You should take acting lessons!

You should take acting lessons at a professional studio. Read that sentence carefully. I did not say you should become an actor. That is a different idea. But you should take the training that actors take.

Why? Because you are already an actor who performs every day. But you don’t think in that context. Everyone you interact with in your life, be it family, friends business associates, or strangers, makes you step into a role that the moment calls for. You don’t think about it, and you may not be doing it well. But that is what you are doing. Think about this for a moment. You know you do not engage conversationally with a stranger in the same way you converse with your parent or your children. 

Does that mean you have a split personality and are not genuinely yourself? Are you not being authentic with people you interact with? No, that is not what I mean. We can be authentic in all of our contacts with others regardless of how we change the way we speak and act within different experiences. The key to authenticity is to set aside your inclination to pay attention to yourself, and to instead pay careful attention to the other. You are at your best when you make a genuine connection with the person you are engaged with.

And that is what good acting instruction and coaching helps you master. It is not very likely that you will master this ability on your own unassisted, because you probably do not have the tools to do work with. They are not something we are born with, or that comes totally naturally for most of us.

If you are not going to become an actor, why bother with this? You don’t need to take actor training to have better conversations with your mom, you are saying to yourself. That is true. But think about all the interactions your day or week require you to participate in. Do you make presentations at your work, or give talks anywhere in public for any reason? Are you a salesperson in any capacity? Do you have to participate in conversations with anyone that can potentially become contentious? I can promise you that if the answer to any of these questions is yes, you can benefit and grow remarkably from taking acting training from a professional.

Brian Cutler is just such a professional coach. For many years, he operated Commercial Actors Studio in Kansas City with his wife, Jill. Several years ago he moved his studio business back to Southern California. It can be found in Burbank. The website is at www.actorsstudio.com. Check it out. It may turn out the be the best gift you ever give to yourself.