Striving for Eloquence

My new favorite word is "Eloquence." It came to me when I was in acting class last Monday night, as in something I need to learn -- not something I have conquered.

The class is "Audition Techniques." We are given a script, given about 2 minutes during which we have to talk in the lobby in a normal voice to ourselves against a wall. Then we have to go back in the room and say/read/connect it to some invisible person behind the camera lens with a room of peers and our teacher watching. Easy, right. Not!

What I love about this class is that whether or not I ever go on screen, this is an excellent opportunity to learn about speaking, praying, addressing an audience in public whether a wedding toast or introducing a speaker at our ladies annual brunch or giving a lecture myself.

Better yet, and I love when disciplines cross, I am reading Zinsser's book On Writing Well and I am on the chapter about words. Light bulb! Ding. Ding. Ding. Improv is all about synonyms. As soon as I repeated the same word three times in two sentences, my acting teacher cut me off. Repeating oneself immediately takes on the dreaded effect of "babbling." To be good at improv or improvisation, I need to be a walking thesaurus or at least when I have that two minutes of practice, come up with a couple of words that mean the same thing so I can expand it if required.

According to my trusty World Book Dictionary, eloquence means "the flow of speech that has grace and force or the art of speaking so to stir the emotion." One comment I received during class was that I had energy. Butwhenenergymeansallyourwordsflowtogether or when energy means all your words flow together without a pause or chance for someone to digest your words (pure nervousness on my part) the eloquence is gone.

When asked what we wanted to learn from this class, this amazing word "eloquence" popped into my head. I want to learn to slow down and being meaningful in my words and speech. When you are speaking, you can't go back and edit and revise until it is right. Be ready in the moment. Be ready in the moment. Make the most of preparation and you will.

I was praying with my girls in the car this morning on the way to school. Yes, I kept my eyes open. That's okay too. I found myself repeating vague words and somewhat babbling. Now, I know God accepts our prayers and knows our hearts but I realized that perhaps some people get embarrassed praying out loud or doing a godly improv because they find themselves repeating words and not knowing how to close. Bingo! Eloquence. Be specific using variations on a theme and you will feel your speech or prayers grow in richness to the edification of yourself and others listening. (No, I am not saying to pray just to have others hear you pray.) Know when to close. Do you ever start praying in group, not know when to stop and just keep going in circles because you don't want to not pray, not say enough and just don't know how to say "Amen." I do. Synonyms. Eloquence. Listen to yourself.

I am loving the English application to my spiritual life here. It is hard to be critiqued in my acting class but I love the chance to grow as a person and apply it to my spiritual walk which in the end is all that really matters -- glorifying God and walking in Him!

"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12:11 NIV

"Pray without ceasing." 1 Thessalonians 5:17

(See Fussy's Fight the Frump Friday for more great life tips!)

(And, Don't miss the Sisters of a Different Order for some interesting and witty quips on life!)

Comments

[TJ Hirst]

I am glad you are writing about finding these connections between language and spirituality. That is what I love about the writing process. If we are listening, that process of searching for and finding the write word connects both creative and spiritual inspiration together. It's a little hard to do that on our feet, in the moment. But the best advice I have been given about speaking in this way is to "pause". I never thought to name the results of those pauses eloquence, but it fits well.

[Sister Honey Bunch]

Very interesting. Slow down and be meaningful in speech. I love it.

(Thanks for the link!)

[HRH]

Slow down for a meaningful life as well? Interesting stuff.

[Midlife Mom]

I REALLY loved this post and the connection between our speech/writing and our praying/spiritual life. I'm going to read it again to glean every morsel. You mention your acting classes, are you an actress??
We are in the midst of a huge snowstorm right now. Looks like Christmas out there but 16 inches is a bit much even for us!!