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Her style looks absurdly simple- an effortless act of projection, a serpentine lasso whereby her voice casually winds itself around our most vulnerable fantasies. But it is not easy. It is what remains when ingratiation, sentimentality and the manifold devices of heart-warming crap have been ruthlessly pared away. Steel and silk are left, shining and durable. (p. 215)

Kenneth Tynan#21

PerformanceCraftSimplicityStyle

About this quote

What does it mean?
Her style seems simple but is actually durable steel and silk after removing sentimental excess.
In plain terms
She looks easy but uses strong, simple style after cutting out fluff.
What can you take from it?
True simplicity requires rigorous editing.

Where it applies

  • performance
  • public speaking
  • writing

Putting it to work

  • refining voice
  • editing work

Questions to consider

  • What makes style simple?
  • Is emotion ever needed?

Another view

Some audiences may prefer more ornate or emotional delivery.

More from Kenneth Tynan

  1. Every speech, for Olivier, is like a mass of marble at which the sculptor chips away until its essential form and meaning are revealed. No matter how ignoble t…

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  2. She shows herself to the audience like the Host to the congregation. (p. 217)

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  3. His puritan, muscular, moor-tramping soul (superbly mirrored in Higgins's hymn to the intellect in Pygmalion) bred in him a loathing of all things, whether poe…

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