Piff, the stuffed mouse, on location.
Sometimes when I'm leading a workshop, I need a little help from "Piff," my stuffed mouse. What could I possibly be teaching with this adorable rodent?
Piff helps you practice eye contact
Years ago, when I was rehearsing for a solo performance in a small theater space, I wanted to practice looking the audience in the eye. That can he hard to practice in a roomful of empty chairs.
I happen to love stuffed animals. (I know, weird, right? But it’s actually a trend.) So I brought a few to my rehearsal and sat them in the seats so I could practice engaging with one set of beady eyes after another. It worked! By the time the audience arrived opening night, I had no trouble maintaining great eye contact.
Ready to try it? Follow these 3 steps:
Find 3-4 stuffed animals with very visible eyes. (If you don't have any and have no children in sight, I've seen actors tape 8.5" x 11" headshots to the seats when they're rehearsing. Bottom line: you want a face with eyes you can see.)
Place your Piffs around your rehearsal room and practice going eye to eye when you speak.
Pro tip: You don't need to look at absolutely everyone. You only need to look at 3-4 people in the audience for everyone to feel like you've looked at them. (I know, this is strange, but true.)
Last month, I was delivering a corporate training in San Ramon, California and using Piff, my traveling companion, to demonstrate this rehearsal technique. One of the participants took it to heart, and before his next presentation, he set up his laptop in front of his kids' stuffed animals. See here. No surprise, he hit the presentation out of the ballpark. No doubt, thanks to those many Piffs.