During the session we shared:
a) Wheel of Life – tool to assess the balance in your life, and where we might put our attention to ensure improvement in areas which we determine are important to us.
b) GROW – a model to look at goals, reality check, options [what if I had all the time I needed, or all the money I needed what might I do to achieve this goal, or what might my 9 year old self suggest I did in this situation, or my spirit guide, or my aunty flo] – and finally the W is what will I do to move one step closer to the goal.
c) Constellations – the personal development and family relations tool which can also be used to make theatre, but which involves the physical manifestation of relatives in real space connection with each other, a sort of constellation of people, and how they might be moved in us [sorry very bad description of a deeply powerful tool]
d) Presence by Patsy Rodenburg and her Three Circles of Energy.
e) Games for Lone Actors by Viola Spolin
f) People Styles at Work by Bolton and Bolton which looks at four types of behavioue (Drivers, Analytics, Expressives and Amiables) and invites us to assess how we might shift our style to talk to another type in the way which appeals to them (a gushy actor talking to a driver agent might turn the agent off – who wants facts and resume).
g) What Am I worth – exploring that for you as an artist and your work.
h) Who do I want on the Front Row (and how might you assess the audience type and where you might find them) for your show [Much more about this and other stuff in Your Life in Theatre by me (Chris Grady)…plug]
i) Try an mindmap with you in the centre and then lay out all the influences, people, places and things, in your life which touch on your writing or your work in creative practice – and then observe this array of words and images and see what it tells you.
j) Push-me-pull-me – what is pulling me towards doing something, and what is pushing me away from not doing it [maybe paying the mortgage is a push for you to do something, whilst the vision of a full house is pulling you towards doing it]
k) Bryony Kimmings writes a letter to herself describing the ideal creative day she will have in the next year, and then puts it away for a year, reflecting when she reads it again what has happened .
l) Plotting a show – lots of content, not enough structure. Maybe try to write the content onto post-its or draw the beats/ingredients you have, then pin them all over a wall, and then try and find many shapes and paths through it. Or go back to your original vision and see which ingredients serve.
m) Name the voices in your head – ahh that’s negative Fred talking about my work now, I recognize that voice – how might his voice be useful, and when should you not listen.
n) If you are creating a piece of work solo, then maybe share the rehearsa room with another solo artists so you can have tea together or show bits.
o) Or look at programmes like Authentic Artist programme to bring you together with other solo artists.
p) Or invent four other voices in the room (a fictional director, or stage manager, or best friend etc) and step into their shoes – talk as them about a moment in the sho. Record this monologue as if your voice was another person, Then move to the next set of shoes. Do it for all four. Then get back in your own shoes and listen to the four responses…take useful feedback from your 4 alter egos.

I’ve probably missed some gems of ideas and practice which was shared. Please add more. I am delighted to hear from any creative needing a pay-what-you-can CGO Surgery (dates on my website) or to have more formal Coaching series of sessions (see pages on my website).

Or why not do the 2 day weekend course by Coaching Academy in London which is free and gives you shed loads of tools to work with. They do it to market the availability of Diploma courses, but the actual taster weekend is free and rich in stuff.

Cheers
Chris
[email protected]
surgeries and coaching in London, Edinburgh and skype