By Ainsley Pavey
Executive Director
Politicians are much like athletes when it comes to improved performance.
No one would expect an elite athlete to perform well without a proper warm up.
Yet our political leaders have come out of the blocks in the Federal Election with obvious nerves.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese has copped the brunt of criticism for his brain freeze moment at the start of the campaign.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has had some body language bloopers of his own.
Clearly, they can improve their performance.
But the good news is they can be easily addressed.
As an actor, getting used to responding to the spontaneity of live performance takes skill.
But it all involves a deal of preparation. Stress can lead to a range of reactions in the body, all of which convey anxiety to an audience watching on.
If only Albanese did a few familiar acting warm-ups, his regrettable tongue poke when he couldn’t answer the question of the national employment rate may never have occurred.
Facial muscles like all muscles in the body carry tension and need to be warmed up to work at an optimum level.
Our head contains one of the largest joints in the human body.
The TMJ – or temporomandibular joint – connects our jaw to our skull and can hold a lot of tension, particularly in performance.
A warmed-up jaw will create a more relaxed face and deliver improved articulation, some advice a clenching Albanese may benefit from.
Not using techniques to warm up his body and facial muscles can deny a performer an avenue for connection with the audience.
It left Albanese harder to understand.
It also sparked his non-verbal response, including the protruding tongue, when he realised that he didn’t know the unemployment rate.
There is a lot to be gained from the power of the pause in these situations.
Belly or diaphragmic breathing is another crucial relaxation tool that softens body language and tension.
Warmups would be of benefit to Morrison who is a combative style of communicator.
Some people can wave their arms when under pressure.
Amongst actors it is called doing a “Thunderbird” and it is distracting to watch.
Both Morrison and predecessor Malcolm Turnbull are exponents of the big arm gestures – whether it finger-pointing, arm waving or fist pumping.
Each gesture underlines the lack of connection between their thoughts and words.
To improve communicating, it is crucial to close the gap between these two essential elements in performance.
Actors may overcome it by simply listening more to a fellow actor.
Any interview subject – whether they are a high-profile public figure or executive may apply the same logic.
As a communicator, the impact of words is infinitesimal when compared to the non-verbal dialogue an audience is absorbing as they watch.
This very chatty ‘inner monologue’ is hard to hide from view.
Most of the communication signals we put out as performers are from the language of our bodies.
The goal for Albanese and Morrison is to not ‘out-Herod Herod”, as Shakespeare once famously advised his players.
The greatest barb of all time disapproved of over gesturing too much.
His advice: match the action of the scene to the words and give the words a simple action.
While an over-the-top performance may make the plebs laugh, it cannot really affect a decent audience member.
Shakespeare’s order to “speak the speech” should be ringing in the leaders’ ears.