Cocktails and Mocktails of Emotion: Motivating Multitudes

The Edge of the Stage: Life Lessons from Performance Training

Hosts:

Matthew Ellenwood (EmoVerity, Ellenwood Studios)

Ellenwood Studios – https://www.instagram.com/ellenwood_studios/

Berit Elizabeth (Emotive Agility Training)

Emotive Agility – https://www.instagram.com/emotiveagility/

Summary:

In this episode, Matthew and Berit dive into the "mixology" of emotions—how real-life feelings rarely show up neat, but as nuanced blends ("cocktails" and "mocktails"). Using performer-training tools, art analogies, and live facial-expression drills, they show you how to intentionally serve (and taste) emotional mixes to create clearer communication, better regulation, and deeper connection—at home, on stage, and at work.

Key Topics:

• Mixologist vs. Taster: the sender/receiver roles we play in every interaction.

• Why emotions show up in blends, not singles—and how that complicates interpretation.

• The "rule of three": curating no more than 2–3 emotions to keep your message clear.

• Color theory for feelings: subtractive mixing (CMY) and pigment ratios as an emotion map.

• Two-emotion gradients in practice (e.g., surprise+fear; appreciation+frustration).

• The Hexagon Task (Ekman & Friesen): morphing between emotions at set ratios (90/10 → 10/90).

• Live demos: moving from tenderness → anger at different ratios and what each "tastes" like.

• Exercise 1: The Taster—naming what you see when someone "serves" an expression.

• Exercise 2: The Mixologist—blending tenderness ↔ anger using only eyes/brows/mouth.

• Lightning Round: mixing disgust + joy (why your body laughs while your stomach turns).

• The Emotional Tree (Leslie Greenberg): affect → category → granular feelings (Parrott).

• Authenticity, privilege, and power dynamics: why "I'm just being honest" isn't a free pass.

• Leadership applications: choosing which emotions to serve in meetings and difficult conversations.

Practical Takeaways:

• Before a tough conversation, name the 2–3 emotions you intend to convey (and at what "volume").

• When reading others, describe observable cues first (eyes, brows, mouth, breath), then guess the mix.

• Practice ratio drills (90/10, 70/30, 50/50…) to expand expressive range and precision.

• Use "masking" strategically (not dishonestly) to regulate and match context without dumping.

• Increase granularity: move from "I'm scared" to "I'm apprehensive" or "I'm in distress."

• In leadership, curate blends that acknowledge both positives and challenges to maintain trust.

Try-It-Now Exercises (from the episode):

• The Taster: Watch a neutral face shift; list the physical cues you notice, then name the likely mix.

• Tenderness/Anger Flight: Hold a genuine eye-smile, then add small anger cues at 10%, 30%, 70%, 90%.

• Lightning Round: Disgust + Joy mixes. Recreate "gross but hilarious"—note your inner vs. outer mismatch.

Resources & Links:

🔔 Subscribe for more great content – https://www.youtube.com/@TheEdgeoftheStage

🎓 EmoVerity (Making Faces - Facial Expressions course)

💡CMY color mixing - a closer look https://youtube.com/shorts/OPL6pTX0Jss?si=lliMTPz5yP1tOBXQ

🎨 Pink + Turk Gold Color Blending Shades https://youtu.be/9gQ_WltYmys?si=ihSIGnksmOHGMmYA

🔎 Ekman & Friesen's "Hexagon Task" (emotion morphs) – ohttps://www.researchgate.net/figure/Facial-expression-continua-used-in-the-Emotion-Hexagon-task-Running-from-left-to-right_fig1_24418236

🌳 Leslie Greenberg – Emotion-Focused Therapy (Affect → Emotion Category → Granular Feelings) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynHioCxAMEI

🌿 Parrott's Emotion Classification (for building vocabulary/granularity)

https://behavioralsignals.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Parrott_Model_emotion_classification.png

📰The Problem With Your Authentic Self by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic Ph.D.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mr-personality/202509/the-problem-with-your-authentic-self/amp

📘 Emotion Thesaurus https://shopwritershelpingwriters.net/products/emotion-thesaurus-ebook

🎴 Show Don't Tell Cards https://writebadideas.com/products/show-dont-tell-cards-the-writers-guide-to-emotions