When I was 23 I was tasked with teaching 30 adults how to act- I felt completely out of my depth.
It was a weekly class; two hours each Thursday night. I was only a couple of years out of drama school but the thing that really got me was that the oldest of my ‘students’ was 45.
I felt completely unqualified to teach this class. Despite my three years of actor training, I didn’t think I had any wisdom to share with these people- I was hardly an expert! And besides that, I felt like a kid compared to the people I’d be teaching who had full on careers and families.
My mentor from drama school was the one that changed my whole perspective. He told me I didn’t need to be some zen master of acting to run this class. He said “You know a lot of acting exercises, right?”
I said “yeah”.
He said “And you know the learning embedded in the exercises, right?”
I said “Of course”
“Then that’s all you need. You don’t need to be the best at archery, you just need to bring a bow, some arrows and a target. Then you can all do target practice together”
This changed everything. I realised I didn’t need to be an expert. I just had to bring what I did know and we could all explore the learning together.
The weight lifted off my shoulders and I walked into that class with confidence. And the confidence didn’t come from knowing everything, it came from knowing enough and having a willingness to learn more.
That’s all we ever need. I take this same mentality into every environment where I teach or learn.
