Gina Barnett - Play the Part: Master Body Signals to Connect and Communicate for Business Success

Gina is a maestro of public speaking! She coached me for my TED talk, and I am forever grateful to her for giving me the technical and emotional training I needed to take the stage.

Susan Cain, bestselling author of Quiet

In my field of design and innovation, its the human connections that build momentum for great ideas. Gina Barnett teaches us how to bring our full selves into every conversation, from connecting with our friends and colleagues to telling ones most personal story at TED.

David Kelly, founder and chair of IDEO and the Donald W. Whittier Professor in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University

Gina is an incredible coach wholl increase your impact when presenting in an executive settingor any professional interaction. But she cant be everywhere, so this book is the next best thing! A must-read.

Greg Behar, CEO of Nestl Health Science

Play the Part is an essential guide for anyone who is interested in elevating their communication style to achieve maximum effectiveness. It teaches how crucial every part of your body is to your communication effectiveness, and all the ways that your intended message can unconsciously be hampered. Play the Part armed me with career-propelling tools that helped me become more self-aware and, more important, bodily aware. I now feel that I am not only heard but seen as authentically and powerfully as I hope to be.

Lucinda Martinez, SVP of Multicultural Marketing at HBO

Gina is the best in the business when it comes to training leaders in omnipresent communication, and Im a master of my newly discovered messaging channel, my body, because of her. Play the Part is a jewel for those of us who dare call ourselves great communicators.

James Andrews, founder of True Story Agency

Bringing her considerable warmth, sense of humor, and passion to the task, Gina teaches us how to unlock our innate ability to connect with other people. Play the Part is a must-read not just for business but for all communication success.

Alexander Saint-Amand, CEO of GLG (Gerson Lehrman Group)

Gina has a supreme knack for distilling the key essence and getting to the heart of the matter!

Kareem Yusuf, SVP of Development of Smarter Commerce at IBM

Gina Barnett is a master teacher of the art of connection. Every page of this book offers valuable lessons gleaned from her rich experience with every kind of senior leader. There are lessons here for us all.

Richard Socarides, former White House senior advisor to President Bill Clinton

Gina taught me how to connect to the power of my truth and convey it through storytelling. When I step onstage to share my message, the intimacy and courage I feel is all because of Ginaher generosity, her knowledge. Play the Part is an invaluable gift for anyone with a message to convey.

Geena Rocero, LGBT activist and model

Copyright 2015 by Gina Barnett. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a data base or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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To my family: Mark Gordon, my husband, best friend,
champion, and soul mate; and our son, Max Gordon,
light of my life, delight of my heart.

To my parents, Norman and Flory Barnett,
for their unflagging love and support, and to my brother,
Larry, my first playmate who taught me not to fear
but to relish a great thunderstorm.

I have a problem with the myth of rugged individualism promoted in American lore. The truth is, each one of us becomes who we are as a result of the generosity of time, knowledge, love, and care given by those who came before. Not one of us learned to walk, talk, read, or think without such devotion. That said, and in the spirit of deepest gratitude, I owe all I know first to my family and then to the amazing theater artists and teachers who were my direct or indirect teachers: My thanks go to Gloria Landes, who ran a theater school for kids, where I spent nearly every Saturday of my life from the age of nine until I left for college. I thank Paul Mann, Curt Dempster, Ted Kazanoff, Charles Marowitz, John Braswell, Byrne Piven, Gates McFadden, Janet Zand (formerly Rifkin). Each was a master teacher. I was so fortunate to have had the opportunity to be trained by such dedicated and gifted artists. While I never knew her personally, I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the great Viola Spolin, who created Games for the Theater, and Jersey Grotowski. Both invented exercises and theatrical practices that my teachers passed on to me and that I then improvised upon when I became a teacher. Many of the exercises included here are my variations on their inspiring ideas. Ill always be thankful to my amazing acting students who let me play, experiment, and create.