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Presenting Yourself

You will come across many situations where you have to present yourself and your work: job interviews, studio visits, curator visits, public art presentations, lectures, workshops, grant interviews, symposiums, teaching demonstrations for interviews, collectors, gallery talks, museum walkthroughs, reviewers/writers, presentations to funders, producers and more. The following are considerations you should address before you present yourself. Preparing ahead of time can make a significant difference in how other people perceive you and your work.

Consider:

• Who are you meeting with and what is the context? Are you meeting at a gallery or organization, at a coffee house or at your studio? Do you have to drag your materials with you, and how will you present them?

• What are you seeking and why are you seeking it from them? Be clear about your intentions. Are you asking for general support or something very specific? Has the purpose of the meeting been established, or will you have to articulate it?

• What is the relationship that you have or want to have with the person you are meeting or presenting to? Are you asking for a short or long-term relationship?

• What is the amount of time you have to present? Do not try to fit an hour-long presentation into a half hour. You should leave time for discussion in any situation.

• How you are presenting the materials? Is the equipment on-site, or do you have to provide your own? Do you need to be there early to make sure everything is working and that your slides are right side up?

• How will you present yourself? How will you be perceived? How will you connect with them? How can you ensure that the passion and enthusiasm you have for the project is best conveyed?

• How can you ensure that the information is clear? Do not use art jargon or fancy words if you can help it. Do not be condescending—simply engage.

• Consider how to be persuasive without being overbearing.

• Think about how you will present yourself as well as your work. How does your background and history relate to what you are presenting?

• How much background is needed to understand the project?

• You will need to convey what you are asking for and why. Consider how you will present your request. Be sure that you ask specifically for what you need, and make sure you understand what the results will be.

• Do not assume that the person understands what your request. Be sure to get feedback on the project in order to clarify your intent.

• Consider what the person you are presenting to wants on their end. Make sure you understand their priorities and interests.

• Make sure that you make eye contact. Many artists tend to look at the slides or monitor and their own work when talking to an audience. This can render you inaudible.

• Engage your audience, including those people in the back of the room. Try not to look at the ceiling when talking. There is an old adage that says, “Just think of everyone in the room being naked.” If this doesn’t work for you, or just makes you feel all icky, try just publicly acknowledging that you are nervous, because the audience can usually tell anyway. People are usually more sympathetic to presenters who say outright that they are a little nervous. You will feel better and it will humanize you to your audience.

• Consider your wardrobe for your presentation or meeting. Dress appropriately and comfortably.

Real Life Story

An emerging artist in Los Angeles applied for a public art project for the first time. She was accepted as a finalist—one of three—that was required to present her project to a panel. Having never done this before, she was nervous about her presentation. She decided to schedule three nights in her studio to invite her friends and peers, and people who had done public art and presentations before. She invited them to her studio, and did a dry run through of the presentation. Afterwards, she had a discussion about what worked and what did not work. She got great feedback, and later she did her final presentation to the public art panel. She got the commission.

She said that she never would have gotten the commission if she had not practiced before an audience. Do not underestimate practicing your presentation, especially if you are nervous.

Introducing Yourself to Others

Artists are often at a loss to understand when to introduce themselves to curators, dealers and other art world people. The answer is yes if you have a reason, no if you do not. Introducing yourself with “Hi, I am an artist” is not a good reason. However, if you are introduced by someone else, or have been before, be sure to have your elevator speech ready. If there is a common interest then introduce yourself with confidence.

If you have a mutual acquaintance or you have useful information then start with that. You want them to feel comfortable. If you are thinking of yourself and not them, forget about it. If you need to, find a way to get introduced by someone they know, but only with cause. Be sure that the person who introduces you is respected because you will be professionally connected to them.

A serious and thoughtful artist will always leave a better impression than one who is inappropriate or pushy. Take your time, as you have the rest of your life to make a good impression. Avoid trying to sell too much too fast.

Elevator Speech

The idea of an elevator speech comes from the business world, and is a metaphor for how much time you might have in an elevator traveling from the top floor to the bottom floor and the time you might have to introduce yourself or talk about your work. This is an exercise designed to get you comfortable with talking about your work during these short meetings.

Here’s how it goes:

You have been at a party on the 10th floor and it is getting late. It is a party with lots of other artists, curators and arts patrons. As you leave the party and walk to the elevator, you notice that there is a curator you met briefly at the party in the elevator. You really didn’t get a chance to talk with this curator, so you jump in the elevator. The elevator doors close....

You have 10 floors in which to engage in a conversation.

Since you have met the curator before, you can ask about his or her work, or what they are working on. They might ask you about your work. This could take place anywhere, not just in an elevator. The idea is to be able to say something engaging and interesting about your work in a clear, short and concise way. Once a person shows interest, you then can continue the conversation with more details.

One format for talking about your work is to answer the question, “So, what kind of work do you make?” with a casual description similar to what you already have written in your artist statement. Now this doesn’t mean that you should come off as if you are reciting your artist statement word-for-word; that would just sound robotic. Instead, think of how you can relay this information in a social way. Say “I make X kind of work using X kind of materials.” Be animated and descriptive. Give the curator time to respond to your description.

Then, you might want to talk about the project or works you are working on right now. This does two things. First, it lets the curator know that you are actually a working artist, that you spend time making art. Secondly, it invites the curator to engage in a discussion with you about your immediate interests. This can be invaluable, as the curator might have fresh ideas, resources, or texts that might help your project. Finally, if the curator is interested in your project they might ask to come to your studio for a visit.

A good way to end a conversation of this sort is to share business cards or an announcement for a show you are in. Always try to leave a trail so that the person you are talking with has some way to find you again. If you don’t have something to exchange, you might have lost an amazing opportunity for yourself. You might choose to ask if the curator does studio visits, and that you would be interested in showing them your work (if they seem interested).

It is very important that you practice this exercise a few times before it actually happens in real life. The more you practice talking about your work in a short, casual and relaxed manner, the easier it will be to discuss your work with strangers. This kind of interaction will occur countless times in the course of your art career, so getting used to it is something you simply have to do.