{"id":570,"date":"2016-04-06T15:55:10","date_gmt":"2016-04-06T19:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.scranton.edu\/englishandtheatre\/?p=570"},"modified":"2016-04-06T15:55:10","modified_gmt":"2016-04-06T19:55:10","slug":"brian-sibleys-thoughts-on-business-and-politics-the-arts-the-practice-of-marketingprcommunications-and-other-change-related-topics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.scranton.edu\/englishandtheatre\/2016\/04\/06\/brian-sibleys-thoughts-on-business-and-politics-the-arts-the-practice-of-marketingprcommunications-and-other-change-related-topics\/","title":{"rendered":"Brian Sibley’s thoughts on business and politics, the arts, the practice of marketing\/PR\/communications, and other change-related topics"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"Theatre\"<\/a>9 Ways a Theatre Degree Trumps a Business Degree<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some of you may know this about me, some may not. Despite having spent the last 15 years as a PR & communications professional, my college degree is in theatre. I have never in my life taken a marketing class, or a journalism class, or a business class. Yet, by most measures, I\u2019m enjoying a successful career in business. \u00a0\u201cSo what?\u201d you ask\u2026 read on.<\/p>\n

I was having a conversation with my friend Sara<\/a> this week. She\u2019s an actress. Like most actresses, she also has a Day Job that she works to pay the bills between acting jobs. This is the reality for most working actors in LA, New York and the other major centers of the entertainment industry. She was pointing out to me that she viewed her theatre background as a weakness in her Day Job career field, and that it was holding her back. She asked for my advice.<\/p>\n

My advice? There IS no weakness in having a theatre background. There is only strength.<\/strong> Here are just a few skills that a theatre degree gave me that have served me enormously well in business:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. You have advanced critical thinking and problem solving skills:<\/strong> taking a script and translating it into a finished production is a colossal exercise in critical thinking. You have to make tremendous inferences and intellectual leaps, and you have to have a keen eye for subtle clues. (believe it or not, this is a skill that very few people have as finely honed as the theatre people I know. That\u2019s why I listed it #1).<\/li>\n
  2. You\u2019re calm in a crisis:<\/strong> You\u2019ve been on stage when somebody dropped a line and you had to improvise to keep the show moving with a smile on your face, in front of everyone. Your mic died in the middle of a big solo musical number. You just sang louder and didn\u2019t skip a beat.<\/li>\n
  3. You understand deadlines and respect them:<\/strong> Opening Night is non-negotiable. Enough said.<\/li>\n
  4. You have an eye on audience perception:<\/strong> You know what will sell tickets and what will not. This is a very transferrable skill, and lots of theatre people underestimate this, because they think of theatre as an ART, and not as a BUSINESS. I frequently say (even to MBA-types) that theatre was absolutely the best business education I could have gotten. While the business majors were buried in their books and discussing theory, we were actually SELLING a PRODUCT to the PUBLIC. Most business majors can get through undergrad (and some MBA programs, even) without ever selling anything. Theater departments are frequently the only academic departments on campus who actually sell anything to the public. Interesting, isn\u2019t it?<\/li>\n
  5. You\u2019re courageous:<\/strong> If you can sing \u201cOklahoma<\/a>!\u201d in front of 1,200 people, you can do anything.<\/li>\n
  6. You\u2019re resourceful:<\/strong> You\u2019ve probably produced \u201cThe Fantasticks\u201d in a small town on a $900 budget. You know how to get a lot of value from minimal resources.<\/li>\n
  7. You\u2019re a team player:<\/strong> You know that there are truly no small roles, only small actors. The show would fail without everyone giving their best, and even a brilliant performance by a star can be undermined by a poor supporting cast. We work together in theatre and (mostly) leave our egos at the stage door. We truly collaborate.<\/li>\n
  8. You\u2019re versatile:<\/strong> You can probably sing, act, dance. But you can also run a sewing machine. And a table saw. And you\u2019ve probably rewired a lighting fixture. You\u2019ve done a sound check. You\u2019re good with a paintbrush. You\u2019re not afraid to get your hands dirty for the benefit of the show. In short, you know how to acquire new skills quickly.<\/li>\n
  9. You\u2019re flexible:<\/strong> you\u2019ve worked with some directors who inspired you. Others left you flat, but you did the work anyway. Same goes with your fellow actors, designers and stagehands\u2026 some were amazing and supportive, others were horrible and demoralizing to work with (we won\u2019t name names). You have worked with them all. And learned a little something from every one of them.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    These are the top reasons I\u2019ve found my theatre degree to be a great background for a business career. What are yours?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 9 Ways a Theatre Degree Trumps a Business Degree Some of you may know this about me, some may not. Despite having spent the last 15 years as a PR & communications professional, my college degree is in theatre. I have never in my life taken a marketing class, or a journalism class, orContinue reading “Brian Sibley’s thoughts on business and politics, the arts, the practice of marketing\/PR\/communications, and other change-related topics”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":257,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,8,48,6,45,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academics","category-acting","category-michael-osteen","category-opportunities","category-rich-larsen","category-theatre"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":600,"url":"https:\/\/sites.scranton.edu\/englishandtheatre\/2016\/05\/03\/new-directors-workshop\/","url_meta":{"origin":570,"position":0},"title":"New Directors’ Workshop","author":"Mrs. Melissa Eckenrode","date":"May 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The New Directors' Workshop will perform in the McDade Building, Studio Theatre, on May 12-14.\u00a0 There will be eight 10-minute plays directed by students from Prof. O'Steen's THTR 311\/Directing I Class starting at 8:00pm.\u00a0 Admission is free and\u00a0seating\u00a0is limited.\u00a0 All are welcome!","rel":"","context":"In "Acting\/Performance"","block_context":{"text":"Acting\/Performance","link":"https:\/\/sites.scranton.edu\/englishandtheatre\/category\/studentsuccessstories\/acting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":386,"url":"https:\/\/sites.scranton.edu\/englishandtheatre\/2015\/10\/05\/theatre-alum-crystal-hernandez-writes-with-news-of-her-success-in-finance\/","url_meta":{"origin":570,"position":1},"title":"Theatre Alum Crystal Hernandez Writes with News of Her Success in Finance","author":"Dr. Joseph E. 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The Laramie Project was originally written by\u00a0Mois\u00e9s Kaufman & The Members of the Tectonic Theatre Project and directed by Bob E. Gasper. \"In 1998, 21 year old college student Matthew\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Acting\/Performance"","block_context":{"text":"Acting\/Performance","link":"https:\/\/sites.scranton.edu\/englishandtheatre\/category\/studentsuccessstories\/acting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.scranton.edu\/englishandtheatre\/files\/2018\/09\/bVmDyXXR_400x400.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1143,"url":"https:\/\/sites.scranton.edu\/englishandtheatre\/2019\/05\/03\/dean-brain-conniff-joining-english-and-theatre-department\/","url_meta":{"origin":570,"position":4},"title":"Dean Brain Conniff Joining English and Theatre Department","author":"Anastasia McClendon","date":"May 3, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Brian Conniff, Ph.D., served the University for nine years as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, will be stepping down from his position and following a year sabbatical, Conniff will be joining the faculty of the English and theatre department. 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