The Encyclopedia of Interactive Performance

Spects play better when they’re deeply invested. Whether their commitment is mild or strong, you can get them more deeply committed by pushing back.

To do a pushback, resist something that the spect believes or wants to accomplish. Your resistance should be a little stronger than the spect’s commitment. Too much resistance can cause spects to back down, which is the opposite of the desired outcome. When spects reaffirm their belief, it’s good practice to lock in their commitment by setting the hook.

Felicia (the spect) suggests to her sister that they help out their brother by loaning him some money. Her sister responds. “Don’t be ridiculous. He’s never going to be a real artist, anyway.” Goaded by her sister’s response, Felicia takes on a stronger tone and a firmer resolve. “Yes, he will! If you won’t help, I’ll do it myself!” Her sister sets the hook. “You really think that’s a good idea?” Felicia locks in her commitment. “Yeah. I’m positive.”

If you find yourself working with a spect who is already invested, you can do a series of pushbacks to heighten the commitment even further. Just don’t let the escalation run on too long, or it becomes more annoying than energizing.

Pushbacks can be delivered in a variety of ways. When spects are mildly invested, direct challenges and voicing doubt are effective tools. When they’re fully invested and actively pursuing objectives, pushbacks can take the form of being apathetic, using delaying tactics, sidestepping issues, or blocking for investment.

Once in a while, you may misgauge the strength of spects’ commitment and change their point of view without intending to. When this happens, one way to help them regain their perspective is to mildly attack the spect’s character. In the previous example, if Felicia had backed down from her idea of giving her brother a loan, her sister could respond, “I knew it. You didn’t really want to help him. You were just trying to look like the perfect little sister.” This kind of personal attack can cause spects to resume their initial perspective.

The more committed spects are to their beliefs and objectives, the more fun they are as co-creators. When you need spects to deepen their commitment, the pushback is an effective tool.

Tags: investment, resistance