Etymology - Convince

One of the more difficult elements of performance whether it be magic or storytelling is convincing the audience of some thought, perception, or feeling that is not necessarily true. In some cases convincing audience members is not difficult but in many cases it has the potential to be.

The word convince comes from the Latin word 'convincere' meaning "to overcome decisively" The word comes from 'com' which is an intensive prefix and 'vincere' meaning "to conquer." In convincing our audience of what is desired for them to believe is a victory, a conquest of sorts. We duel back and forth with whatever mindset the audience comes to the performance with and whatever mindset we are trying to impart to them. We parry and thrust, we dodge and block, doing a sort of dance like fight in a purely cerebral way. If we are successful we accomplish our goal, we teach, we entertain, we distract, etc. But if not then we lose our battle and often our audience.

As storytellers we must convince our audiences of many different things in many different scenarios. We must arm ourselves with words and ideas, with phrases and parables, with quips and jokes, with emotions and expressions and numerous other tools. We are trying to win a victory, to convince our audience and we must be prepared.