Article by Inova Consultancy
For most of us, hearing the word “theatre” or “drama” can make us Inova Consultancy feel anxious. We might think back to school days when we had to re-enact a play or experiment with different theatrical techniques. It can seem a little daunting to say the least. But please don’t fret, you don’t need to be an expert! Drama is for everyone and anyone can do it! We can utilise our experiences of drama to develop a range of skills that are transferable to many other parts of our lives.
Drama is a useful way to step out of your comfort zone and explore the soft skills that are highly valued in our employment, academic and personal life. You might be wondering how? Well, let me explain the top 5 skills that you can build through drama, which will help you to flourish!
Confidence
Confidence is an important skill in professional, academic and personal life. It can help us become more assertive and help us share our thoughts, ideas and beliefs with others. Have you ever thought you knew the answer to something, then doubted yourself, and subsequently decided to keep quiet, only for someone else to say the same answer and get it right? We have all been there. Drama can help to build you the confidence you may need to share more freely and fearlessly! What’s the worst that can happen, right? When you are practicing drama and expressing yourself, you are learning to let go of the fear of what people think, and you allow yourself to be a little more vulnerable. This building of confidence is useful in many situations, for example when you are in your work meetings, during class or when something is bugging you in your personal relationships. So give it a go yourself, spread out your feathers and display your beautiful colours!
Communication
Through drama, you will improve your verbal and non-verbal communication. You will be experimenting with different body movements, facial expressions, and tone of voice, amongst other things! You may have to act as different characters and have the opportunity to learn how to communicate through their own personal experience. This can help you to build your communication skills. During drama, you are likely to be in touch with people from many different backgrounds which can aid the development of your communication skills. It will help you become more skilled at talking to a wide range of people, in interviews, during presentations or in your meetings. This skill is very transferable!
Creativity
Drama provides a little (or big!) space to be creative. Creativity is quite a broad term that can be conceptualised as many different things depending on context. So what kind of creativity can someone gain through drama? Well, drama can positively change the way you perceive things, for example, instead of seeing something as a challenge or a problem, you may instead see this as an opportunity. It creates a new perspective on situations, and it can encourage creativity in thinking of solutions. With drama, we experiment and experience a variety of different ideas and personas, which can help us build the life skill of innovation, as well as a more entrepreneurial attitude.
Team-work
When you are collaborating with others in dramatic techniques, team-work is very important. In order to ensure everyone feels comfortable, safe and free to be themselves, we need to be good team players by respecting others, listening to their ideas and by engaging with them meaningfully. Team-work is highly valued in the workplace and in academic life; it allows us to come together to create results, cooperate and be innovative. When people come together, they can solve problems in a creative way. Brainstorming with others can help us think of solutions that we may not have thought of before.
Emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence and drama? You might not automatically make this connection when thinking of ways that drama can build soft skills! Drama can involve acting out a range of different emotions. We can learn to understand these emotions a lot more, especially when we are acting as a different character and emphasising with their persona. In drama, we learn to express these emotions through verbal dialogue, improvisation, experimentation and even debate. Emotional intelligence is again a skill that is helpful when dealing with challenging situations in all aspects of life. It will help us identify our feelings, and that is the first step to managing them.
Our Master the Act project is aimed at theatre/drama professionals and trainers/facilitators who wish to take the magic of drama to the next level by becoming a “Creative Mentor”. The Creative Mentor profile utilises the experience of both job profiles to create a new beautiful role that encapsulates both . Taking drama and using it as a way for individuals to develop themselves has been found to be very successful in the previous project Fake It Till You Make It. It is great to be using these methodologies again, and we can’t wait to see another set of amazing results! Stay tuned for more on the Master the Act project.
