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And the Honeybourne spake all these words:

“I am the Honeybourne, who brought you out of the darkness of Powerpoint, out of the land of conformity.”

1. Thou shalt not simply trot out thy usual shtick.

2. Thou shalt dream a great dream, or show forth a wondrous new thing, or share something thou hast never shared before.

3. Thou shalt reveal thy curiosity and thy passion.

4. Thou shalt tell a story.

5. Thou shalt freely comment on the utterances of other speakers for the sake of blessed connection and exquisite controversy.

6. Thou shalt not flaunt thine ego. Be thou vulnerable; speak of thy failure as well as thy success.

7. Thou shalt not sell from the stage: neither thy company, thy goods, thy writings, not thy desperate need for funding; lest thou be cast aside into outer darkness.

8. Thou shalt remember all the while: Laughter is good.

9. Thou shalt not read thy speech.

10. Thou shalt not steal the time of them that follow thee.

When the business people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with excitement as their right brain was alive!

They stayed at a distance and their audiences said “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have bullet-points speak to us or we will die. Do not be afraid, Honeybourne will be with you to keep you from sinning and boring your audience with your usual style!”

(Adapted from!) Exodus 20 with a little help from TED

A version of this article originally appeared on the blog Creating Communication

What can an actor teach you in the big, bad world of business?

I come from a close knit Liverpool family and none of them had ever ‘trod the boards’. One of my earliest memories was a moment in my nursery school nativity, I was lost for my words and so I began to improvise with a routine I had seen on The Muppet Show. It didn’t have much to do with the birth of Jesus however it made the Mums and Dads laugh. That laughter was addictive!

Every chance there was to do a turn, stand up and read aloud, to do an impression or tell a joke, I was there volunteering.

I started out my professional acting as a boy detective on Saturday morning television at the grand old age of ten. I had been well and truly bitten by the theatrical bug and at the age of 19, I auditioned for a new musical and managed to land the leading comedy role.

Since then, I have sung and danced on the West End stage, fought aliens on the cinema screen, completed my own stunts and had a stunt double. I have also featured in commercials advertising everything from The Samaritans, to Pro-Bio Yoghurt Drinks, to Pesto. This all comes alongside acting in sitcoms with a live studio audience and being part of the nation’s favourite soap opera.

I have been in flops, been in hits and everything in between!

What can an actor teach you in the big, bad world of business? Aren’t us thespians all about air-kisses, calling each other ‘daaarling’, and behaving like divas!? I beg to differ. Actors have a huge amount to offer as we understand and respect deadlines, we are resourceful, creative, courageous, versatile, flexible and great team players.

Here are just a few ways I believe working with an actor can add value to you, as an individual, and as a business:

Improvisation –

When you are up on stage anything can and will happen. People forget lines and people forget entrances as well as both the props and sets are not always working. At these moments an actor knows how to accept and build, how to improvise in this situation. This skill is great for any business professional. Being able to focus, think and act quickly whilst giving the impression that all is calm, cool and collected is a terrific skill for when clients, co-workers or circumstances throw you a curve ball.

Understanding People –

For me good acting is not about putting on a mask and becoming someone else, it is about taking off the mask and revealing yourself, warts and all. As an actor I still spend hours learning the human condition through both people watching and introspection. The more I can understand the character I am playing, from the inside out, the better my performance will be. I therefore use this skill with everyone I come into contact with. I am able to ‘put myself in their shoes’ and I try to understand the world from their unique point of view. I truly believe this makes me a not only a better actor, but also a better consultant, coach and friend.

Dealing With Nerves –

Every time I step in front of a camera or an audience I am nervous. I know that I can’t hide those nerves, but what I can do is harness them and use that energy to drive my performance. Shutting down nerves in an attempt to ‘pull yourself together’ only leads to disconnect from an audience. It shuts down all the emotions which add life and vitality to your message. It concerns me when I work with anyone who tells me they don’t feel nervous because then I know that whatever they are talking about doesn’t really matter to them. Nerves are an actor’s best friend, Judi Dench calls nerves her ‘batteries’ they are the energy we need.

Seeing the positive in rejections –

For all the jobs I have booked there have been hundreds which I haven’t got. I have faced rejection more times than I care to admit. Though over the years I have learnt to cope with the rejection and turn it into a positive. Every audition is about ‘booking the room’ not ‘booking the role’. The most important thing in an audition for me is that I have sold myself to the room as someone who would be great to work with, regardless of whether I get that particular job or not. Being able to walk into a meeting with this sense of optimism and also with the inner confidence as to who I am makes for a positive encounter. This mentality works with every business meeting, boardroom, presentation or pitch that I have ever coached.

Communicating

All too often I come across people in the business world not actually communicating but simply taking turns in having separate conversations. As an actor I understand the skill of listening and collaborating. Both of which require time and attention. If I wasn’t truly listening to my acting partner in a scene, it would come across as fake and disconnected. If I was unable to listen to my director at a rehearsal, I would never be able to perform at my best. Simply by listening and saying ‘thank you’, ‘I understand’ or ‘tell me more’ I can bring out the best in myself and in others. I always remember that when I bow at the end of a theatre production, is not about me but is actually a way of saying thank you to the audience.

To say that I was nervous was an understatement. Any time I had been required to do anything daring or extreme, a stuntman had to be involved! Yet, here I was, a 40 something actor being dunked in a helicopter crash simulator and having to swim my way out! Not just once, but six times! Yes, this time I was taking my ‘show’ offshore!

As part of an International Leadership Programme, I had been delivering a Communications Seminar across the globe for many months. I had seen the extremes of North America – ‘the Badlands’ of North Dakota, ‘where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain’ in Oklahoma, and the high rises of Corporate America. The next and final stop on my ‘road trip’ was to take the seminar out to the people of the Oil Platforms in the middle of the North Sea!

I didn’t know what to expect and the fear of the unknown was huge!

However, out on those platforms I met, and worked with a community who were appreciative, receptive, welcoming and kind. I experienced a camaraderie which reminded me of the kinda atmosphere I encounter as an actor on a film set or even on a theatre run.

From my experience I found that ‘Life on an Oil Platform’ is similar to my life as a Professional Actor. Here are my top 4 reasons why;

1) You have to learn the lingo

On an oil platform you can expect to hear a language which could be confusing to people from outside world.

In the theatre we use terms such as ‘the wings’, ‘break a leg’, ‘offstage’, ‘upstage’ and ‘corpsing’. It takes a while for anyone from the outside world to work out which is stage left, what is the fly tower and what is ‘the half’.

When you are working on television you have to learn an altogether different lingo. Who is the chief grip? What is a dolly? And it’s not at all shocking for a director to tell you “Once we’ve done a dirty single, we’ll do a quick reverse – are you going to need a sausage?”

It took me a while but by the end of my second trip to the Platforms I was beginning to sound like a local! Here are some of my top tips:

• When 12 big burly men tell you they are going to the beach, it doesn’t mean they are off on a jolly day trip to the seaside, it means they are looking forward to going home!
• Do not describe your survival suit as your “onesie” or to call your PPE your orange jumpsuit!
• Derrick is not one of your co-workers!
• The mess room isn’t normally described as the restaurant!
• I’m still to fully understand what a Pig is, but I know it needs a pig receiver too!!!

2) Everyone works in collaboration not competition

In the corporate environment to which I have spent a lot of time coaching and training, I have found that most people are hardwired to work in competition.

Platform life is completely different and it makes a refreshing change to work in such an environment where collaboration is already the starting point. They have a common goal and by truly ‘working together’ they manage to reach it.

The same philosophy runs true in acting.

Theatre, by its very nature, demands that anyone working on a production is an integral member of that team. The final performance could never be successfully completed without every member of the cast and crew working towards the same goal. A high level of trust, respect and cooperation is required by all.

Whether you are working on an oil platform or a television soap, teamwork requires self-motivation and self-discipline. You need to have the ability to contribute to the process, be open to actively listen to others, take constructive criticism, make relevant and useful suggestion and generally help drive the project forward.

3) Communicating and Communicaring

It came as no surprise to find that everyone working Offshore was already competent in their communication skills.

In order to truly communicate with each other, you need to stop wearing any ‘mask’ and be confident enough to be able to be who you truly are. On board the platform’s I met men and women who were totally at ease being themselves, what you see is what you get. They are there 24/7 with nowhere to escape so they can only really be themselves.

Everyone has a deep level of respect and care for each other but have a great amount of banter which was always delivered with a gigantic heart.

In life, I really believe we have to know how to respect each other as people need respect. Most people have some level of insecurity, so making them feel respected and understood so they believe in themselves is a gift. We are all built in different ways, but deep down, we are all the same. –We all have the same kind of heart. In my world, communicating and ‘communi-caring’ are the building blocks of a community.

4) Being a diva won’t get you far

If you are both respectful and grateful, you’ve got the best chance ever of carving out a career in the cut-throat world of television and film acting. I’ve worked with some big stars and what has always surprised me is how down to earth, non demanding and grounded they are. Never have I witnessed any ‘diva’ behaviours, strops or “do you know who I am?” moments. Anyone who behaves like that just doesn’t survive, it is not the industry for them and their career is only a short lived one.

Life offshore doesn’t have room for Diva’s either!! I certainly understood this first hand when I first asked for my double room with an en-suite and a sea view!!

The platforms are full of a real cross section of people, all working together and appreciating each other as human beings and not just co-workers. Everyone I met on the oil platform had their own unique personalities, different thinking styles and their own management style. In all communications and encounters, people took into account their own style along with their colleague’s personality to ensure that they effectively controlled and adapted to any situation.

My experience of life ‘Offshore’ was an incredible leveller! There was no culture of ‘them and us’, everyone mucked in and grafted hard. As an outsider, a ‘beach dweller’, I never felt anything but welcomed, respected, looked after and cared for. Thankyou to all

It's been quite an adventure and now's its on to my next Mission! #communications… https://t.co/9yL8yEs0Qt pic.twitter.com/LIKM3fCIYF

— Jamie Honeybourne – Actor, Speaker, Coach (@honeybourne) February 12, 2016