License to Kill (When Speaking)

Antagonist

My favourite movies always have a good villain. It’s well known that Hollywood loves an English actor for this role, whether it’s Benedict Cumberbatch in ‘Star Trek: Into Darkness’, Donald Pleasance as Blofeld, Peter Cushing in ‘Star Wars’, Alan Rrrickman in ‘Die Hard’, or Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter. They provide a sinister, intellectual character.

Protagonist

Characters make the best speakers. It’s more than just your accent; it’s your manner, the way you carry yourself, your vocabulary, your clothes. All these things create an impression of your character before you’ve even opened your mouth (see also my post ‘How to Meet Strangers‘). OK, appearing to be a Bond villain might not be such a good idea, but try it. Well, not a villain perhaps, but a Bond character.

Here’s your mission: choose a character from ‘Skyfall’ that you identify with: M (Judi Dench), Q (Ben Whishaw), Mallory (Ralph Fiennes) or Kincade (Albert Finney)… there are plenty more and obviously you’re not limited to that movie. You could even choose Sévérine (Bérénice Marlohe) or JB himself if you’re feeling confident.

And here’s the thing: assuming the role of a cool character can actually feed the confidence of that character back to you. It works – and it does actually work – because visualising yourself as confident creates a positive connection in your subconscious. This kind of cerebral re-programming can be incredibly effective.

Clothestagonist

Once you’ve chosen your character, try dressing a little like them, thinking like them, and almost becoming them (just a little, it’s all about subtelty). See if you can change your posture when you stand, sit and walk (which can actually affect you chemically – watch this TED talk by Amy Cuddy). Have fun with it; you may realise positive attributes that you were previously unaware of.

Good luck out there in the field… and please return the equipment in one piece.