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Voice Power Blog
Voice Tips
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Brenda C. Smith: Posted on Sunday, April 01, 2012 9:46 AM
 The only way you will ever get past the
fear of public speaking is to speak in public. Yikes! …you may shout in your
subconscious mind. But wait, it’s not that horrible. Public speaking is used
all the time in business by branding your products, company name, and
networking to increase your income. There are ways to ease your body, mind, and
mouth into speaking in front of people through an almost subliminal process. The key steps of this process involve
preparation, practise, and presence. Step
#1 Preparation:
- Start with a
simple topic about something you already know, such as, how to brush your
teeth; wash your car; train your dog; bar-be-que a steak; or anything else. Then organize
what you think are the three main things a person must know or do about the
topic you’ve chosen.
- Stand up and
imagine that you are showing and explaining to your child, your spouse, or a
friend your steps; then begin to speak aloud on how to do it.
- Repeat this again
a few times, being sure that you have included the three main points, and also,
add in any extra detail or special technique that you know from experience.
Remember, this is just doing it out loud with no one listening.
Step
#2 Practice:
- Go find your
friend, spouse, or child; or if they’re not available, your dog, to practise
your speech in front of a listener. Repeat it again, but this time put some
enthusiasm into it.
- Next, when you
get to work or visit friends or relatives, be sure to immediately tell them
that you’ve discovered an excellent way to do “your thing,” then go right into
your speech. At this stage, it’s important that you speak to a few people and
not just one person; but it doesn’t matter if someone leaves or ignores
you. Just remember that you are giving
the listeners the best secret of their lives from you, the expert.
- You can even
answer questions at the end, if you want to give them more tips.
Step
#3 is Presence:
- Finally, invite a
group to join you in larger room at home or at work, to demonstrate and speak
about your topic of interest.
- Bring any props
if you need to use them in your demonstration, such as, a tennis racket, or
bar-be-que flipper, or a cleaning rag, dependent on what your topic is.
- Do a quick vocal
warm-up such as repeating a tongue twister to loosen your lips, teeth, and
tongue. Take three deep diaphragmatic breaths to relax you completely.
- You can create
presence by speaking to the group with energy and passion about the very thing
that you are clearly interested in. Look
at each person in your audience during your speech, to keep them involved
personally. Use your vocal inflection and pause to give variety and emphasis while
speaking.
- Put a smile into
your talk and be sure to thank them at the end, as you leave them with your
most valuable tips.
The real benefit of the above process is
that you can duplicate this process on any advance topic which is thrown at you
at work to present information on a product launch, or a new process, or to
visiting delegates on what your company does. Simply research your information
that you don’t know, and find the three key points that the listener can take
away with them when you’re finished. Practise several times the speech that you
have organized; then deliver your speech with enthusiasm and a positive
attitude.
Remember to take all opportunities to speak
while networking or just chilling out.
Your fear of speaking is solved by being prepared, and by practising.
Hence, you will find yourself not only overcoming the fear of public speaking;
but also, looking forward to the next one to present.
Did you find
this blog helpful? Please leave your comments below. Brenda C. Smith is a
personal Speech and Drama coach who helps entrepreneurs, professionals, coaches
with oral presentations and communication training. Brenda is the author of
"Ten Steps to Unlocking Your Voice: a Supercharge Method to Power and
Profit" , and she will help you with her easy-to-follow systems to get
confidence and presence to make you a successful speaker. |
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Brenda C. Smith: Posted on Monday, June 20, 2011 9:40 AM
Voice tone and speech techniques are partners as performers of your spoken words. You may have a most melodious voice with a varied inflection rising and falling, and a tone that captures the mood of your message. However, if that tone is clouding the actual clarity of the words and they sound muffled in your song of passion, then your audience will not understand your message intellectually, logically, or emotionally. The challenge to become expert speakers and presenters is to find that balance within you. One half of your balance scale is filled with exercising technically your speech articulators of tongue, lips, teeth, palate, and jaw. By the use of warm-ups you will keep them awake, rehearsed, and in top shape.The other half of your balance scales hold the voice pitch and tone that has been freed of monotone; but has been rehearsed to contain flexibility of range to enrapture your audience. Balancing the two of these critical elements is the art of a fine speaker who not only is the master of his craft but the mover of his message. Actors have to create this balance every time they enter the stage to become part of the mix of their own voice tone and speech techniques with the audience’s evolving reactions to create a lasting emotional impact for all. Think of the skilled man who is a cement mixer who has learned his trade from the stage of how to mix the cement to the texture process with the correct amounts of water, cement, timing, and stirring, to his final pouring, spreading, and smoothing out the roughness. His masterpiece ends in a level surface for others to walk upon. If you want to be sure your message is getting through as a speaker follow a recipe of these three key steps: Step1:Rehearse your articulators with tongue twisters, poetry reading, passages from Shakespeare so your vowels are full and your consonants cut through crisply.These are your ingredients to give your speech the structure and clarity of form. Practice makes you sharper. Step 2: Free your vocal tone with varied inflection, high and low pitch, and pointed emphasis to capture your thoughts and emotions to release to your audience. These components are supported by breath control to give you the richness and variety to your content. Step 3: Mix together in balance the previous two steps so one does not override the other. Keep your mind alert for the right balance. This gives you the smoothness of your final performance with a tuned instrument (your voice) for that spontaneous standing ovation from your audience. By following these key steps your mission will be achieved. Just remember to tune-up your parts to enhance your message. Don’t let your passionate tone be clouded by lazy technical articulator tune-ups. Your audience will be happy to hear you. |
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Brenda C. Smith: Posted on Tuesday, May 10, 2011 2:44 PM
Has this ever happened to you? You’ve prepared your speech, power point, and your presentation or your webinar, and you’re all set to go; but suddenly as you open your mouth to speak, you hear your voice crack; then you need to cough to try to regain some sort of composure and vocal strength. This totally throws you off and you spend most of the presentation sipping on water, racing through your speech, losing your breath and your focus as you struggle through it to the end. The most likely reason for this happening is because you chose not to spend very much attention to the health and maintenance of your voice, which just happens to be the single most important instrument that you are using to convey your message or to make your business sale. The next time you prepare and rehearse your speech, also take time to warm-up your voice, and do it again just before you are about to speak. Begin your warm-up with a relaxation exercise to release any muscle tension in your body. Stretch in all directions and loosen your shoulder, neck, and jaw muscles. Start at the top of the head and mentally work down to your toes to focus your mind on releasing any tightness that you feel. Next, consciously let yourself use your diaphragm to control your breathing force. Warm-up your tone by humming so that the sound is resonated in your chest, pharynx, and mouth areas. Try letting the sounds, such as “AH” escape through an open mouth. Find your most comfortable pitch level, so you can control your pitch to avoid unexpected squeaks or tension creeping up on your sound.  Keeping voice fit includes avoiding drinks with caffeine, dairy products, or alcohol to avoid your vocal folds from drying out. They will adjust to how you as a speaker treat them. If you abuse them with unhealthy foods or with physical abuse, such as, yelling, shouting, and smoking; then they respond by protecting themselves and shutting down. The cure to revive them is complete rest and lots of water. For the few minutes that it takes to do a vocal warm-up, it is certainly worth keeping your own health, and avoiding embarrassment when you do your next speech. For a complete free vocal routine please sign up on our website http://voicepowertraining.com |
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Brenda C.Smith: Posted on Thursday, February 17, 2011 11:32 PM
 Do you have a passion for some hobby, interest, or the job you do? When you’re a listener of someone with passion, you too, get caught up in their vision and excitement; whether it’s about discovering some unique thing on how planets, stars, and moons relate, or on how to create the perfect wine cellar. One of the things that you will notice when listening to someone with passion is how their voice projects more emotion, energy, and dynamic inflection. This is because the person reveals their strong feelings as if they are present in that moment of discovery. If you are a presenter, a trainer, or other educator, it’s the inclusion of passion for your topic that will motivate the learner to go to the next step and beyond. How many of us have fond memories in our early years of that key person who had a passion that led us in a new direction? Voice Tip: Reading out loud every day will help you speak more clearly. Read from a magazine, article, newspaper, or online blog and simply enjoy reading aloud; practise until it becomes comfortable. This helps with your articulation and variety of expression. |
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Brenda C. Smith: Posted on Thursday, February 03, 2011 10:07 AM
If your voice is hoarse at the end of the day, it could be from the dry air in your environment or from using your voice constantly without rest or lubrication. Drink plenty of water. Taking care of you vocal folds is important to avoid more serious effects, such as, nodules developing on your vocal folds. Resting your voice between your speaking times is vital. This allows the vocal folds to lubricate and not dry out. Too much strain can lead to laryngitis which must be remedied by complete rest (not speaking at all). Dry Air is not great for your voice so you may want to add a humidifier to the room you work in; presenters travelling on airplanes to their next event often carry a mini portable humidifier to use during the flight. If you are a presenter as a regular part of your job, such as coaching kids or adults, giving tours of your plant, supervising the factory floor, speaking through drive-thru systems, a call centre telephone operator, and other vocal type jobs; then, you may be using your voice at the wrong pitch level. You may be shouting over machinery or outside noise, instead of projecting your voice properly. A speech coach can give you remedies with specific exercises to improve projection so you will not end up shouting and hurting your vocal folds. Today people spend all sorts of time and money on getting their hair, nails, or body fit. But are you taking the time to take care of your voice? I hope some of these tips will help you. And, please share with us what you do to take care of your voice. KeepVoice Fit, Brenda Voice Power Tip: An improved voice comes by doing the exercises regularly & no smoking. Here’s a great short warm-up: 1. Stretch 2. Yawn 3. Turn your head left then right 4. Hum 5. Repeat: “A big black bug bit a big black bear” (3 times) |
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