As an actor, exercises in acting class or standing in front of an audience involve and invokes a huge sense of vulnerability. Letting go and trying something completely new or at least uncomfortable is scary and also exhilarating. I remember a ‘risk night’ exercise we had to prepare for an acting class. I was asked to present a classical ballet piece! Now I’m no mover, and I’m sure I looked ridiculous (I even bought long Johns to wear) but once I committed to it and let go I felt liberated and strangely, more confident. Not about dancing per se but within myself. I came face to face with vulnerability and felt courageous as I confronted it.

When we stand on stage in front of an audience it is daunting and we tend to focus on questions like “will the audience like me?” This translates to presentations, pitches, meetings and boardrooms, where the focus is often on ourselves. The question we need to be asking is “Do I really like or believe in myself?” My first acting teaching used to say “if you do not believe in yourself then it is doubtful anyone else will”. He would also add that doubts are normal, healthy even, though somewhere along the line the actor must grow and have faith in their own abilities. So, you need to know your abilities, you need to like yourself but also and fundamentally you must know and confront your flaws.

A famous acting teacher Uta Hagen wrote, “First you must learn who you are. You must find your own sense of identity, enlarge this sense of self, and learn to see how that knowledge can be put to use in the characters you will play on stage”. Of course in the ‘real’ world the character is you, your character, though I would argue that we do portray different versions of ourselves depending on the ‘stage’ we are standing on and the audience we are with.

We all have flaws or things we don’t like about ourselves and it is inevitable that at times we compare ourselves to others. It may be that we wish we had their charm, charisma, and way with people, presence. To achieve presence we need to achieve comfort in our own skin, that quiet confidence people exude when they are solid and secure in who they are and what they offer. It is not the “look at me” people who have a presence about them; in fact it is the opposite. What we are working towards then is to accept yourself with pride, the things that make you different, unique and special. It is how you feel about yourself that is important. Sometime actors with a powerful stage presence are said to bare their soul to the audience, which is the true essence of vulnerability and creates a powerful connection to the audience. We are not watching a character, we are seeing and feeling a human being, complete with emotions and flaws, and that vulnerability is the very thing that seems to attract an audience. Am I suggesting that you bare your soul and express your emotions at every possible opportunity? No, I am making the point that you have something to offer, flaws and all and it the combination of self acceptance and being your true self that gives you presence and the ability to connect with others. Wearing a mask is tiring, often or eventually obvious and on some level a barrier to connection.

Yakim Moni, in ‘Creating a Character’ says “Society has also set up psychological portraits of the ideal person and citizen whom you are encouraged to emulate. If you have been scolded as a child for being overly aggressive, overly withdrawn, overly emotional, overly trusting, then you may feel you are different, imperfect. Perhaps you retreated or covered up to prevent society from knowing your weakness and to protect yourself from feeling pain. As an actor you must look at yourself and into yourself. The work on the vulnerable self will help you uncover and dispose of layer after layer of concealing shrouds…without coming to terms with your flaws, real or imagined, the best in your talent is immobilised. Your ability to express yourself is blocked”.

The journey to building presence, then, starts with awareness of your faults and qualities, your ‘character’ if you like. The next step is how this character interacts with the rest of the world. This means working on your body, speech, mind, emotions and importantly, your behaviour. In the words of acclaimed acting teacher Stella Adler, you must say aloud “I am myself and I have my own standards”.

Special thanks to my Actors Showcase teacher Peter Stephenson Jones.