Connect The Dots 12

Bismillah Alhamdulillah wa salatu salam ala rasulillah salam aleikum, wa rahmatullah wa barakato. Brothers and sisters, welcome back to connect the dots, we are rounding out our final module now, we're still talking about performance and how to make your performance really come to life. Now, there are a few actual techniques in terms of public speaking that everyone should be familiar with. The first one, and the mother, really of all public speaking, is body language. Okay, body language. As we know, research has taught us that the majority of what you say, is not actually what you say, it's actually how you say it. So I think about 70%, of art of communication is body language. So

it's not good enough for a performance poet, a spoken word artist to stand in front of an audience, and kind of just read their poem, you know, and this is my phone, it's called, I don't know, I have a British accent for some reason. But, you know, you, you kind of get into this mode, where you're just kind of telling your poem in the sky, and blue and earth in the sky. You know, if you're not engaging your audience, with your body, with your actual eyes, with your hands through your gestures, if these are not a part of your repertoire as an artist, then unfortunately, you are failing in the communication component of your spoken word poem. So you need to really take heed of

these things and figure out how to incorporate them if you don't already incorporate them. Some people naturally speak with their hands, I'm a person who does speak with my hands. For some people, it's not natural, but it is important to kind of map everything, map these things out in advance. So what I'll do is I'll actually perform my poem in front of a mirror. And I'll look at times when, for instance, there's a word that I'm saying, you know, going up to the skies, and I'll point up, that's a bad example. But if I'm speaking about something in particular, you know, the seeds from the earth and the sky and the rainbow. And I will actually map out in advance what type of hand gestures what

type of body language I'm going to be using while actually performing this piece. So this is something that I would prepare, just as I would prepare my banter, as I prepare my introductions, as I would prepare memorizing my poem, there. Again, this is all part of the performance, everything you do in this regard is part of your performance. And it is something you have to keep keep an eye on. And actually, while I'm speaking about eyes, the number one component in body language is eye contact, right? eye contact, something very, very special, if I can look at my audience in the eye. And this is a very special technique, if you can point out people in the audience and actually give

them eye contact, genuine eye contact, there is a sense of connection, they will feel like none of it. And it's so important, you know, we say that the eyes are the gateway to the soul. And that's part of the reason why, you know, you shouldn't, for instance, look at someone maybe from the opposite gender directly in the eyes, that's what we're taught to lower our gaze, and you don't want to see something maybe you shouldn't be seeing because there is such a strong connection through the eyes, that it can conjure up many different emotions. So just like it can be used for bad It can also be used for good if you're doing it correctly with the right purpose. And Charlotte connecting

with your audience, definitely employ eye contact and eye contact, there's something very special because in our cultures, in Western culture, people look at eye contact, as a sense of confidence, when you're able to give eye contact, it means your confidence in what it is you have to say, it means you're not lying. Right, they always tell you that, you know, it looked me in the eyes and tell me that that's something we would say to somebody who is not giving eye contact. So eye contact can do a lot. And if you're not using it, definitely something you should employ. And if you're nervous, if you can't look at people directly in the eye, if it distracts you. Another trick or

technique that I use is I kind of look not at people but kind of past people. So I look at the kind of last row of people in the room and I scan the room, I make sure I give equal amount of attention to both sides. And I do it in such a way that the people in the middle kind of think I'm looking at them, but I'm really not, I'm just looking at the things in the background. That's only if it's really distracting. And for whatever reason, I can't give genuine eye contact. But still, the height of performance means that you should look people in the eye, because that's what will take your performance to the next level. facial expressions are another big thing. I mean, it's not good

enough to just smile, if there's a reason for you to do otherwise a reason for you to frown or reason for you to you know, kind of show kind of remorse or sadness, then your face does a lot as well Your face is a gateway to what's happening inside of your heart. So your face should not contradict what it is you're trying to say. If you're talking about war, you're talking about you know, the the sacrifice people are making across the world and dying in these different, you know, catastrophic events and the whole time you're laughing and you're smiling. You have this big, big people are dying and the world is such a horrible what people who

suffer suffering from a mental health issue, right? You want to make sure that what you're saying your face your body language, your tone does not contradict the message you want to say that's important because you might not be conscious of what's happening on your face and what's your body language is doing, but it can say a lot and if it's not, if you're not careful about it, it can actually contradict what it is you want to say. Now a few things we should also keep in mind are two particular forms of expression through the body and through your through your voice and how you actually projecting your voice.

All these things are paced and pitch, okay? When we say the pitch of what it is, you're saying, we talked about the tone, right? There is a way of saying something that can either be happy, sad, angry, your tone can actually dictate the emotion of what it is you want to say, again, it should not contradict the message you're putting forward. So if you have a happy tone, you know, if you're happy, go lucky, and you're talking about something that's, you know, very sad or distressing, then that will throw people off or vice versa. If you're talking about something which is very happy, you're talking about the day you are married. And it was such a fantastic occasion. And you're

talking to like this, you know, the day I was married was fantastic. And everybody was there happy and congratulating, you can write man that she must really be crazy, that chick Rico's really driving this guy nuts, right, you don't want to contradict what it is you're trying to say. So make sure your actual tone is important to be regulated, you have to make sure you keep an eye on your tone, so that it's in unison to what it is you want to say. And the pitch as well. So there are different types of pitch, you know, and people, the classic mistake they make is they speak in monotone, monotone, where everything sounds the exact same, I'm going to be speaking in monotone.

And the thing that I'm going to be speaking about is not very important, because it's going to be done in monotone. monotone, is a cop out for showing emotion or having your audience actually, you know, empathize with the message you're putting forward and monotone will kill any good writing very, very quickly. If you stand up and present a poem and you sound like the Terminator, I'm sorry, but you've lost us. So you have to keep an eye on these things and actually prepare in advance what type of tone what type of pitch you will be using. And again, pace is something that is so important that once you have a good kind of once you have a good grips on your on your pace, and how you're

the pacing of your form, and how you know pacing is not just fast or slow. Even within pacing, you could employ something which I love, I love to use. And I think if you're able to use it, it'll make you 1000 times better performer, which is the power of a pause.

You see that? That's cool, right? When you can use a pause in the middle of a poem, to emphasize something a pause can say so much, you can say so much without saying a single word. And it's about knowing when to put the pause in the right place.

And you can that wasn't a good example. But you can understand that the audience at that point, you know, I've done polls where I'm talking, talking, talking very fast paced, fast paced, fast paced paths, people like I'm saying, like, you're kind of floating in this moment where you have the audience now, right where you want them, right, you've manipulated them enough so that they can actually feel what it is you want them to feel, and put forth your argument in a way that they cannot deny at this point. And that is the power of performance. You know, there's a lot you can say about a very good public speaker, you know, and and if we look at it, some public speakers, they can

actually hypnotize their audience, they can manipulate the audience so much so that they can cry, they can make you laugh, they can make you give money, they can make you do anything. Once you're able to control your audience to performance do presentation. It's a very, very amazing skill to have. And it can be very dangerous if the wrong person is using it. But in our case in sha Allah, we're using it for something fair, and it is something that we're going to try and perfect inshallah, you're going to have to practice it again and again and again, because not going to be perfect the first time with practice inshallah you only get better. Now, in summary, I'm going to

focus on a few points that I want you to walk away with, from this performance module, things that you can tangibly implement in your writing today in your performance today to make you a better stand up performing Sharla. Number one is do memorize your poetry. It is a huge pet peeve of mine that people do not respect their own work enough that they actually memorize it. Don't be one of them, memorize your work. Number two, offer body language and specifically, eye contact to your audience. Trust me, they will appreciate it. Next, make sure you speak loud enough that people can hear you. But do not yell at your audience. There's a big mistake. people confuse being loud. With

yelling, you do not need to yell. But you do too. You need to make sure that you're projecting your voice in a way that people in the very far back can hear you possibly without even having a microphone present. also perform with emotion and passion. But don't go over the top unless of course the poem calls for it in some sort of satirical piece. But definitely employ passion and emotion in your performance. Be aware of your body language, be aware of your facial expressions and how they are working with your presentation or contradicting what it is you want to say. And lastly, practice, practice, practice, practice is really the only way you're going to overcome any type of

stage fright you might have and it's the only way you're going to really perfect that presentation. And make sure you're giving it your all every single time in show brothers and sisters. If you have not downloaded the PDF, make sure you do so following in the description box. And you can read everything else I've prepared. There's a lot I mentioned in the book that I didn't actually get a chance to mention the videos I want to try and keep these videos as succinct as possible. There's a lot more I could add to I hope in sha Allah that

People out there will benefit they will look at this video series and they will think about how they can make themselves better performers better daddies better people who are calling to head in this world goodness in this world. And I really pray and ask that almost without accepts this effort and makes us heavier on my scale and on your scale on the Day of Judgment. And I have to give thanks to this craft, you know, I don't know how to say it. I don't know if I can really think poetry per se but it really is something that has changed my life and has made my life so better, so much better in so many different ways. It's given me opportunities I never could have imagined and just for the

love of this craft, I wish you all could feel what I feel and the power that can come about and how much fun you can bring to this world through just the spoken word. And spoken word for me is just an extension of storytelling. I love storytelling. I'm getting more into film and video and and I'll never even though I'll hopefully inshallah, you know experiment with many different styles. I'll never forget this style because this has done so much for me. And it's connected me to hearts all around the world. And so I think this craft and I thank you all for watching in sha Allah give me your feedback. Let me know what you thought. Any questions you have. I'll try my best to answer

botica Luffy for watching us and I'm on the line he will dockets