Hello.
This is a voice coach reacts to Lady Gaga.
Tony Bennett Part 2!
The interview with Anderson Cooper that came out only a few weeks ago.
Now, you may not think of Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett as being
prime public speaking examples because they're both singers.
But in these videos,
what I'm really looking at is the concept of performance persona and how this can
help you show up for your own public speaking performance situations.
I'm S.J Harrison, Voice and Performance Coach,
and I support people in unlocking their performance power.
Do check out my free guide below this video to empower your voice.
And now let's have a look at the climax
of the Anderson Cooper interview with Lady Gaga,
Rony Bennett
On opening night in early August, Radio City's 6000 seats were sold out.
Lady Gaga opened the show.
Backstage,
Susan did her best to remind Tony what was happening.
"We're going to watch Lady Gaga's set,
right? And then you're going to sing."
Here because of his situation,
he is unusually relaxed, I would say,
before going on stage. He's not particularly gearing himself up
and he hasn't yet turned on his performance persona.
Then the lights went out and the curtain went up.
Once he saw the audience.
And he raised his hands, I knew we were all right because he became himself.
He just turned on.
It was like a light switch.
Exactly.
We can all learn to turn it on.
This is the result of a lifetime of learning and practise.
Remember, performers are not born,
they are made.
Let someone.
Start believing in you.
Let him hold out his hand,
let him find you and watch what happens.
There may have been a few missteps, but the crowd didn't care.
It was Tony's night and the old crooner was in command.
This is a really important point,
even though we understand that Tony Bennett has Alzheimer's,
and that may be why he's making some mistakes,
all performers and public speakers make mistakes.
And this is true for everyone.
The audience doesn't care as long as the overall performance is solid and vibrant.
This is something for you to remember
when you get up and speak or perform in front of a group.
When it came time for Lady Gaga to join him for some final duets.
Listen to what Tony said as she appeared on stage.
Hey, Tony,
She's so totally delighted!
The skills that Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga in their very different
ways and times of life exhibit when it comes to how to show up for performance.
Well, I think that comparing these two people in this moment,
seeing how they're similar
and also seeing how they're different
is really profound and speaks a lot to how we can train ourselves
to achieve our goals.
And a lot of it has to do with
connecting to other people, connecting to the audience,
our energy going outwards towards what we're doing and who we're serving.
That's the first time that Tony said my name in a long time.
Really? In all the weeks leading up to it.
He hadn't said your name.
I had to keep it together because we had a sold out show and I have a job to do.
But I'll tell you, when I walked out on that stage and he
said, It's Lady Gaga, my friend saw me, and it was very special.
And at the end of the night,
Lady Gaga was there to walk Tony Bennett off the stage one last time.
It's the last thing that I said to Tony on stage was Mr.
Bennett would be my honour if I could escort you off the stage.
And he said, okay,
and I did.
And
just simply being the woman that got to walk him offstage.
That's enough for me.
You are so amazing.
The public loved it.
Yeah.
You were spectacular.
So I just wanted to point out again.
Lady Gaga, that...
The moment offstage where she is tearful.
And she says you were so amazing
is a lot like her voice
when we saw her receive the award for Shallow.
So as soon as she's not performing, she's out of that heightened moment.
The emotion overcomes her.
And you heard her talk about it.
She said, I had a job to do.
I was performing.
And I think that's something
to think about when it comes to being really challenged by speaking moments.
If we can prepare adequately.
Which we absolutely can, for the most part.
We really decide that we're going to practise all that we need to, to really
get the piece that we're doing, the speech that we're delivering,
the message in our bones and also in our hearts
so that our intention can take over, our desire to communicate.
When we're speaking, there's a message.
It's a desire to communicate. When we're performing.
When we're singing, there's a desire to impact our audience.
There's a desire to fulfill the mission.
And that is often what keeps us going and creating a confident persona...
A few days after that triumph,
we met Tony and Susan on their daily walk in Central Park.
How do you feel about the concert the other night?
I don't know what you mean. I saw you at Radio City.
You did a great job.
Thank you very much.
Tony had no memory of playing Radio City at all.
Is this a sad story?
Tony Bennett's last performance?
No, it's not a sad story.
It's emotional.
It's hard to watch somebody change.
I think what's been beautiful about this and what's been challenging is
to see how it affects him in some ways,
but to see how it doesn't affect his talent.
I think he really pushed through something to give the world
the gift of knowing that things can change and you can still be magnificent.
I really appreciate the way Lady Gaga here speaks to the role of artists
and the way in which artists can reflect back to the audience.
Ultimately, that's what an artist should be doing.
It's not about our own individual egos.
It really needs to be about how can I use my work and myself as
a vessel to reflect back to you, the audience?
-If I'm in the role of artist-
your own humanity that we all share.
This is the sacred role of the performer, even going back to the Greeks.
And she really speaks to this when she
says this is what Tony Bennett is showing us.
This is not a sad story.
It's an emotional story, but it lets us know that though some
things can change quite devastatingly by all appearances, other things do not.
And I think that speaks to our humanity
and the way in which we can still connect.
Despite a whole lot of limitations
that come up with sickness, ageing, dying, all of these really big things that
most of us will face. We're certainly all going to face one of those.
Thank you so much for watching today.
Do check out Part One, if you haven't seen
it already. Like and subscribe. And you can find your free guide
to empower your voice right below this video in the comments.
In the next few weeks.
We're going to be looking at Oprah, who is a true master of oratory.
As well as what it's like to receive an award in a second language.
The Mexican director Alejandro González Iñarritu for the film Birdman.
This video will be subtitled in both English and Spanish.
Here's to unlocking your performance power.