Weekly Voice Insights #97 -What Do I Draw Upon When I'm Taken Off Script?

Learning the Material, Not the Sequence

"Train your mind to adapt to any circumstance. In this way, if circumstances take you off script, you won't be desperate for a new prompting."

— Based on Discourses 2.2

Greek Vocabulary

• προαίρεσις (prohairesis): deliberate choice, trained will
• διάνοια (dianoia): reasoning, practical judgment
• προσαρμόζω (prosarmozo): to adapt, adjust
• λόγος (logos): reasoned speech, articulated thought
• ἡγεμονικόν (hēgemonikon): the governing faculty

At the end of June, I will be presenting a recital celebrating the 200th anniversary of Stephen Foster's birth. Unlike most recitals I have given, the audience will help determine much of the program. Rather than following a fixed sequence from beginning to end, audience members will select many of the songs they wish to hear.

Some days I review a song expecting it to be chosen. Other days I work through pieces that may never be requested at all. I spend time with the texts, melodies, and historical context because I do not know which selection an audience member will call for. The discipline involves preparing for the possibility that almost anything could come next.

As I worked each day in this way,  I began to see connections to teaching, presentations, and communication more broadly. A lesson plan is valuable because it helps organize ideas and provides a direction for the session, yet some of the most productive moments occur when a student asks a question I was not expecting. At that point, the lesson plan has done its job. It has provided enough preparation that the conversation can move where it needs to go.

The Greek term προσαρμόζω (prosarmozo) means "to adapt" or "to adjust." Adaptation sounds simple when discussed in theory. It becomes more challenging when circumstances move in an unexpected direction and there is no script available to tell us what to do next.

The phrase "desperate for a new prompting" caught my attention because it describes a feeling I recognize in myself. It can appear as impatience, frustration, uncertainty, or the desire for someone else to provide the next instruction. When I stop and examine that feeling more closely, I often discover that what I really want is certainty. I want to know what comes next so that I can proceed with confidence.

The recital provides a useful example. I do not know which song an audience member will request. What I can do is become familiar enough with the material that I am able to respond when the request arrives. In that sense, the audience is not disrupting the plan. The audience is part of the plan.

The same thing happens outside the recital hall. Knowing the material is different from knowing exactly what will happen next, because conversations, schedules, technology, and other people rarely move in the precise order I expect. When something changes, the question becomes what I can draw upon in that moment.

One of the Greek terms that stands out to me is προαίρεσις (prohairesis), deliberate choice or trained will. Another is ἡγεμονικόν (hēgemonikon), the governing faculty that evaluates impressions and directs action. Together, these ideas point toward a practical skill: the ability to pause long enough to understand what is happening before deciding what to do about it.

Many years ago, during my final exit interview at the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Ardis Krainik told me that I had the volontà. I have often wondered what she meant. The older I become, the less I think she was speaking about talent. Talent and technique certainly matter, but they do not fully explain why some people continue moving forward when circumstances change unexpectedly. Perhaps she was describing a willingness to continue choosing and adjusting without requiring perfect conditions before taking action.

Every day I review texts, melodies, historical context, and program notes. Many of the songs have multiple verses, so the work is not only remembering words. I have to know how one verse leads into the next, what the language is asking for, and how intention, breath, and pacing carry the song forward. That kind of preparation does not tell me what will happen next, but it gives me something steady to rely on when the next selection is called.

Perhaps that is why the phrase "desperate for a new prompting" connects for me. There are certainly moments when I would prefer clearer instructions, a more predictable outcome, or a better sense of what comes next. Yet the purpose of preparation is not to eliminate uncertainty. The purpose is to develop enough familiarity, understanding, and flexibility that uncertainty does not bring everything to a halt.

Check-In

• What do I draw upon when I am taken off script?
• Where do I rely on memorizing rather than understanding?
• How do I know when a familiar response is an active choice rather than a convenient habit?

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