Verbalisation of creative skills

This text provides some tips and tricks for summarising and communicating on your creative skills. Writing and talking about your artistic skills and passions to people in other fields is a skill you can practice.

Pitch your art brilliantly and summarise your skills

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you are suddenly asked to briefly introduce yourself to new people? Maybe you found introducing yourself and your creative skills in a clever and succinct way difficult.

I have written a book about the art of pitching and the skill of inspired summarising with Joonas Turunen, and I would like to help you see pitching as something you can practice.

The way you talk about yourself and the level of your enthusiasm and professionalism when you talk about your skills have an effect on whether people will remember you. Communication skills are very important in putting your skills and ideas into words.

It is important to know how to talk about your skills in a professional setting and to create visual presentations based on this. Artists in particular have a unique opportunity to create such an introduction centred around their own field.

‘When preparing a presentation or a pitch, keep in mind that the world is full of ideas. Whether you are an entrepreneur, a candidate for a job, or an employee pitching their project, there is almost always competition. That is why your presentation must be unique.”

                                                                                                                                   (Ervasti & Turunen 2020.)

Think about a situation we often encounter in working life. People often ask the following questions: 

‘What do you do for a living?’

‘What is your art like?’

‘What creative skills do you have?’

Answering these questions sometimes requires quick thinking and summarising as well as understanding how much of your field your listener understands. A colleague will surely understand what you do, but if you are speaking to a potential new partner who is unfamiliar with your field, you might need to simplify your answer.

The way you communicate about your competence to others can potentially bring new opportunities and open doors for you as an artist, an expert and a creative.

Here are some quick tips for communicating about your skills

1. SPEAK ABOUT YOUR ART IN EASILY UNDERSTOOD TERMS

The best way to start is to think about your special passion or a subject that you have focused on in your studies. These special skills are what make you interesting to others. By talking about them you can differentiate yourself and your special skills, which makes people remember you in a positive light.

It is said that learning an artistic skill requires at least 10,000 hours of practice. You probably have a skill that not many people have. Only people with a passion about art end up studying it. You are allowed to and in fact should talk about this. You have surely spent many work hours to learn the skill, and the skill has value in itself. Articulating that value to your listener makes them understand the skill and its extent and depth.

Use numbers and facts to support your message. Very few people graduate as masters of fine arts from Uniarts Helsinki.

In 2022, a total of 279 master’s degrees and 17 doctoral degrees were completed at Uniarts Helsinki.*

• FIND AT LEAST ONE EASY WAY TO COMMUNICATE ABOUT YOUR SKILLS

What you should say depends on your audience. Think about the best way to summarise your skills to this particular audience. What kind of language should you use?

You may hesitate, ramble and get discouraged if you are unable to put your creative skills to words at the level you would like to. So carefully prepare at least one sentence that will work in any situation.

Sometimes using the word ‘art’ can bring out emotions or vague assumptions in people. Figure out how you could align yourself with your audience if your aim is to foster new collaboration.

• MAKE A LIST OF YOUR SKILLS – YOU HAVE SPECIAL AND UNIQUE SKILLS THAT HAVE VALUE

In addition to highlighting one skill that differentiates you, you should also talk about your other skills if they give you more credibility in the eyes of your audience and you aim to convince them with your competence and deep expertise.

For example, a violin teacher has spent thousands of hours to learn how to play their instrument. In addition, they have developed the skills to consistently practice, repeat what they have learned, learn new skills and teach others.

Think about the skills you need for working in your dream profession. Social skills, pedagogic skills and self-direction skills are often required. Sometimes we need to acquire a skill we do not have but which would allow our creative skills to shine. Communicate how you are willing to develop or increase your skills.

If you can internalise these tips, you are off to a great start.

More tips for putting your creative skills into words are in the PPT presentation I have created. The presentation has summaries of some of the key aspects that I view as important for creative professionals. Learning the basics of pitching will add the skill of communicating on your creative skills to your professional toolbox.

If you are inspired to work on pitching your skills more extensively, here are some pointers for further reading (some only in Finnish):

Ervasti, Elsa & Turunen, Joonas 2020. Pitch! – innostavan tiivistämisen taito. Kustantamo S&S.

Groskop, Viv 2018. How to Own the Room: Women and the Art of Brilliant Speaking. Bantam Press.

Rubin, Rick 2023. The Creative Act: A Way of Being. Canongate Books.

Williams, Gilda 2014. How to Write About Contemporary Art. Thames & Hudson.

 *Source of data: https://www.uniarts.fi/yleistieto/vuosikatsaus-lahjoittajille-ja-kumppaneille-2022/