How To Listen

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How To Listen

One of the most important skills we have as human beings is our ability to communicate, and to do so effectively.

However, one could easily argue that - societally speaking - we have not been communicating effectively with one another, or have only been doing so with a select group of people. The events of the past ten days seem like blatant proof of that.

A large part - if not the largest part - of effective communication and the subsequent forward momentum of progress is:

Active Listening.

We - and I’m speaking to the heavily White majority of my readership here - are being asked right now to Actively Listen to our Black peers, friends, family, colleagues, allies, acquaintances, and all Black voices across the country.

So how do we do this? What does this mean? Where to start?

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Collective and Connective

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Collective and Connective

There has been an extraordinarily common theme across the informational platforms I’ve been devouring recently:

Nothing creative or inventive happens in a vacuum or alone.

And I want to be clear about this: all inventors are creators. In an early blog I talked about how essentially everyone is a creator - science and math-minded folks included - and I just want to reiterate this point.

Has the world seen a large number of “geniuses”?

Yes.

Are these people extraordinary?

Yes.

Have their innovations and creations altered the world in which we live?

Yes.

But not a single one of them did it all alone.

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The 5-Hour Rule

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The 5-Hour Rule

About two years ago, there was a pretty sizable buzz about something that the media was dubbing “The 5-Hour Rule.”

In it’s most basic form, it was being described as: “Read 5 hours per week or you’ll never amount to anything!!!” Which caused a little bit of blowback and debate…you know, so news outlets could sell more advertising and drive more traffic.

But what is the actual principle behind the rule, and how is it useful to creatives?

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You've Got To Be Carefully Taught

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You've Got To Be Carefully Taught

One of the most eye-opening tips I’ve ever casually received in my career thus far came while doing a show called My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding. It’s an absolutely delightful, folksy, and heartfelt autobiographical musical written by the Canadian husband-wife writing team (and the kindest people) David Hein and Irene Sankoff - yes, the same people behind the international smash hit: Come From Away.

It was October of 2010 and we had been rehearsing the show at JCC Centerstage in Rochester, NY in a setting where the show was being workshopped with David and Irene as we went through the script. For a new writer like me, this was an incredible experience. The show’s director and a wonderful mentor of mine - Ralph Meranto - told David and Irene after one rehearsal that I was an aspiring musical theatre writer. They immediately showed interest and asked questions. As I said, kindest people ever.

At the end of the conversation, Irene asked, “Do you follow Ken Davenport’s blog? If you don’t, you definitely should. There’s a lot of great information. We read it religiously!”

This one suggestion set me onto a path over the next few years of attempting to acquire and consume every bit of knowledge that I could about writing musical theatre. And that is why this tip was so important.

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