soapbox Acting Lessons for Zoom RESEARCH AND PRACTICE FROM THE DRAMATIC ARTS AND EDUCATION CAN ENLIVEN ONLINE MEETINGS AND TRAINING. BY DOUG LYNCH, LAUREN MURPHY YEOMAN, AND JOHN DEMITA E veryone is suffering from Zoom fatigue these days. Research tells us is that this fatigue is a function more of bad planning and prepa-ration than anything inherently bad in synchronous meeting technologies. As faculty in dramatic arts and education who co-teach a doctoral course in leadership, we realized that the knowledge we provide in class around helping breathe life into the leader as teacher and performer also can be used to help leaders plan and execute— and endure—Zoom and other meetings and training. (L&D) professionals can think of it as the interaction of subject matter expert (SME), content, and learner. Just as actors are trained to think about the ensemble, the word, and the audience in order to enact the per-formance, for Zoom meetings, think about everyone involved and why you are coming together. FOCUS OUT AND TRIANGULATE Too often, meetings (Zoom or otherwise) are designed and executed purely for the convener. The first frame to consider is what the world of drama knows as going beyond the “I.” In acting, it often is referred to as to “focus out,” meaning to focus your attention on others rather than on yourself. American pragmatist John Dewey argued that the consumption of art is an interaction among the artist, the art, and the audience. Learning and Development FLIP THE MEETING Most of us have heard of the “flipped classroom”—the idea of using technology to deliver content and then us-ing class time for group work. This also can be useful for meetings. Can you distribute prework or readings beforehand and use the meeting for discussion? RUN A HARKNESS MEETING America’s elite boarding schools use the Harkness Method (developed at Exeter) in which a teacher and students discuss a topic. Related to the Socratic Meth-od, it has two key components. First, the leader guides the discussion by asking questions and listening. Sec-ond, there is “equal air time” where every voice is heard. The main goal is to encourage engagement by all Doug Lynch, Lauren Murphy Yeoman, and John DeMita teach together in USC’s executive doctoral program on organizational change and leadership. Lynch was an academic director at Wharton and vice dean of the University of Pennsylvania’s grad school, where he created the PennCLO program. Yeoman teaches at USC’s School of Dramatic Arts, and has a private practice as a Los Angeles vocal coach. DeMita has worked in all aspects of the performing arts, including 30-plus guest-star and recurring roles in film and TV. 12 / MARCH 2021 / www.trainingmag.com
Training March 2021: Page 12
