A few weeks ago, I gave a 10 minute presentation on an assigned research article as part of one of my classes. Recently, the professor said that I had a real gift for teaching. I had a great comfort level talking to the class, I was well-spoken, and she was thoroughly impressed. She recommended I really consider getting a PhD in speech pathology to be a professor, which was something I was already considering, so it was very nice to have someone else suggest it unsolicited.
Now, I don’t feel like I have some sort of “gift” for speaking in front of people. In fact, from my perspective, I felt like I might have been giving too much info at some times and not going into enough detail at other times, but my classmates all said it was a very good presentation. So now, I have a friend of mine who doesn’t feel she’s very good at presenting asking me for tips. This got me thinking of why I was able to present that day so well, and I decided it’s directly related to my experiences as a singer.
Obviously, I’ve become very comfortable standing in front of audiences, and I’ve cultivated the coveted demeanor of not looking nervous when I am nervous. Those things came with time and a lot of performance experience, so that’s not going to help my friend out much at all. But the thing that I decided was the biggest help is that I am very used to being judged on my performances. The ability to stand and deliver, even when I know I’m being evaluated, judged, and graded based on what I say, has come directly from my training as a singer. It’s really lovely to know that the years I spent training to be a professional performer are not wasted at all. But something else from my experience in preparing presentations this semester crosses over to singing as well: Preparation.
I was VERY prepared for that presentation. I wanted to make sure I was standing up in front of the class as an “expert” on my topic rather than as a peer. I knew if I could stand up there as an expert, I could make the experience informative and interesting for my classmates. Maybe I got this from my training as a singer, but I think it’s more likely I got this from my desire to do well in my new field and the passion I feel for it. But, as a singer, and especially as a professional, you MUST prepare just as well. You must prepare so well for your list of arias, opera role, or recital, that you feel you are the expert on all of that music. At least, that is what professionals do.
This is one of the things I took as a sign that continuing on to be a professional opera singer, as was my original goal in life, was perhaps not the right path for me. I remember sitting in the chorus at the local “big name” opera house where I live and realizing that I simply did not share the same level of passion for the nuances of the Italian language that our chorus master did. Now, I did my job and made all the adjustments he requested, but I realized that the “big name” soloists singing the leads in this opera probably not only knew of those nuances, but had mastered them for their roles. (Okay, maybe not the tenor, but the soprano I could believe absolutely had done her work!...and I’m sure it was just that one “bad apple” of a tenor, so no offense other tenors out there intended.) This was right around the time that I was considering going to school for SLP, and this was one of the moments that made me realize I should go and do it. I love singing. I absolutely love singing! But I love singing on MY terms. (Honestly, this is what has empowered me to seek out a new career, while still working toward a polished, professional quality of singing I can do in my community…on my terms. I get to pick the venue, the repertoire, and the terms of my performance. And I really like it that way.)
So now, my friend has taken my advice to heart and recently felt "over prepared" for her presentation, and she did really well. She began to realize the importance of preparing for your "performance," and the comfort level that preparation gives you in spite of your nerves. But realizing that I’m finally going far enough with my preparation, that I'm going far enough with the "nuances" of my new field, that I feel so driven to being the expert in my field, and that I keep hungering to go further and further with the science and research brings this all back to this one thought: I’m heading in the right direction. And that feeling is so worth the effort.
Personal note: I might not be able to post too much in next two weeks due to it being “finals time” at my university, but I will be posting more on neuroscience, neural plasticity, basic physics I believe singers should know, and what the big deal with vocal fold efficiency is. Thank you all for reading so far and for the great compliments. I’ll try to get more posts up as the semester officially winds down.
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