Comments on: When The Thought Of Talking About Your Art Makes You Cringe

By: Gigi Rosenberg

Fri, 23 Aug 2013 00:37:24 +0000

Cyn, You’re lucky that it’s a natural skill! Also, when you’re connected to the “story” behind the work, it really helps. Thanks for commenting.

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By: Cyn Rogalski

Thu, 22 Aug 2013 23:50:53 +0000

My sculptures are all biblically based. These are what I speak about. I, luckily, have no qualms about public speaking. 😀

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By: Adopt the Museum Curator Approach « Art Biz Blog

Wed, 21 Aug 2013 10:33:58 +0000

[…] What are you trying to communicate? […]

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By: Reflection – Art Biz Blog – When The Thought Of Talking About Your Art Makes You Cringe » Beth McKinzie

Fri, 19 Jul 2013 15:18:22 +0000

[…] Art Biz Blog has a post called ”When The Thought Of Talking About Your Art Makes You Cringe“. This article mentions some of the common fears people have for doing an artist talk and why […]

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By: 4 Semi-Unrelated Business Lessons « Art Biz Blog

Wed, 17 Jul 2013 10:28:52 +0000

[…] it’s language for talking with people about your art or a cold-call pitch, practicing gives you the confidence to complete the task to your […]

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By: Pam Slaton

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:12:01 +0000

I was able to be at the gallery for Nate’s reception. I saw you, Nate, as confident, calm, and natural during your talk. What great stories! Thank you for sharing them.

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By: NATE METZ

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:40:52 +0000

I have an exhibit that is up now, and when the gallery committee asked me to conduct a brief talk about my creative process and my work I said yes without thinking. I heard it several times at a workshop with Alyson, read it in her book and also on this blog. The words came out of my mouth before I even realized what I had done!
I am fortunate enough to have 3 public speaking courses on my transcript of my undergraduate work. I hated it at the time and would get so nervous I would shake uncontrollably, break out into a sweat, and ummmmmmmmmm. I wouldn’t say I completely rid myself of umm or you know, but it did give me the ground work for this video of my recent gallery talk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUKCsHCVVqk
I welcome any and all feedback on the video, my photographs, or my creative process. Especially because this was my first solo exhibit I knew that I had to take advantage of the opportunity to speak up about who I am and what I’m about. Alyson is so right on this business tip! I feel more articulate about my work and it forced me to say exactly what it is that cause my finger to push the shutter button. I used to not even think about it; I just let it happen.
Something that helped me practice my talk was videotaping myself for a couple run throughs. I watched one back, but the other two I deleted because I found the process of looking into a camera lens with the little red indicator light really helped me focus my attention and helped me get the kinks out. Then, 5 minutes before the actual talk I stepped into a side room at the gallery, took some deep breaths, and coached myself to go out, have a few laughs, keep it casual, and remind myself that all those people are there for me and that’s something to be grateful for instead of nervous about!
I hope this was encouraging to any more doubters and draggers!

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By: Sari Grove

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:19:47 +0000

For anyone who is considering getting the recording, I just thought I’d write here-DO! It was terrific, superb, excellent, very good, & all that…Wonderful…Helpful…Thank you Gigi Rosenberg & Alyson B. Stanfield for this! *& yes, it is very useful for prepping for an artist interview too!

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By: Gigi Rosenberg

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 17:22:38 +0000

In reply to Sari Grove.

An interview is a little different than an artist talk but not by as much as you’d think! What’s the same is how important it is to think ahead of time about who your audience is and what you want them to come away with. With an interview you don’t want to rely on the interviewer to be a great interviewer. You want to help your interviewer by being a great interviewee, no matter what! So, preparation is key. Hope this helps! And looking forward to Tuesday!

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By: Gigi Rosenberg

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 17:18:43 +0000

In reply to Lori Buff.

Joining a Toastmasters group is a great idea or doing anything that requires public speaking. You could even decide that you’ll practice speaking first in a meeting or asking the first question at a Q&A session.

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