Firms employ theater techniques to boost training
Five marketing professionals stood in a circle, hands over their belly buttons, eyes closed, concentrating on breathing.
''Ahhhh," they droned loudly as they exhaled slowly to the count of five.
''Go for it," urged actor G. Riley Mills.
Their employer, Chicago's Marketing Support Inc., spent about $2,000 to hire Mills for six hours to put them through a series of exercises to improve their presentation skills.
Who better than an actor to help them play their professional roles more convincingly?
Mills, 37, a veteran of stage, TV, and film productions, works for Pinnacle Performance Co., one of a number of Chicago firms that use theater techniques to teach professionals to be more persuasive, think faster on their feet and present technical material without putting audiences to sleep.
As the economy strengthens, many corporations are putting money back into their training budgets.
''Companies are trying all kinds of things to increase the effectiveness of training," said Julie Jacques, a board member of the society's Chicagoland Chapter. ''People who go through training hate role-playing exercises because they don't want to look bad in front of their peers," she said. ''With actors, it's a much safer environment and less threatening."
At the well-known comedic theater Second City, corporate business has more than tripled in the last three years.
''The skills required to be a great improviser are also skills you wished you had learned in business school," said Tom Yorton, who oversees Second City's creative and corporate services. Workers learn ''how to listen, how to read a room, how to react to tough problems in the moment, how to create trust and a tight ensemble."
PowerSuasion Players, founded 20 years ago as LaSalle Street Management Theater, was among the first to put actors to work in training. Playwright and training consultant Karolus Smejda was taking an acting class when he realized theater professionals were perfect for role-playing.
''They spend years in schools and umpteen hours in classes learning how to be an authentic person in a role," he said.
When a large commercial bank hired him to rehearse its relationship managers, he put out a casting call for actors with MBAs to play chief financial officers. ''The bankers would go into the exercise thinking, 'These are actors,' " he recalled. ''Then they would freak out when the actor talked like a CFO."
Another bank hired him to train trust officers to deal more sensitively with families. He provided a trio of actors -- a grieving widow, her son and daughter.
''We go in and ask a lot of questions to clarify what the client's world is like so the actors can perform their roles authentically and credibly," Smejda said.
At firms like Pinnacle and Voicescape Inc., clients include plant managers who need to make compelling safety presentations to customer service representatives.
''Modern acting techniques help business people really get at the core of their authenticity, which helps them present a strong impression," said Voicescape's founder, actress Kirsten D'Aurelio.
''Having a relaxed expressive presence translates into confidence, which translates into an impression of competence on the job for a lot of my clients," she said. ''Freedom with gestures, facial expressions, and voice inflection also gives people a leg up in a competitive job market."
At Pinnacle's training session for Chicago's Marketing Support, actor Mills shifted from breathing exercises into body and voice warm-ups.
Group members alternately opened their eyes wide, then narrowed them into slits. They massaged their jaws, wagged tongues, and babbled nonsense syllables: ''BeBoBa bubble bath."
Molly Dineen, Marketing Support's media director, worried about losing her train of thought when speaking extemporaneously. ''Sometimes my mouth will be going faster than my brain and I end up going nowhere," she said.
A videotape of her presentation flagged tense gestures. Her hands stayed glued to the front of her thighs while she spoke. ''Ums" and ''ahs" punctuated her speech.
''Those are 'drags,' transitions where the bridge between thoughts has broken down," Mills said. ''Don't be afraid of silence. Don't be afraid to let a thought hang out there. Take your time, breathe."
Account supervisor Denise Thompson, a confident speaker, nonetheless rushed her off-the-cuff remarks. ''You run the risk of sounding like a tour guide" if you don't slow down, Mills said.
Her eyes wandered away from her audience when she collected her thoughts. ''If I'm making it up as I go and I look in someone's eyes, something I see might distract me," she said.
''Find a friendly face," Mills said. ''Don't go to the guy who wants you to fail and is giving you a stink eye from the corner."
By the end of the day, voices resonated. Hands relaxed and gestured freely. Shifting eyes stayed focused. Shuffling feet moved purposefully. ''You look more credible, you look more confident," Mills said. 