5 Acting Skills Everyone Will Need

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Effective exercises for pumping charisma and self-confidence.

There are people who think that the acting profession is a few years of joking in a theater university, after which a person hones his skills at best at rehearsals and does not leave the covers of glossy magazines. It is not true. Real professionals work on themselves around the clock until the end of their lives.

We like to watch them: the acting charisma attracts, and the voice is mesmerizing. We want to have their talents to achieve our goals. Therefore, Lifehacker, together with actress Olga Zhukova, identified 5 acting skills that will be useful to everyone.

1. Objects of attention

There are a huge number of objects of attention on the stage. Artists should be able to catch the slightest movement of the partner, because the back reaction depends on it. But there are also props and decorations. It is important for an actor to be able to notice details and react to them.

Often we run somewhere and in the hustle and bustle do not notice many things, we are inattentive to each other. Ask yourself what eye color your best friend has. But this is also an object of attention.

Due to our inattention, understatement and misunderstanding appear. And this applies not only to people. Sometimes catharsis does not happen from someone's words or some large-scale action: a leaf can fall beautifully from a tree, and this becomes a cause of admiration.

What will it give

Increase your sensitivity and gain a new perspective on familiar things.

How to learn it

Make an effort on yourself, take yourself out of prostration and automatic life. Concentrate on the little things, ask yourself questions: "What new do I see in the building I walk past every day?"

2. Prepared improvisation

There is such a good phrase: "Any improvisation must be well planned." But how so, after all, improvisation is here and now, how can it be prepared? It turns out that it is not only possible, but also necessary: the partner forgets the text, the phone rings loudly in the auditorium, something breaks or falls - there are a lot of force majeure situations. Needless to say, there are even more of them in real life?

What will it give

Learn to get out of embarrassing situations and build self-confidence.

How to learn it

• If you have an important conversation and you already know its topic, analyze the possible options for the development of the conversation and prepare in advance a worthy answer to each of them.
• Expand your horizons and vocabulary. Instead of a word that has flown out of my head, you can pick up a synonym.
• Remember to use humor. A joke told on the topic will make you a winner, and a spontaneously invented joke is often better than a blank.

3. Emancipation

One of the main points in the acting profession is emancipation. Few without any preparation can go on stage and, being under the gaze of five hundred pairs of eyes, show the class.

In ordinary life, there are also a lot of similar situations: many of the knees begin to tremble from the very thought that a public speech awaits them. And before going out to the audience, the knees are shaking, the mouth becomes dry, and there is no trace of feigned confidence.

But everything comes with experience. After working on yourself, you will stop constantly asking yourself: "Will I not look stupid?"

What will it give

Expand your comfort zone.

How to learn it

This exercise from acting courses has migrated into the practice of many personal growth coaches. The girl as the first stage paints her lips with bright lipstick, approaches strangers and asks: "Does this color suit me?" A guy can do the same with any piece of clothing.

It is quite possible to hear a negative reaction, and this is normal. It is important to understand how you perceive other people's words and why. After some time, you will feel so harmoniously that even walking a brick tied to a wire instead of a dog will not cause you discomfort.

4. Speech control

This is one of the most important things for an actor. It is not for nothing that a theater university has the subject "Stage speech", which is taught throughout the entire course of study. But in everyday life, many do not really follow what and how they pronounce, although communication occurs constantly: at home and at work, with colleagues and with loved ones.

If you want your words to be better perceived, pay attention to all the elements: timbre of voice, intonation, clarity of pronunciation, breathing.

What will it give

Your words will be better perceived by other people.

How to learn it

• Work on the pitch.
• Practice tongue twisters.
• Take care of the ligaments.

5. Role analysis

Each actor, while working on the role, "justifies his character" - trying to understand who this person is, what he means in this situation, what kind of relationship he has with other characters, how he communicates with his superiors, with subordinates, with loved ones. These moments make up an understanding of what kind of person he is and how to play him.

A good playwright always thinks through his characters to the smallest detail and lays deep causal relationships even in insignificant characters. And our life is the coolest playwright.

What will it give

Learn to accept yourself and others.

How to learn it

You need to ask questions. Sometimes the correct wording resolves the misunderstandings that arise with other people and helps to find harmony with oneself.

Bonus: memory development

Actors constantly have to learn quickly and keep in their heads excerpts from dozens of works. Here are three simple tips to help you remember important text:

1. Rewrite the text in your own hand. Surely at school, when preparing cheat sheets, you noticed that after writing them, in general, they are not really needed. The same principle works here.
2. Keep the text in front of your eyes. Put it on your phone screen saver, hang it in the kitchen. This will allow you to spontaneously speak it.
3. Divide the text into actions. Most often, he studies for public speaking - whether it is a diploma defense or a toast at a wedding. During a speech, you are unlikely to stand at attention. Think ahead about what your hands will be doing and what gestures will emphasize your words.