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Photo credit (CC): GPS, https://www.flickr.com/photos/zoxcleb/12708086944/in/faves-58564123@N05/

Michael Tarnowski

Drama Babe!Theatre Stage Experience for Agilists

Workshop at “Walk the Talk – Talk the Walk”#WTTW, Annual Conference AC NL, 10.Sept.2014

Agile Consortium NL

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Prologue

Who is your Performer?Why do Agilists need Theatre Stage Experience?

Act I – Scripting the PerformanceAct I, Scene 1 – Write the PlaybookAct I, Scene 2 – Set the StageAct I, Scene 3 – Set the PoseAct I, Scene 4 – Direct the Performance

Act II – Staging the PerformanceAct II, Scene 1 – Build the StageAct II, Scene 2 – Onstage & Backstage, Entrances & ExitsAct II, Scene 3 – Set the LightAct II, Scene 4 – Set the Sound/MusicAct II, Scene 5 – Set the Costumes & Props

Act III – Performing the PerformanceAct III, Scene 1 – RehearseAct III, Scene 2 – Find proper EmphasisAct III, Scene 3 – Create MeaningAct III, Scene 4 – Create Emotions and Authenticity

Photo credit (CC): Jeffrey Beall, http://www.flickr.com/photos/denverjeffrey/5636579214/

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PrologueWho is your Performer?

Michael Tarnowskiwww.plays-in-business.com

ISO 15504 Assessor

>30 yrs Actor & Director Off-theatre & performance groups

9 yrs SW developer (Unix, C++)

Founder of Plays-in-Business.comScrum Master & Consultant for Agile Transformation

>12 yrs Consultant; Trainer & Speaker

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You don’t believe what I yet heard !!??

Agilits communicate via Post-Its and Source Code only!

Photo credit (CC): Peter Peerdeman, https://www.flickr.com/photos/peterpeerdeman/6957448486/in/faves-58564123@N05/

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PrologueWhy do Agilists need Theatre Stage Experience?

Photo credit (CC): Azri, https://www.flickr.com/photos/azriadnan/1855533075

Theatre and Stage Experience offers you however a broad-wide toolbox of communication skills:• How to set the narrative structure your presentation• How to prepare your stage: onstage, offstage, and

audience space• How to use light, sound, costumes, and props properly• How to rehearse & improve your presentation• How to use your body language

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Act I – Scripting the PerformanceAct I, Scene 1 – Write the Playbook

Determine your message, i.e. what you want to tell

Create a proper playbook

Write down your text aka the “lines”, i.e. what you want to say

Refine and detail your playbook during your rehearsals continuously

You are author and performer of your show at the same time.

As the author plan and structure your performance, presentation or show. Take notes and scribbles in a kind of playbook or graphic storyboard.

Photo credit: http://www.produktbezogen.de

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“Drama Bow” – Narrative Structure of your Performance

Proudly stolen from Adam St.John Lawrence, Work•Play•Experience, Services Design: boom-yeah-Yeah-Boom

Tell your story like a James Bond movie

Boom!

Yeah!

Boom!

yeah!

Start: impressive intro scene

Highlights: in ascending order of power to build the interest

End: bombastic closing

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How to make your Story captivate and contagious

Spectators perk up when they hear a Problem that holds immediate Risk.

A Resolution creates immediate value for the spectators.Growth and Truth leads to fast identification with the storyline/ characters. Truth gets credibility.

Vulnerability: being honest about the challenges, fears, and failures you/the characters faced gives the story power.

Colours: describe landscape, time of day/year, details of clothing, props, etc.

Make sure that the details you include serve your narrative; cramming too much in, makes your story too long and convoluted.Sometimes you have to “lose your darlings” to keep your stories tight and clear.

Photo credit (CC): Cydcor Offices, https://www.flickr.com/photos/cydcor/9323706582

1. Structure it as a rough skeleton first:

a. Identify a Problem with immediate risks

b. Identify a Resolution (of the problem) and if you want Growth of characters while standing the risks.

c. Line-up the highlights in ascending order of power/tension – experiment with their order

d. If you want add Truth or keep the story fictitious.

2. Pimp your story – “put flesh on the bones”:

a. Add Vulnerability to the characters

b. Add Colours: decorate the scenes with details to illustrate the atmosphere and scenarios.

3. Keep the story tense and short. You will get more an more experience in knowing how to edit yourself for greatest effectiveness.

4. Rework and refine Start and End – set punchlines for “yeah, Yeah, BOOM!”

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Act I, Scene 2 – Set the Stage

Identify Spaces

• the space you perform – this is your Stage.

• the space the audience is in.

Photo credit (CC): Mohammad Jangda, http://www.flickr.com/photos/batmoo/3735638680/

Affect the Seating

In general the audience fills up from the back and along the aisle. Empty rows and seats in between gives a feeling of an unattractive event.

Choose a room as tight as possible for your predicted numbers

Encourage the audience to fill from the front

Cross the barrier between stage and audience only by purpose and intentionally

Use: lightings; attends to offer seats; reserve rear rows until the rest of the room is full (and fetch "reserve" chairs from another room only when needed).

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Act I, Scene 3 – Set the Pose

The Basics of Business Body Language, Laura Montini, http://www.inc.com/laura-montini/infographic/getting-ahead-in-business-with-body-language.html

(Albert Mehrabian rule)

“More important than what you say is how you say it.”

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The 4 most important Body Language Tips

1. Show Tension. Stature is preparation for everything we do.

Photo credit (CC): Glenn Loos-Austin, https://www.flickr.com/photos/junkchest/47929871

Always stand on stage in Stature

When you do so, the body inhales, your core muscles pull up, and your chest expands.

Don’t over-emphasise by pumping up yourself like a body builder

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The 4 most important Body Language Tips

2. Maintain Eye Contact. Like our voice, our eyes convey everything. Eye contact connects us literally and figuratively with one another.

Photo credit (CC): Nick Fewings, https://www.flickr.com/photos/jannerboy62/9739279883

Eye Contact helps you to embody integrity, confidence and authority

Don’t stare at your spectators

Switch between focusing an individual spectator in the front, in the middle, and in the back of the audience

Don’t look in spectators’ eyes directly – look at their foreheads instead

Evaluate when to maintain and when to stop keeping eye contact

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The 4 most important Body Language Tips

3. Make movements (gestures & walks) purposeful. Positively, gestures help you effectively tell the story – negatively, they detract from what you are saying.

Gestures and walks must be purposeful, not random, unconscious or ever repetitive.

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The 4 most important Body Language Tips

3 daily exercises to improve your voice

4. Use Abdominal (Belly) Breathing – not your lungs! Abdominal breathing gets you a longer flow of air. Your voice becomes louder without stressing your vocal chords; and belly breathing calms panic attacks (“stage frighten”) also.

Photo credit: http://bestanxietyremedies.com, http://www.entrepreneursspeaking.com

Train your voice daily (e.g. in the bathroom)

Become acquainted with abdominal breathing

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Act I, Scene 4 – Direct the Performance

“Block the Play”

Determine your movements and positions on stage.

Use Scribbles and Stage Directions to relate movements with lines; note them all in the playbook.

Create movements that:

• transfer meaning and mood of your story line

• help to feature other speakers/performers at appropriate moments

• keep the audience awake and involved

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Stage Descriptions (Theatre) & Customer/User Experience

Proudly stolen from Stage Directions Meet Functional Specifications: They Have a Lot in Common, Traci Lepore, http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2009/03/stage-directions-meet-functional-specifications-they-have-a-lot-in-common.php

Stage directions tell: Documenting functions alone doesn‘t tell:

What characters enter and leave a scene

How a user might enter or leave a particular part of a site or applications

What and how characters do on stage What a user might be able to do while – that is not a click

How characters do and say things What the particular interaction is with some functionality

What happens in the background What happens in the background

What sounds are heard What audio clues help explain the functionality

What the lighting should be What visual clues help explain the functionality

What the context is – the mood and environment

What the context is – helping set the conditions for the experience and the desired response

What the tempo and rhythm are What the tempo and rhythm of an interaction or experience are

Stage Directions + Dialogue + Set= Overall Experience

Functions + Interactions + Emotional Response = Overall Experience

Stage descriptions helps you to define Customer/User Experience (CX/UX).

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Stage Descriptions

Downstage

Centrestage

Upstage

**** Audience ****

Right

Right

RightRight

Centre

RightCentre

RightCentre

DownCentre

Centre

UpCentre

LeftCentre

LeftCentre

LeftCentre

Left

Left

Left

Left

Win

g

Right W

ing

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Act II – Staging the PerformanceAct II, Scene 1 – Build the Stage

Your customer touch points are your Stage Sets:

• your conference booth, speaker platform, venue

• your retail store(s)• your website/marketing brochure• etc…

Build the stage accordingly to your intentions, and business strategy.

Stage building shall support your message

Stage building shall look professional – avoid clumsy assembles

Use curtains, flames, roll-ups, and lighting

Less is more

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Act II, Scene 2 – Onstage & Backstage, Entrances & Exits

What the public can see is “Onstage”

What you want to hide is “Backstage/ Offstage”

Move on/off stage powerful and confident

Focus your role when entering the stage

Enter stage always from left if possible

Most impressive entrance: “The King’s entrance”, (door) UpCentre

Choreography all entrances and exits

Show the audience the backstage machinery by purpose only – e.g. in case of “Making of…” shows.

Use line-of-sights, curtains, etc., to hide the backstage.

A powerful entrance impress the audience and gives power to yourself.

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Act II, Scene 3 – Set the Lights

Photo credit (CC): Dan Brady https://www.flickr.com/photos/djbrady/2068433063/in/faves-58564123@N05/

Use natural light as often as possible

Use spotlight to highlight you in a crowd

Use (spot)light to emphasise special experiences or sequences of interest: e.g. light coming from the side wings; light in your back dazzling the audience when you enter

Red & Yellow: warm lightBlue & White: cold lightBlue & Green: light difficult to handleAll mixture of colours: interesting – experiment with

Light creates atmosphere easily.

Light kills atmosphere fast: cold, hard, white light.

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Act II, Scene 4 – Set the Sound/Music

Sound creates atmosphere easily – even shrill, loud, sound/music.

Sound kills atmosphere fast – even melodic sound/music.

Sound/music create tension.

Sound/music gets meaning.

Use sound/music by purpose only – define their meaning upfront

Sound/music shall pace your movements and props properly: in introducing/closing or during a movement

Chose sound/music decisively – think twice in selecting them

Sounds/music are potentially under copyright – use royalty free sources

Photo credit (CC): MaDonna via http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com

Some royalty free sound/music sources:• http://www.grsites.com/archive/sounds/• https://soundcloud.com/• http://www.freesound.org/

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Act II, Scene 5 – Set the Costumes & Props

Costumes serve as a kind of branding. In marketing events they function as corporate identity (CI).

On stage each costume communicates: it determines certain stereotypes, it addresses punchlines, it defines the personality of a character, and, and, and...

Props (properties) are identifiable (real) objects used during the performance.Like costumes props communicate as well.

Props create meaning and WOW-factors

Be spare with props – each prop on stage has to be used, has to have a function/has to have support other props.

Eliminate all non-used props

Costumes create meaning and WOW-factors

Be exuberant in using costumes

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Act III – Performing the PerformanceAct III, Scene 1 – Rehearse

Performers rehearse and train again and again.They train consistently their text, their movements, and the exact timings for the punchlines.

Like theatre rehearsals your rehearsals should also progress from early free-form rehearsals through technical rehearsals (lighting, sound/music, special effects) up to final on-site rehearsals with all costumes, props, and all technical machinery (light, sound, special effects, etc.).

Prepare yourself: topic of your show and ways to perform

Rehearse and improve yourself over and over again

Rehearse with a peer to get real feedback

Don’t shoot the peer for the feedback

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Act III, Scene 2 – Find proper Emphasis

“The tone creates the music”

You are author and performer of your show at the same time.

As the performer test different ways to pronounce and to intonate your lines. – There are more than 100 variations in presenting a line!

Test force/strength of your movements.

Evaluate the timing of your movements and lines

Evaluate intonation changes: speed, melody, loudness, energy, timbre, and resonance of your voice – experiment and play

Evaluate how pauses change/force meaning

If needed, rewrite your lines to strengthen your message

Note the ways to speak the lines in your playbook

Rehearse, evaluate & improve – Rehearse, evaluate & improve – Rehearse, evaluate & improve …

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Act III, Scene 3 – Create Meaning

“On stage Everything gets a meaning”You can’t avoid it: the audience noticeseverything and interprets everything: the performer’s anxiety/nervousness/uncertainty, movements/gestures performed unconsciously, a clumsy designed stage, improper used light, and sound, and, and, and...

In a fraction of a glimpse the audience will decide when something in your performance supports or contradicts your message/intention.

Photo credit (CC): ArtMind, https://www.flickr.com/photos/artmind_etcetera/3047482919

Be focused and confident in what you perform

Keep voice (intonation) and movements in sync – both shall support each other all-times

Chose movements, pauses, voice, and timings after extensive evaluations and rehearsals only

Use costumes, light, sound, and props decisively and by purpose only

During your performance follow your script – don’t improvise headless – be tuned and follow your line steadily

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Act III, Scene 4 – Create Emotions and Authenticity

“Don’t manipulate – convince the audience”

Love and value your audience – they spent THEIR time listening/watching you

Don’t bore the audience – entertain!

Don’t sell – offer a “gift” instead (the benefit knowing you, remarkable facts, information, etc…)

Be authentic yourself

Speak in your tongue – don’t use words and phrases that are not yours

Don’t use props you aren’t acquainted with and only wear costumes you feel comfortable

Don‘t fake being something that isn’t you (joking, telling great stories,…)

Be fair to other performers on stage – “Let stars be stars”

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The ultimate Punchline

Your audience always keep in mind

Start and End of your show only,…the parts in between… they forget.

Photo credit (CC): Flood G., https://www.flickr.com/photos/_flood_/6732863457

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Questions? – Comments? – Interested in consultancy, or business plays, stage directing?

Twitter: @M_Tarnowski, @PlaysInBusinessFacebook: http://bit.ly/PiB-FBLinkedIn: http://bit.ly/MT-LinkdInXing: http://bit.ly/MT-XingSlideShare: http://bit.ly/MT-SShare

This document may be further distributed free-of-charge in its original, complete form only. Please credit Plays-in-Business.com.All images used are – if not stated otherwise – from my theatre productions with the German off-theatre groups diegewissen and “Junge Bühne Schlangenbad”.

Or call me: +49-172-6915261 (cell phone/mobile)

Drop me a note:info@plays-in-business.com

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Trained Innovation Games Facilitator Trained LEGO Serious Play Facilitator Management 3.0 certified Facilitator Certified Scrum Master, Agile Coaching ISO 15504/Automotive SPiCE Assessor Requirements Engineering & Management

consultancy Quality Assurance & Management consultancy Project Management & Configuration Management

consultancyISO 15504 Assessor

Industrial Sectors:Automotive, Finance, Logistics & Public Transport, Defence & Aerospace, Aviation & Air Traffic, Management

Plays-In-Business.com

Plays-In-Business.com • Fritz-Kalle-Str. 4 • D-65187 Wiesbaden • Fon: +49-172-6915261 • Fax: + +49-3212-1312401info@plays-in-business.com • www.plays-in-business.com