Rule 16: Sounds Right
In 1911 Nevil Maskelyne and David Devant, two of the premier magicians of the day, published Our Magic. In the first section, The Art in Magic, Maskelyne outlines 20 rules for magic performance. After well over 100 years, are these rules still relevant, and do they apply to more than magic?
16: When an effect of transition ends with a sudden revelation or surprise, the course of transition should usually be punctuated by actions or sounds leading up to and accentuating the final impression.
Brace yourself, I am about to show you one of the scariest things ever. In fact, it is so scary I decided to hide it in case people didn’t want to see. You will need to press play to see the image. Before you do:
It IS NOT a jump scare
It IS suitable for all audiences
That is the opening bars of the theme to ‘Jaws’ on cello. One of the most terrifying moments of cinema history.
Before we see the shark, before anyone’s even been attacked, there’s that music. It’s a primal fear; there’s something out there and it’s coming towards you. You only need to listen to two simple notes and you know that something bad is going to happen. A little longer listening to that score and you learn more. Whatever it is it’s an unrelenting, unstoppable force. It will keep coming at you, waiting for that perfect moment and then, suddenly, strike. John Williams manages all of that with just two notes.
A good friend once told me the key to not being scared during a horror movie: cover your ears. Without the soundtrack building the suspense the frights aren’t there. As another example, take the film ‘The Magnificent Seven’. It’s considered a classic western, a genre famous for its action scenes. But, without Bernstein’s score actually driving the action, it’s a relatively slow affair.
Just because you’re not out filming a summer blockbuster, that doesn’t mean you can’t employ some of the same techniques. Pretty much every presentation software has the ability to play music, but have you ever used it to add a little bit of backing to your talk? I know it might sound weird, and it’s definitely something you have to work on to get right, but adding a quiet bit of thematic music can really help drive home your point.
If you are going to experiment with using music, let me make a few recommendations:
No Lyrics: Only use musical pieces while you are talking, nothing with lyrics. It will distract your audience massively.
Careful with the Familiar: There is no way you can use something like ‘Star Wars’ or ‘The Avengers’ as your theme without your audience thinking about those films. Which means they aren’t fully focusing on what you’re saying. There’s a reason that, for a time, Lux Aeterna By Clint Mansell was used for what felt like every trailer being released. It managed to invoke the necessary emotions, without being directly tied to specific memories.
Practice: Music is all about timing, and so is using music in your talk. You wouldn’t walk onto a stage and expect to just be able to dance perfectly to a piece of music without practice, so please don’t think you can just put a cool bit of music in the background to help build to a crescendo without doing quite a few run throughs first.
Get Technical: The number of times I’ve watched a presenter have to pause or come out of whatever system they’re using to run it to play a film clip is boggling. You can embed movies and music within your presentation. Unless there is a really good reason for you not to do this, then learn how, and do it! It puts you in charge of when things start and it’s not awkward at all. But, if using external equipment, always make sure that’s going to work first. If you can’t embed and cue yourself, try to have some kind of run through or, if that’s not possible, talk in person to whoever will be in charge of cueing the music. Don’t leave it to the event organiser. As someone who’s both been the person on stage and the one behind the mixing desk, trust me on this.
It’s not just music, either. You can use all manner of techniques to help build to an important moment. Think about the language you use, the rhythm of your speech, even the visual aids. All of these things can be used to enhance and underline.
TFT
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