Performances are greatly influenced by the occasion. Just like we act differently around our best friends than we would our grandparents, our performances change when the occasions change. Two performances I can think of giving are when I spoke at a Students Against Drunk Driving convention and when I spoke to my senior class in high school right before graduation.
When I spoke at the Students Against Drunk Driving convention I was speaking to an audience of people I did not know. Some were students and some were parents. I knew some of the people in the audience but not all of them. Because of the seriousness of the occasion the speech was not light hearted, but instead very deep. I did know that everyone in the audience was there for the purpose of students against drunk driving, so that part of the occasion helped me tailor my speech to the severity of that problem and I was able to know that my audience was in agreement with what I was saying. This occasion was serious and I went in not knowing about the background of my audience, so it made for a speech that was more on the surface.
Right before graduation I was chosen to speak to my senior class. I went to a small all girls school so our class was pretty close. I had known these girls for 4 years and had memories or inside jokes with most of them. This occasion made for a very different speech. One that could incorporate humor and nostalgia. Unlike my first performance, this one did not have to be tailored so specifically to my audience. As long as it was about my graduating class, it could have been about anything.
Because of the extreme differences between the two occasions I had to change my performance. At the Students Against Drunk Drivers convention I had to be serious, while at the graduation speech I was able to use my humor to reminisce on the good times.
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