Free tips · Stage craft · Tip 18 of 19
Give every line a verb
Same sentence. Four completely different meetings.
Video: Tip 18: Give every line a verb, 60 to 90 secondsAdd the YouTube ID to show it
The fix
Before you speak, choose what you are doing to the listener: warn, reassure, challenge, educate. The words stay the same. Everything else changes. It is how you deliver, not what you say.
Drill · under two minutes
Say "The pump needs replacing this year" as a warning, as reassurance, as a challenge and as a lesson. Record each. Keep the one that matches what you need from the room.
- Actioning
- An acting technique: giving each line a transitive verb (I warn you, I reassure you) so the delivery has a clear intention. Popularised in the UK by director Max Stafford-Clark.
Further learning
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