Turning it on or turning it off?
Interestingly enough, almost every video I've seen of folks shaving has had them turning off the sink/running water while shaving with a straight. I brought some pre-straight assumptions with me when I came to the straight razor world. When shaving with a Gillette, I would simply run the hot water, lather up and shave, rinse, shave, rinse, shave rinse. I brought the running faucet to the straight razor world.
Many of the videos I have seen have been of Europeans shaving - I thought initially that perhaps that was the difference between an American and a European - the American would just let the water run while the European would husband the natural resource. (Yes, I do tend to overthink a lot of things...)
Today I decided to approach my shave with a continental viewpoint. I turned off the water when I was ready to shave and had already lathered up. It was AMAZING. I was using a Solingen razor I picked up from Rasurpur.de recently. Razor sharp, an excellent shave. The best part? Hearing the shave. Actually listening to the razor remove my beard - it was singing to me. I heard all the noises the razor made without the distraction of the running water in the background and was able to focus on my shave. Honest? It makes a huge difference. For me anyway.
:D