JLA Festival of Speech: In Conversation with Richard Ayoade
For the fourth and final session of JLA’s inaugural Festival of Speech, we were thrilled to welcome comedian, actor, writer and director Richard Ayoade to the stage.
As a multi-disciplinary creator, whose work has placed him both in front of the camera and behind it, Richard shared his reflections on creativity, collaboration, and audience engagement in the context of his varied career.
We’ve broken down the three most important lessons his session left our audience with, and explored the impact of JLA’s first ever FoS as a whole.
1. Creativity Begins with Permission
Where does creativity come from? Is it an attribute some people are simply born with, or one that anyone can work towards?
When asked this question, Richard was quick to dismantle the myth of the ‘creative type’. For him, creativity isn’t about harbouring a rare form of genius, or being hounded by flashes of inspiration. Instead, it is something much quieter, and much simpler: committing to putting in the work.
As he explained, “I think it’s simply not telling yourself you can’t do it…a lot of it’s just deciding that you’ll do it.”
Ironically, it may be easier clinging to an ephemeral, romantic notion of ‘creativity’ in the abstract, than to sit down and actually create. In this way, becoming ‘a creative’ involves deciding to be one, and then committing to following through.
2. Separation of Art and Self
Richard went on to highlight an important part of the creative process: the essential transformation of an idea into a product, involving an important externalisation of the internal.
When asked if he’s harsh on himself when judging his own writing, he said: “I think that it’s not you that you’re being hard on…at a certain stage, [the writing] isn’t you”.
From this standpoint, assessing a creative product becomes less a judgement of ourselves and our ‘abilities’ – a trap so many of us surrender to. Instead, it becomes an evaluation of something separate, existing of its own accord – a “thing”, as he deemed it, that is distinct.
Self-evaluation can be just as sore in a professional context as in a creative one – seemingly demanding a strict analysis of why we do what we do. However, using Richard’s perspective, this process becomes much easier to approach objectively and impartially, allowing critical space to exist between oneself and one’s work.
3. Performing for One Honest Listener
Exploring how creators must adapt to fragmented media and hybrid forms of viewership, maximising audience engagement across all verticals, Richard offered a powerful definition of “audience” that resonates across the board.
When performing, he shared that he imagines his audiences not as a crowd of individuals, but as a single person – specifically, his ‘favourite person’: intelligent, and compassionate, but capable of recognising a lack of effort or authenticity.
In this light, the audience becomes less an amorphous, unfamiliar mass, where judgement inevitably festers, but instead a form of benevolent coach – sympathetic to slip-ups, but also keen on accountability. Someone that, above all, is cheering you on.
Through Richard’s eyes, the ‘audience’ is an embodiment of both artistic and personal integrity. Whilst regarding an audience involves the physical act of looking outwards, this approach allows the gaze to turn inwards – to reflect on the quality of both your work, and your attitude towards it. Regardless of how that audience manifests – whether you’re speaking to a camera or looking each person in the eye – it can be used as a powerful tool towards creative and professional development.
Takeaways from The Festival
Tying up JLA’s Festival of Speech on an important note – the significance of the connection between a speaker and their audience – we were reminded of what Louise Minchin critically praised at the very start of the event in her introduction: the power of interpersonal connection.
In a world where so much of our communication is filtered through technology, JLA’s event provided a space to share ideas, laughter and genuine human presence. Audiences want to hear people speak from the heart, to share a space and a moment together – as Louise put it, ‘people want to hear from real people’.
Across the day, our guests heard from six remarkable speakers, each sharing their distinct perspectives on their respective fields – from politics to business, technology to creativity, and everything in between.
We want to offer an enormous thank you, not only to our world-class line-up, but also to everyone that attended the event, and made the very first Festival of Speech one to remember.
If you missed the event, you can watch additional highlights on our dedicated Festival of Speech page or read the write-ups from the other three sessions with James Cleverly and Nicola Sturgeon, Jamie Laing and Rahaf Harfoush.
To enquire about booking Richard to speak at your own event, please contact us today.
