learning. Take The Human Knot. It’s a game that’s been played in playgrounds, camps, and drama classes everywhere. But at its heart, it’s a collaboration game. Once the knot is achieved, how do your students work together to undo the knot? Are they able to communicate with each other without resorting to commands? Are they able to negotiate? InstructionsGoal: Undo the knot without letting go of hands 1. Get students into a circle. Everyone stands shoulder to shoulder. You can also do this in smaller groups and add a competition aspect. 2. Everyone lifts their right hand. 3. Everyone grabs the hand of someone else in the circle. They cannot hold hands with the person next to them. 4. Everyone lifts their left hand. 5. Everyone grabs the hand of someone else in the circle. (Not the same person as with the right hand.) They cannot hold hands with the person next to them. 6. The group has to untangle the knot without letting go of anyone’s hand. 7. Repeat the exercise and this time instruct students that they can’t talk. All communication has to be non-verbal.

Ten Things to think about when you’re preparing to ask Theatrefolk for changes to a play: 1. The best time to ask about a change is before you decide to do the play. That’s going to be easiest for everyone involved, you haven’t gone to the trouble of applying for royalties, and it gives us lots of time to respond. And if the answer is not to your liking you have time to choose another play. 2. If that’s not possible, ask ASAP. If you write the day before your performance, what will you do if the answer comes back as a “no?” 3. Do not assume your changes are going to be approved. The play is the playwright’s work and they have the final say on changes. 4. And conversely, don’t expect we’re going to say no! Never be afraid to ask. We work with schools every day as do the majority of our playwrights. We’re very cognisant of administrations when it comes to fear changes and also time constraints when it comes to competition. 5. Formulate every specific change in writing. Do not ask for blanket permission to be able to change whatever you want. 6. Explain why changes are being made. The more information we have, the more we can share with the playwright. “We want to change some lines” is not helpful. 7. If the answer comes back as “No” writing back to berate our choice (especially by telling us how disappointed the students are in us) will probably not make us change our minds. 8. Ask yourself before you contact us, – Does this change maintain the integrity of the play? 9. Think of it this way, you are only renting the play. You don’t own it. It’s the same as if you were renting a car – would you be able to change the colour of the car without asking? Same goes for putting on a play, you can’t make changes on your own without permission. 10. Every play comes with a license that says the play must be performed as written unless you have written permission. Please don’t treat that license frivolously! If you treat the play with respect, the playwright with respect, and the procedure with respect, chances are the same will be returned to you.

This week on Spread the Love we talk about This Phone Will Explode at the Tone by Lindsay Price. Filmed live on location in a phone booth.