What does Indicating mean?
Indicating is an acting term used to describe a performance in which the actor demonstrates or illustrates an emotion externally rather than genuinely experiencing or accessing it internally. An actor who is ‘indicating’ shows the audience what emotion the character is feeling — for example, by placing a hand over the heart to signal love, or by forcing tears without genuine emotional connection — rather than allowing the emotion to arise organically from the circumstances of the scene. Indicating is generally considered a flaw in acting technique and is something most acting training systems work to eliminate.
Example:The acting coach stopped the rehearsal and told the young performer she was indicating sadness by looking down and speaking slowly, rather than truly engaging with the loss her character had just experienced — the performance felt mechanical as a result.
Example: The director’s note after the first take was simple: ‘Stop indicating the fear — let it happen. Trust the situation.’ On the second take, the child actor stopped telegraphing her reaction and simply responded to what was in front of her.
Did you know?
The concept of indicating as a performance problem was central to Konstantin Stanislavski’s acting system and is addressed in virtually every serious acting methodology. Stanislavski argued that audiences instinctively recognize the difference between a genuine emotional state and a performed one — and that indicating, however technically polished, always reads as false on stage or screen.
You can also find “Indicating” and related terms in this category: Becoming an Actor.
