I recently worked on a work-in-progress show where the company rehearsed and performed in France and I designed the sound remotely from my studio in London. My task was to create the sound design and programme it into the play out system (QLab) ready for the stage manager to operate. Budget constraints meant it wasn’t possible for me to attend any of the rehearsals or the final performances. I had to create a complex and reactive sound design without watching any of the rehearsals and without seeing the venue, then trust to the company of performers to make it work in the venue without me.
23 comments:
I feel very strongly for the "non-techies" mentioned in this article. I didn't know what pretty much any of those sound terms throughout the article means. As someone who only started venturing into the world of tech very recently, and am in class very day with a group of people most of whom are much more experienced than me and have much more knowledge of the world we are working in, it is overwhelming when they are having a casual conversation and I don't understand half the words they are saying.
For me personally, and for everyone new to a certain field of knowledge it is incredibly important to have people who can explain the concepts without using complex jargon or making us feel inferior.
Honestly, this is an incredible article. It is written geared towards one particular circumstance but it is so much bigger than that. The advice in this article is really great life advice for anyone from sound designers, to technical directors, to doctors to politicians to lawyers. If you edit this article a little it to make it more general and change sections from “think back to when you first learned audio” to “think back to lower school.” We can learn a lot from what this writer has to say and that can make our interactions with others so much better by avoiding condescending attitudes, to making sure you are understandable to not letting the little things get to you and giving up what you cannot control. I will save this article and read it every now and then because these are all points that everyone subconsciously knows is a good thing to abide by, but we don’t really think about them until someone tells us how to be better.
This is something everyone needs to know!!! Both technicians and non-technicians. One of the most important things about theater and collaboration is communication. If you are unable to communicate your ideas in a clear and concise way, then the discussion is not going anywhere. Each of these aspects of talking to someone that doesn't know as much as you do, is crucial for getting the point across. The first two especially. Not using jargon and not being condescending might appear to be characteristics that are impossible to find a middle ground between, but in actuality, there is a very easy middle ground. Lowering your vocabulary, but not over explaining. And another important thing is to also allow them to ask questions and clarify. If you are going to fast in your explanation, which will likely happen, it is important allow the recipient of the information to feel comfortable asking questions. A way to do this is to pause and check in frequently, and to also go right out and tell them to stop you if you are going too fast of need a word defined. Sometimes when you sound too professional or know-it-all, people will be too intimidated to stop you. Being a quality communicator is the number one skill you need to succeed in this business.
I think we could also rename this article "How to Talk to Your (Run) Crew" and it would have the exact same impact. As people who work every day in our fields, we often forget that many of the people working around us don't have the same knowledge and backgrounds as we do. This person's story shows how important communication is in any theatrical setting, whether you are talking with another highly trained sound engineer, or an actor who is running the sound board as a crew assignment. It is so important to acknowledge that the person working with or for you does not know the same things you do. At the same time, this article points out how it is also important not to condescend. I think this can be the biggest challenge: finding the line between giving specific instructions for untrained staff and being careful not to sound like you are being condescending. Another point that stood out to me was "Figure out what's possible and let go of the rest." This is way easier said than done. If I was this sound designer, I would have been frustrated when the people on the other side of the skype session couldn't do what I was asking of them. If I was in this situation, I think I would have had to make clear expectations for myself from the very beginning. Since the people working for you are not as skilled, they simply will not be able to complete all tasks. This means the design needs to be as flexible as you would need to be.
This is so important to understand and I think that we get so caught up in the problem all the time! Last year, we learned that one of the most effective ways to communicate with people in experiences of collaboration is to remove jargon and here it is again! The amount of times that I've experienced from both sides managers telling their workers what to do using jargon and the worker failing to do the job properly because the did not understand the jargon is too high. One of the things we do most often as theatre practitioners is communicate and if we fail to do that job successfully what are we accomplishing? Another extremely valuable lesson this article addresses is to not be condescending and I think that this goes hand in hand with jargon. Don't assume that your workers or employees know every single term but at the same time it's important not to be condescending if they do not know as well.
one of the main themes in this article is that it is frustrating for both the technical professional and for the non-technical person to communicate when the technical professional expects more from the non-technical person and gets annoyed when they don't understand. To avoid this problem it really is important the you try not to assume anything about what the nonprofessional knows. Although it might be more work, more work will be able to get done if the nonprofessional understands more and doesn't have to keep asking the professional questions. One of the most important topics the author discussed was patients. This concept is universal in the communications realm and can be a very useful tool. Patients will help keep both parties in good standing and effective. No one is truly on the same level as another when it comes to what they know and don't know because this aspect depends not only on schooling but also on experience. Someone may know more about one topic when you know more about another topic they don't. If you understand and accommodate for that aspect, then both parties can benefit.
Having been on both sides in these types of situations I can definitely identify with the tips in this article. Working on projects with people who know a lot more than I do is often frustrating when I can't understand what the other person wants me to do and when the other person is frustrated that I don't understand, and it's not an ideal situation for anyone. I often have to ask people to stop and explain "a little slower" or "can you walk me through it" or even just "can you explain this non-theoretically", and I've learned quickly that I have to speak up quickly and in a non-embarrassed way in order to avoid getting stuck with a task that I have no idea how to do. Knowing those experiences, when I am in a situation where I am explaining something or walking someone through a process I try to keep those experiences in mind and stay patient. The tip about not using jargon is also very useful, because it often slows down the process of getting something done if one person has to explain their jargon to another person who has no idea what they're talking about. Clarity and patience are the most important parts of effective communication.
I definitely appreciate with the tips in this article, especially the ones about being professional and not using jargon. Unless you know that the person you’re working with uses or at least knows the same terminology as you just don’t use it. It can and will lead to so many easily avoidable misunderstandings that can have disastrous consequences and leave everyone feeling irritated. Once that irritation sets in its going to make everything more complicated, if only because interacting with each other will start to grate on you. This is why I liked the writer’s point about professionalism so much. It can take a conscious effort to remember to be patient and polite with people, especially when you’re explaining something you find simple or second nature. But if you’re patient and polite then not only can you avoid making the other person feel like an idiot but you can teach them something which’ll only make your life easier in the long run.
I would say that most of what we learn and practice is school is about communication and the best way to communicate with different individuals in different scenarios. This article is a really good summary on how to communicate best with individuals who do not have a strong technical foundation. The most important point from this article is the need to speak to non-tech people as though they are in the intro class in your discipline with you, while at the same time not being condescending. If at any point you become condescending, you risk losing your audience and their trust in your ability to lead them through the task.
One could extend these tips to tech people communicating with other tech people as well. The point about different jargon existing in different nations is still true and will impact the fluidity of communication. Asking for information from other people clearly and in detail is important no matter whom you are asking.
I feel like this comment just sums up professionalism in many fields. If you want your designs created well it is imperative that you understand who you are asking to create, install, or replicate them. In the past when I was designing for shows that I couldn’t run the lights for I definitely had to consider who would be there to run the lights and how much communication I would have with them. Understanding your team is jut like understanding your tools. You are going to work together to create something and you cannot expect a result that your tools cannot create. They do some things well, other things not so much. Just like the article said, this doesn’t mean condescend to them, it means have you need to recognize their skill sets. The most important lesson in this article other than the obvious don’t condescend to your team, use language that can be understood by your team, etc. is the concept of figuring out was is possible and working towards that. Though designers always want to push the limit, in a team with limited knowledge it’s more effective to simplify things a bit.
I am currently experiencing this whole concept of talking to muggles first hand. My high school asked me to come back and stage manage two performances for this for an event they are having in a few weeks. The production managers are not theatrically inclined people, and told me that they hired me specifically because this is what I do. Every time I go to production meetings or submit paperwork I have to remember that they do not have the same background and understanding that I do. This was very apparent when I created our tech and performance schedule. I put half hour on there because that is just what you do. However, I completely forgot that they had no idea what that was and got completely confused. The way that I have found to bridge this gap is to provide an explanation with each of my actions. That way they can understand why I am doing what I am doing.
Knowing how to talk to people who are not experts in your area is a very important skill. Theatre is an extremely collaborative art where everyone has many different strong and weak suits. With everyone working together on one project it is imperative that everyone can communicate to make a holistic final product. There is a mini specific language in each department since there are so many different terms and pieces of equipment. It is important that when communicating, people use simple terms that are more common amongst normal people. It can be frustrating when someone does not understand what you are saying and how to do something that is simple to you. Patience is key when explaining something new to someone else who is not familiar with the subject. Starting off with the basic skills and terminology will slowly bring someone into your field of knowledge or at least teach them what they need to do in order to get a certain job done.
This article brings up a lot of important things to keep in mind when talking to people who don't know your field as well as you do. I think one of the most important ones is don’t assume a level of knowledge and don't condescend. When you assume that whoever you are talking to doesn't know anything and that’s all right because your job is not their job, it saves everyone from awkwardly asking if they know what you are talking about and having them say they understand because they have a really basic knowledge, but not wanting to sound stupid so they just say yes. And then later you figure out they had no idea what they are doing. If someone knows everything you are explaining they can always jump in and stop you, but people don't generally stop you to ask you to explain from the beginning because they don't want to ask a stupid question. It’s something that the best crew-heads did last year that I really appreciated because I would think I would know what I was doing, but I wanted a refresher just in case, and I didn't want to impose.
I totally understand the situation from both sides. As a newbies and international, I remembered how terrified I was on my very first strike call here at CMU because I know nothing about install, let alone all the new vocabularies. Being muggles can be frustrated and struggling too but I really made it through by asking questions on things I don’t know…. Like until now my last year and just literally got out of a load-in call, today I had a minor communication problems still, which was nothing that important, but also I still asked questions on things I didn’t understand or words I never heard of before. But it can be really hard if you are one of those people who afraid to ask questions, or born in a different culture where asking questions meaning you are stupid, so as a supervisor I agreed you should not assume, but most importantly, established the feeling that your crew can feel comfortable coming up to you for questions, that I figured actually the most important thing. I will never go up to a person who I feel like judging me because I don’t know, and I will try to figure things out myself… which…. Will not be fun when it’s wrong.
I think that communicating with others who may be less experienced with you is one of the most important skills we can learn at CMU. We happen to have such a fantastic opportunity to delve extremely deeply into our areas of concentration and even gain a strong understanding of almost all of the other fields of theatre. Once we do get out into the real world however our “lingo” may even just be different and just as we will undoubtedly have many opportunities to learn from those around us we will also have many opportunities to teach others. Being able to communicate effectively is part of that. Even something like a scene shop, which to most of us is utterly familiar and basically our second home, after the studio of course, can be an intimidating and scary place to the uninitiated. Part of our responsibility then is not only to make sure we are conscientious of how we communicate but how we teach, making sure it is in reasonable clumps and adapted to each individual to the best that we can.
Although I understand none of the sound-equipment related jargon in this article, I think that the listed ideas given on how to communicate, as a theater technician, to outsiders, is also very much applicable to everyday conversations, and professionalism and effective communication in general. The point that resonated the most to me was “don’t condescend”. I think there is a very delicate balance between helpfully teaching someone something/ explaining a new concept, as opposed to looking down on them, being judgemental, or just overall not having a correct tone. I’ve met plenty of people who, while their intents are certainly good, have a tendency to come across as condescending or all- knowing, even through something as simple as their tone of voice. I always say that oftentimes it isn’t even really about what you say, but how you say it, and I think this is especially notable in talking amongst others in the theater community. I think, especially as conservatory students, we need to evaluate ourselves before we speak and think about our intents; am I saying this to be genuinely helpful, or to show off what I already know that this person doesn’t? I’ve definitely caught myself before, coming across as snobby or stuck up when someone asked me for help in something, on accident. Because technical theater is such a specific professional concentration, I think we have a tendency to take pride in our knowledge and skills (which we should!), but i think it’s important to remember how much the manner in which you talk to others matters, not just in a professional way but also in a you-should-be-nice-to-people way (although, speaking on professionalism, no one wants to work with a know-it-all). Also, I don’t think there should be any shame in asking for help or admitting you don’t know how to do something, and whenever i ask someone for advice and they respond to me in a condescending way, it totally turns me off from asking for their help again.
This article has so much to do with all areas of theatre and how we communicate to those who do not speak our language. I ran into similar problems all the time in high school, running crews of freshmen who did not know a seam ripper from scissors and only thought they knew the right way to sew on a button. Although taking the time to clearly communicate when fifteen different people are asking you a hundred different things can seem tedious, it saves one the trouble of repeating those hundred answers over and over again - as I have on many occasions. The only way to get work done when collaborating with those who cannot see inside my head is to help them to see in whatever way possible. And the author is absolutely right in her recommendation to think back on past teachers when passing on information and knowledge. I've done this on many occasions, sometimes even when re-teaching myself skills I've forgotten. The better I can put my thoughts into the words of the people who put them there, the more sense they make to the next person. Theatre, as a collaborative art form, relies so heavily on communication. Whether it be in sound or lights or scenic or media or yes, costuming, it is the artist's job to make their work more possible by communicating its purpose and needs more effectively. As far as this article's tips go, I couldn't agree more.
This. Article. Is. So. Important.
I am tempted to leave my comment at that, but for the purposes of my class assignment, I'll elaborate. We do a lot of technical things in the theatre, things other people don't even realize we do. After a while, it is easy to get wrapped up in the bubble that we live in, but we have to remember that not everyone understands all of the things we are so immersed in ourselves. As a stage manager with what I feel is a strong knowledge of every field in the theatre, there are still MANY very technical elements that I do not understand. In my life, I have encountered a handful of very frustrating people who do not understand that anyone could possibly know less than they do, and instead of taking their time to explain what they are talking about, they continue to speak in a string of jargon that A) makes me feel completely left out of the conversation and B) does not communicate the message in the slightest. I'm sure that these people feel very excited to know more than someone else about something that they work in, but I'm here to tell them this: You must always have respect for other people and their level of awareness if you ever want to be respected and accommodated in return.
This article points out something that is very relevant in theatre and performance spaces today. I have seen "techies" purposely use technical jargon to be-little another with less experience in the field. This is so wrong. Spreading knowledge of technical theatre and the procedures necessary for certain tasks can be done in a non condescending manner. It is very important to be able to communicate with others who are not knowledgable about your craft, in a way that they could understand. The tips included in this article are great because they pretty much touch upon the areas most important when working with others. This could definitely be applied to Production Calls at CMU. When working on run crew, DPs, MTs, Actors, Directors, etc.. are going to be working together. Now although design and production majors may know a lot about working on a crew and working on the soundboard and lightboard, or how to organize props, there are other people on crew who deserve the knowledge in ways of helping eachother out and teaching one another how to do certain tasks. Definitely agree with the articles message.
The author of this article definitely set out with a pretty daunting task, but the advice holds true in all situations. Communication is key. And this includes asking people what the are saying when they stop making sense! (or asking others to tell you when you do the same). I have been on both sides of this issue, and it can really put the brakes on otherwise productive situations. Like the author explains, it’s easy to slip into using lingo by accident because you’re so used to it. I know what it’s like on both sides—trying to come up with generic terms or ways of describing something complicated, or waiting while someone else does the same for me. When working with people with little to no technical experience, it can be hard to set your expectations though. I’ve worked with some people who claim to know nothing, but catch on very quickly, and others where there’s more of a learning curve or confusion. So again, this is why communication is so important. Communicate and don’t make assumptions!
I love that! “The guild on how to talk to non techies.” I couldn’t agree with this article more. I come from a place where knowing something about sound is considered to be a foreign language. I am not be any means a “sound designer” but doing theatre in high school, and now college, has put me around this kind of stuff and I have seen it firsthand. The way it worked was if you needed to use the theatre space you asked the “techies”, but it was next to impossible to show them how to use what they needed and 9/10 we would come back the next day to a completely different set up. This article focuses on the sound work but something like this can happen in any field. Anyone that is considered to be an “expert” in their field is going to use jargon and concepts that will not apply to everyone. If you want to be the best at what you do, its important to focus on being well versed in not only your field but in other adjacent ones. You will find yourself making more connections that might come in handy later on.
Being able to talk to someone who doesn’t necessary understand or having the knowledge background of a techie is a very important skill to have because at the end of the day we all were once not techies. The idea behind understanding how to talk to them isn’t going to be that hard provided you are at the learning stage where you know you don’t know everything but still remember what it was like for you to learn what you needed to know. Starting off with giving them the essential information to finish a task at hand with even simple-to-understand made up names might end up being the most efficient way for the task to be completed. Once they then can grasp the concept and are interested and willing to invest the time the real professional jargon is okay to be introduced. I really believe the most important thing to take away from the article is always avoid talking down to people, because no one ever like feeling inferior and it’s just disrespectful in most cases.
As I do not consider myself to be technically savvy whatsoever, this article really speaks to me and how I would like to be treated when trying to learn a concept that is completely outside my realm of knowledge. In a field so dominated by complex pieces of equipment with as many functions as names (not to mention constant adaptations and upgrades), it is a wonder that technical directors can keep up with the frequency of change and adaptation. From experience, the difficulty that resonated with me mentioned in the article was the use of technical jargon, as those in charge have such a foreign vocabulary that often makes it hard to keep up with even the definitions, it is vital for those trying to delegate instruction to empathize with the designated assistants, which is often frustrating as the pace of work is significantly stunted when the basic knowledge of tools and their functions is unknown. Yet with a little patience, any obstacle can be overcome!
Post a Comment