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Monday, November 9th, 2020 - 6:36pm.
For a couple of weeks each semester I teach a few sessions at the prestigious political science school in Toulouse. The idea is to give the students some theatre techniques to help them become more effective and confident public speakers.
The experience is both rewarding and grueling: I do the same session 16 times in less than two weeks while trying to make it engaging and fresh each time. Even at 6:30pm on a Monday, even at 8am on a Wednesday.   I only see each student once this semester and the sessions last an hour and a half.  Basically, in 90 minutes my goal is to walk into a room of a dozen first year political science students, create an atmosphere of trust and safety, convince them to let their guards down and to dare to be themselves in front of the group.  It’s a tall order. I do this over and over in back to back sessions and each time I start from scratch, trying to win them over in the hour and a half.  It is exhausting, but for the most part, I succeed.
In an attempt to get them out of their heads and into their bodies, I start with some physical and vocal warm-ups:   I get them breathing and moving together. This is already way out of their comfort zone for the most part, but they go with me, because these are ‘good students.’   After the warm-up I place a chair in front of the group, ask them to take a seat and position themselves so that we can see each other easily. “Are you comfortable?” I ask. “Because we are going to stay like this for the rest of the session.”  They nod, looking relieved to be out of the warm-up circle and sitting safely in their chairs.
“You are going to come, one by one and sit on this chair. I will sit there with a timer and you will have two minutes to talk to the group. You can talk about whatever you want, I don’t assign the topic, that’s part of the challenge.”  The relief they were feeling evaporates. Even this year, behind their masks, I can see their expressions change, their eyes get big. I can see their brains whirring to life, trying to figure out what they should say to the group.  As I said, these are ‘good students’ so the fact that I don’t impose a subject matter is very uncomfortable for them. They want to do it ‘right,’ but there’s no safety net, no assigned topic to hide behind.
“I want you to come up here and just be yourself,” I continue. “You can introduce yourself, tell us about something or someone you love, tell us why you’re here at this school, tell us about your weekend, about a trip you took, about your favorite movie or book, tell us about your hobbies, your passions, your best friend, your grandma. Anything you want. You choose. If it comes from the heart it will be easier for you, and it’ll be better for us. If the two minutes aren’t up but you have nothing left to say, then I want you to just sit and look at us.”  At this point their eyes get even wider, there’s some nervous laughter and someone invariably says, “I think it’s better to find something to say.”
“I think so, too. But whatever you do, for the two minutes, stay with us.”
I’ve been doing this exercise for years.  This semester alone, I saw 200 different students over the sixteen sessions. Two minutes at a time, I hear about their families, obstacles they’ve overcome, middle school bullies, homesickness, accidents, drunken shenanigans, summer jobs, backpacking adventures, dreams for the future.  I feel like I’ve heard it all and yet time again, they surprise me.  I see them use humor like armor, and I see them turn red and get flustered, and sometimes I see them step into their power and get real.
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