singing to strangers and the power of connection
Transcript of this video:
One of the most memorable learning experiences happened to me maybe 15 years ago at an improv conference I went to in New York, where in the keynote session we were put into small groups and taught to sing a song. It was, “On A Clear Day You Can See Forever.” It’s from the 60s musical. And many of us were not musically talented, but we learned to sing reasonably well in a group.
And then came the kicker. After an hour or two of tuition and practice, we were asked to go out into the hotel in small groups and ask people if they would be willing for us to sing to them. Which many people were, and each time there was something rather lovely about it because we were singing to them. You could see a twinkle in their eyes and a little bit of joy in their hearts. And each time was memorable and many of us got so into that that later on we were actually on the subway in New York inviting strangers on the subway if they would like to be sung to.
I love this story because I really am a passionate believer in experiential learning. Rather than sort of teach people abstract lessons, can you give them a memorable experience and allow them to make whatever meaning of it they like? And the meaning I make of it, it was a fantastic reminder that perhaps the best performances are not about being technically brilliant, but about making sure you have a connection with your audience. Something that I think is even more important.
Years ago I read a book with a chapter titled High Tech High Touch that I think was very prescient about the future that we’re now living in. It suggested that technology would be automating an awful lot of our processes but it would create an even deeper human need for real human connection.
I think about this a lot because there’s so much on social media and so much produced by LinkedIn that we’re actually kind of flooded with abstract knowledge. But what we may be starved of, I think we are a bit starved of, is the emotional connection that I got in a very dramatic form, singing to people on the subway in New York, but that you can create in person to person groups.
And as a facilitator, I think remembering that it’s important to create that space and opportunity for perhaps a little bit of risk-taking that allows us to feel an emotional connection to people. It’s perhaps the most important thing that we need to do when we’re meeting face-to-face. We are, outside of those face-to-meetings, presented with a myriad ways to transmit information. It’s emotional connection that we need to focus on.
Thumbnail photo by Mollie Sivaram on Unsplash
