I’m not crazy about Matthew Broderick: I loved him in Ferris Beuller’s Day Off, but who didn’t?! Thirteen years ago, I was in the audience of a Broadway performance of the musical “The Producers.” He was performing one of the lead roles. It turns out that some knucklehead was taking pictures of the performance; a real no-no in the world of theatre. Of course, neither I nor anyone else in the audience would have known if it were not for what transpired next. In the middle of a scene, Matthew Broderick stopped his lines, looked out at the audience and shouted this: “You are not allowed to take pictures during a performance!” Then he said it again, and then he said it again. Each time he said it, he lost more of the character he was playing and he became just Matthew Broderick. When his costar brought in a beautiful ad lib to attempt to keep the scene going, Matthew Broderick raised his voice at him as well, turned his back, and began pacing around the stage. Knowing how upset he was, the audience was crushed. Eventually he regained his composure and somewhat recovered. Unfortunately, the audience never did.
The fact is an audience will excuse almost anything under one condition: Despite whatever is happening that wasn’t planned for, you have to convince that audience that it isn’t bothering you. If, however, you allow the audience to know that something is bothering you, in a sense, you are breaking what’s called “the fourth wall.” The fourth wall is the imaginary wall at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the play. When you let an audience know that something is wrong, you risk jolting the audience out of whatever experience you have been creating. You’ll leave them distracted, feeling sorry for you, and unable to once again immerse themselves in your message. That’s a hole almost no one can dig themselves out of.
Johnny Carson knew this all too well. As a kid, I remember laughing harder at the jokes that fell flat than the jokes that hit their mark. Why? Because when a joke fell flat, Johnny never seemed bothered in the least. If it didn’t bother him, it didn’t bother me! He’d smile, make another comment about the joke, and the audience would roar. Imagine what would happen to that same audience if he reacted with the disappointment he must have felt inside?
Watch a veteran presenter take to a stage and you’ll see confidence in their eyes. You won’t have to look too hard because it will be right there in front of you. That confidence emotes from each step they take. They know almost anything can be forgiven as long as they don’t make the audience feel sorry for them.
- Forget a key point of the presentation? If you’ve decided not to be a slave to your notes, and instead, to be courageous by moving and engaging with your audience, it comes with the territory. Slide in a nice, polished transition, go back, and insert that key point.
- Draw a blank during that presentation? I’ve actually never seen a case of total amnesia befell a presenter! You’ll still know your name, and the topic you were speaking on. Slide in a nice question or two for the audience, work your way back to your notes, and find your place again.
- Experience a technical malfunction with your presentation aids? Who hasn’t! That’s what flip charts are for! Sometimes, those PowerPoint presentations do more harm than good anyway. Just smile, tell the audience that this gives you an opportunity to have a real conversation, walk off that stage and right into the audience, and keep on rolling.
Notice a theme here? When you step in front of an audience and things aren’t going exactly as planned, the only thing you really have to remember are these four words: “Keep it to yourself!” If it doesn’t bother you, it won’t bother your audience.
Matthew Broderick’s response to an inappropriate theatregoer should have been to go on with the show, and the moment he stepped off stage between scenes, alert the stage manager. No doubt, they would have had an usher quietly take care of the situation. Instead, he stopped the show and let the audience know exactly how upset he was. Don’t get me wrong; I loathe audience members who do anything with their smart phones during a performance. By stopping the show, embarrassing his fellow actor, and spending over two minutes silently moping around on stage, he didn’t just kill the scene. He killed the show for the entire audience due to how upset he was.
Do I, or anyone in front of an audience, like forgetting key parts to a presentation, or forgetting where we are in a presentation, or having a technical malfunction… or any litany of issues that can occur? Of course not! But I can promise you this: If you can convince the audience it doesn’t bother you, it won’t bother them. Now you might understand why I harbor such a lack of respect for Matthew Broderick, a performer who should have known better. I can’t forget that performance, nor can I forgive it. It’s really quite simple: “When you step in front of an audience, it’s not about how you feel; it’s about how you make the audience feel.”
Wow….great post, you hit a home run with this one Rob. I just had a mini-similar experience when I was presenting out of town. I thought I was not quite connecting with the crowd. My initial instinct was to work harder and talk louder, thinking my audience couldn’t quite “hear” me. They were starting to rattle me a bit due to their non-participation.
Inside, I wanted to stop, remind the attendees, “Hey, this is the funny part, you are supposed to laugh here.” But I kept moving, staying composed. About 15 minutes in, I started to connect and eventually really made a good presentation of it. I have since gotten a handful of messages from attendees saying it was the best program they had a attended.
You are 100% correct, the old me would have stepped out of the presentation, reminded everyone that I need them to participate a bit more if they want to get anything out of this presentation and gotten back into character. #fail.
Stay composed, stay calm and work yourself back into your “normal” amazing self without delay. Too bad Matthew Broderick broke character leaving everyone feeling sorry.
Great post Rob!
Great job Doug. There’s no whining in presentations! The funny thing is, instinctively it feels like if the audience feels sorry for you, they’ll get behind you when in reality they’ll feel they’ve attended a diminished program. #thanksforthepostDoug!
I recently attended a business conference where the leader was engaged in explaining finances and profit margins. After about 10 minutes she realize the audience was not engaged. She commented that this is what she saw and suggested we all get up. We all did get up she put on the happiness song and we allowed ourselves to let loose. Now this doesn’t always work in every situation but in this case how authenticity did allow us to get back to our seats and now pay more attention.
Authenticity is wonderful. However, if she said, “I feel like I’m not doing my job well. Normally audiences respond to me. Get up while I put on a happiness song” she would have lost that audience. There’s a fine line we presenters must be aware of. Nice hearing from you Isabel!
Rob—Thanks for the good reminder. I always tell myself before a presentation, “It’s not about ME, it’s about THEM” So, though I’ve usually spent a LOT of time preparing slides and notes and stories, in the end, when someone asks a question that takes the conversation in a different direction, it is OK. I’m able to solve THEIR problem not what I perceived their problem was……
What a great post! You nailed it Sherry. One of the Rob Jolles Top 30 Ways To Keep Audiences Engaged is actually “Brief Purposeful Tangents.” Amateurs will become uncomfortable when the conversation moves in a different direction. Pros on the other hand will monitor their time, and the audience to make sure it doesn’t go too far astray, and let that audience drift a bit. I smell another BLArticle® and when I write it, know you’re the one who gave me the push. Thanks so much for posting!
Thanks for another excellent Blarticle, Rob! It reminds me of the old adage, “Never let ’em see you sweat.”
I’ll give you a contrarian opinion about letting them see you sweat. “Never let’em see you sweat… if it’s because you’re nervous, or anxious, or losing control.” “Let them see you sweat… when you are demonstrating that you are working and fighting so hard they know that sweat is a result of you working for them!” Always great hearing from you Sean.
Great post, Rob! I’ll remember this!
You’ve taught me a LOT about coaching Jon. Nice to know I can throw a thought or idea your way when it comes to presenting. Thanks for posting my friend!
Great post and so appropriate!!! I can totally relate. I’m a woman in a male dominated business and my motto has always been “don’t ever let them see you sweat or God forbid never let them see you cry”. Probably for the same reasons as your post.
Enjoy your weekend!!
See comment written above to Sean Robinson. However, never – ever let them see you cry! There’s no crying in baseball or presenting to groups. Again, instinct says if they see your vulnerable side they’ll feel sorry for you. Reality says, they’ll feel sorry for themselves… and in your male dominated business it may even reinforce some ridiculous stereotypes. Believe me Terry – female or male – we ALL bleed. We just don’t let others see it. I remember working with you and your company some years ago and am thrilled to hear from you. Thanks so much for posting!
I witnessed a similar “break of the fourth wall” by none other than Sir Ian McKellen during the Broadway presentation of ‘AMADEUS’ where he played Antonio Salieri in a scene with Jane Seymour. He was about to offer her a round pastry called the “teets of Venus” which were mounded on a silver platter in a triangular formation about a foot wide at the base and a foot and a half tall. As he began presenting them to Ms. Seymour, the very top pastry rolled off, down the mound and onto the raked (slanted) stage, and proceeded to roll into the lap of a woman in the front row. Mr. McKellen watched the profess of the pastry, as the event unfurled, with a jaundiced eye, thoroughly in character. And casually strolled over to the nonplussed woman, bowed and silently offered her another from the tray. The poor woman quickly took the pastry from her lap and replaced it on the top of the mound, receiving a nod and a bow from the actor, who returned to Ms. Seymour and continued the scene, after the cheers and applause of the audience subsided.
Having been on more than one occasion been caught in presentations where the unexpected happens, probably the worst being while I was directly looking at a rather large woman sitting right in front of me, the chair she was sitting on collapsed and the cloth of the seat, acting as a vice to the armrests, began squeezing the poor woman’s thighs and waist together. All I could do was look up and say “Can i get some help for this lady please?” and continued on with my presentation to people from an American Express call center. One of the VPs at the center later asked how I kept it together and didn’t break down a the tragic event. I simply said “I could’t bear to add any more indignity than the lady had already suffered. And it would have taken away from the professionalism of the product demonstration and presentation I was conducting. All that would have occurred had I reacted in any other way, would have been to connect my product with the misfortune of a co-worker at their call center. Not the type of recognition my company or theirs would have wanted for one of their best selling items in their awards program. As I say to many people during the course of business – your integrity is only that which others perceive in you. Protect it at all costs.
Wow; you just gave us half a BLArticle® there Gerry! What an amazing story. Here’s one back to you:
Richard Burton had played the role of King Arthur in Camelot many, many, many times. Near the end of his career he was once again playing the lead role and as strange as this sounds, forgot the words to Camelot. A kind of brain freeze. He motioned for the orchestra to stop playing, approached the audience and said, “I’m terribly sorry. It appears I’ve forgotten some of the words. Perhaps you would be kind enough to help me.” He motioned for the orchestra to play, then pointed to the audience, and the entire theatre sang the song with him. Those who were there said it was the single greatest experience they had ever enjoyed at the theatre. They didn’t feel sorry for Richard Burton, they felt privileged. Please post again Gerry. I so enjoyed reading your comments.
Hi Rob,
Wow! What an interesting article… Maintaining equanimity serves very well in social context. I’ve been overwhelmed in situations where it would have better served me to center myself before taking action. Whether you are Infront of one person or an audience, I agree that it is important to maintain that fourth wall.
Thank you so much for this creative post, I’m going to keep this in mind moving forward because this concept has a lot to offer.
Sincerely,
Taura
You bet, and I really liked that you reminded us all that the fourth wall relates to all forms of communication – not just communicating in front of an audience. It sounds cynical, but I assure you, I’m not a cynical person: People don’t want to feel sorry for you because it makes THEM feel badly. We all have our inner-circles that consist of those who get to hear the entire story. For all others, unless they are disclosing at a deep level, it’s best to stay away from the stuff that will make them feel sorry for us. Great hearing from you Taura.
Beautiful. Been there when something goes wrong… I use humor to cover it and move on. But calling out an audience member’s behavior. STUPID. A variation on a theme, I saw a “seasoned” speaker get upset at the speaker before her who inadvertently walked off with her notes. The speaker then also degraded the AV crew for the equipment. Double stupid
Ouch. Spoken by a professional speaker. Calling out another speaker, audience member, or even the AV crew is a surefire way to turn an audience against you. The funny thing is, this could even be a person who is acting inappropriately. Even if it’s someone who is notorious for acting stupidly, calling them out and stooping to their level is dangerous. The audience already knows the inappropriate person is stupid. Now they have another person to add to that list; you! Thanks for the post – and reminder for us all Eileen!
Now, I’m a community actress, and behavior like that is not acceptable on any stage where amateur players perform either. What do you think of this behavior from a speaker? At my first year of teaching in PG Public Schools, the motivational speaker who was supposed to inspire us actually derided and insulted us teachers. I felt like getting up out of my seat, going down to the stage and stopping the presentation (security! security!), but I acted like a professional and kept my seat during this torture session. That speech was the harbinger of my horrible first and last year in the system.
Sad for two reasons. First, that was some motivational speaker. Was his or her name Chris Farley and did he or she live in a van down by the river?! Not only did this person demotivate the audience, this person contributed to the loss of a great teacher – you. It teaches us all the privilege and responsibility ALL speakers have when they walk in front of an audience. My guess is if you google this speaker’s name there will be no trace of them. Thanks for the lesson, and post Edia.