Video summary

Imagine Your Audience Naked | Juan Miguel Severo | TEDxDiliman

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Art and Creativity

Summary

Juan Miguel Severo, a spoken word poet (formerly a frustrated actor), explains how he found his way into the local spoken word scene after repeated audition rejections. He centers his story on the advice to “imagine your audience naked” to reduce stage anxiety—first dismissing it as an “OP joke,” then trying it during his first open-mic opportunity.

As a latecomer who had to sit and listen before performing, he used the phrase to push past nervousness and to reframe the performers he was watching. Their stories included rejection, family pain, child abuse, and surviving rape. That shift helped him approach his own turn with more courage.

He ultimately clarifies that the point isn’t to feel superior, but to recognize that everyone carries hidden wounds and scars—making bravery and honesty more possible onstage.

He concludes by delivering two highly personal spoken-word pieces:

  1. A piece rooted in belief in Filipino folklore and creatures (including ghosts, aswang, and nuno), voiced in a personal, half-superstitious tone.
  2. A romantic and introspective piece about belief in “you,” karma, and the longing to have one’s “heart” returned, ending with audience applause.

Artistic techniques / creative concepts / creative process shown

  • Performers’ visualization as a performance technique

    • Using the recurring mental image (“imagine your audience naked”) to reduce shame and nervousness.
    • Retooling the idea from “awkward superiority” into empathy and vulnerability.

  • Story-based spoken word development

    • Creating material specifically for oneself, rather than relying on existing scripts or monologues.
    • Turning personal experiences and beliefs into stage pieces.

  • Audience empathy reframing

    • Observing other performers’ confessional stories and internalizing that everyone has wounds.
    • Performing as a form of emotional risk-taking: metaphorically “stripping” (being honest and exposed).

  • Use of culturally grounded folklore imagery

    • Incorporating Filipino ghost and creature beliefs and local mythic language as dramatic texture.

  • Character voice + internal monologue

    • Shifting between narrative, superstition-as-thought, and romantic declaration styles within spoken-word performance.

  • Repetition and refrain

    • Repeating phrases like “I believe…” and “imagine your audience naked” to build rhythm, emphasis, and emotional escalation.

Steps / actionable advice included (as presented)

  • To get over stage nerves (reframed by the speaker):

    • Imagine the audience as “naked” to remove shame and hierarchy.
    • Shift the purpose from superiority to acceptance of shared human pain.
    • Try the technique even if you doubt it—use it during a real performance opportunity.

  • To find performance opportunities (story-based, not formal instruction):

    • Write and audition with a self-created piece (instead of bringing an existing monologue).
    • Follow leads to an open mic for spoken word (third Saturday at a café venue across from CCP, as described).

Creators / contributors featured

  • Juan Miguel Severo — speaker; spoken word poet; former actor

Original video