The most effective with the least preparation.

 I was in either a class or a production job and was given the randomized assignment of making a production (contextless) of a mermaid who was rising up and trying to get out of the lower ranks of their caste to become something bigger and better and to also revolt against the caste system altogether. At this phase in the dream, I think I had already had this assignment waiting for me for some time and I was thinking that I had all of the info I needed mentally but hadn't spent the time actually preparing for it. I thought I would just go out there and wing it and in my mind, it was going to be performed on stage and I was going to have teal lighting and I was going to play a "dark, instrumental" version of 'Under the Sea'. When I got to "class" (which was outside on the street kind of like at an outdoor live music venue) the first "student" went up and he had all of this music set up along with a recorded video and his delivery of his information was deeply performative and conveyed a message of strength and the subject that he was speaking about sounded like a resounding hero, and the crowd there ate it up. And all I had was the few notes I had in my mind and I was going to ask the light guy to light my background teal and I could hear the 'Under the Sea' song in my head, but I had no idea how I was going to make it 'dark' and I also was just wearing regular clothes. I assumed I was going to go up and stage and kind of give a book report and I could wing it, but after seeing that guy, it was almost like a cross between the way a video is when an athlete has their number retired and a WWF promo, so I was truly fucked. I remember feeling like I was a total fraud and I would never be able to show my face in this place again.