Student Blog: How to Let Your Performance Skills Shine in Non-Performance Roles

Sixteen years of pre-professional ballet training didn't only teach me how to survive a coda after a lengthy pas de deux. It instilled a skill set that has proven invaluable in my communications career. While I initially felt behind peers who explored relevant skills in high school, I quickly learned that much of what I learned as a dancer translated directly to my courses and, ultimately, my career. Now, I’m sharing tips for how you can translate your rehearsal room expertise into success beyond the stage.

Presenting yourself with confidence

No one is better at public speaking and presentations than ex-performers. After all, you’ve spent years mastering how to grace the stage and command audience attention. Memorizing lines flexes the same muscles as learning a speech, and your diction is bound to be flawless. Acting choices have prepared you to understand how body language and subtle shifts in intonation can change how the audience perceives what you’re saying. Whether you’re pitching a new initiative to stakeholders, presenting data to your team, or educating on a niche topic, you can make any environment your new stage. 

Discipline, precision and resilience

By this point, you know that when your director says “one more time” in rehearsal, it probably actually means a couple more times. The mental stamina you’ve developed here is needed in both the corporate and nonprofit worlds. Projects get delayed, new tasks get put on your plate at the last minute, a supervisor will ask you to make edits on the same file for the fifteenth time this week, and you’ll have at least one leader who lacks vision or clarity. Even your dream job will have tough days, but you’ve already proven you know how to keep going despite obstacles (and how you can take your feedback to improve for the future). 

Collaboration with diverse teams

As a performing artist, you’re working with large casts and creative teams who have all come from different backgrounds and who possess different expertise. This range of perspectives exists in every workplace and career path, but you already have experience exchanging ideas, taking feedback, and understanding other viewpoints in a professional setting. Office politics are complicated for most people to acclimate to, but you now have an instinct for navigating strong personalities and tense team dynamics.  

Creativity in all industries

You probably assume that creativity is the most natural bridge between the performance world and non-performance careers, but it’s a skill applicable beyond art and design roles. Even in business and STEM careers, it is essential to solve complex problems and develop innovative solutions. Especially in such a challenging job market, you can use your out-of-the-box mindset to develop a unique personal brand. 

Applying to your career

By now, you’re hopefully feeling more confident in translating your skill set to a new career path or applying your knowledge to a side gig while you’re still performing. But how can you communicate that you have these strengths? Your application materials, including your resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn, can frame your previous experience through the lens of the transferable skills that are most applicable to the work you wish to pursue. Then, in interviews and networking, you can verbalize your passion and expertise! No matter what route you choose, remember that you’re a skilled professional with a unique background and critical skills, and that your skills are necessary and broadly applicable