Groups of people who spend a lot of time together develop their own ways of speaking. They have inside jokes, acronyms, and jargon that distinguish their group from others. At its best, this special language helps connect the people in the group, and those bonds are important to establish safety and trust.
Unique words can even make groups more efficient. When everyone in the group knows a concept or principle, it’s valuable to be able to refer to it briefly without explanation.
In theater, we have a lot of words and phrases that carry meaning in our artform and to our process. Here are just a few: blocking, table read, in the room, cross, upstage/downstage, play an action, off-book, go up. This language is embedded in the fabric of theater in America, and wherever you go, the same language is spoken. It provides continuity and ease in a field whose working groups shift and reform over and over again.
But! (I bet you saw this coming.) Jargon and inside jokes can also exclude and confuse. If you’ve ever listened to two people really steeped in their field talk with each other, you know what I mean. What do those acronyms mean? Why was that funny? I thought I knew what that word meant, but they were clearly using it in a different way. Hmmm.
When you’re addressing someone who isn’t in your field or circle, consider the terms you’re using. If I’m coaching someone on a speech they’re giving, and we’re working on how to incorporate deliberate movement, I’m not going to refer to “upstage” and “downstage” because that’s not meaningful to them, and may be confusing. I might say “forward” and “backward,” instead.
And if you have a new team member, take time to include them in your language. Let them in on the jokes, explain the acronyms.
Welcoming someone means helping them feel that they are invited into the circle. Language matters.
