Public Speaking Information |
Speech Training - Building Your Voice, Tips from a Professional
Having a clear and confident voice is an essential business skill to be an effective leader, manager and communicator. Whether you are presenting in front of a group, performing in the media or speaking on the phone a good voice can be a great asset. Here are 10 tips on developing a more confident and persuasive voice. 1. Build Clarity by Warming Up. The human face can pull more than 7,000 unique expressions with 44 different muscles! Get into a routine to warm up your most important muscles. Use specific exercises toloosen up your jaw, lips and tongue. Being physically prepared will give you confidence. 2. Practice Difficult Phrases. Once you've warmed-up do a couple of tongue twister exercises to put it all together. Examples include 'red leather, yellow leather' and a big black bug bit a big black bear'.Try saying these quickly them slowly. 3. My Voice Comes From My Belly. Now the juices are flowing, it's time to get some tone and timbre in your voice. This comes from your diaphragm. Practice breathing and fill your belly like it's a balloon. 4. Posture. Your posture is important for voice projection. Warm up your neck, shoulders and rib cage. Get in a comfortable stance with your feet firmly planted. Remember your stance when you feel most comfortable. Use hand gestures if this suits your style. 5. Relax and Smile. The more relaxed you are the more confident you will feel and appear. Remember most audiences want you to succeed. Smiling at the audience helps you relax. Harness your adrenaline in a positive way. 6. Be positive. A positive attitude is very important. Visualize how it felt when you last made a really successful presentation. Remember this moment. Feel and use this positive feeling. Be psychologically ready. 7. Speak from the Heart. Use emotion and feelings in your voice and words you choose. Eighty percent of voice tone is emotion and this will help you touch your audience. 8. Evaluate and Seek Feedback. Always evaluate your performance and seek to improve each time. Ask for feedback from others who you are comfortable with. 9. Take Care of Your Voice. Always take care of your voice. A healthy diet, adequate sleep and behaving in moderation are essential to protect your voice. 10. Be Yourself. Develop your own style and be yourself. Relax and enjoy the experience. Thomas Murrell MBA CSP is an international business speaker, consultant and award-winning broadcaster. Media Motivators is his regular electronic magazine read by 7,000 professionals in 15 different countries.You can subscribe by visiting http://www.8mmedia.com. Thomas can be contacted directly at +6189388 6888 and is available to speak to your conference, seminar or event. Visit Tom's blog at http://www.8mmedia.blogspot.com
MORE RESOURCES: Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting |
RELATED ARTICLES
Conversationally Speaking "Would you like to say a few words?" How many of us dread that request? The thought of speaking off the cuff can terrify even veteran speakers. But what about the ability to give a prepared speech and sound natural?As a speech coach, I see hundreds of people who are wedded to their words. Using Your Natural Style On Stage We were both speakers at the same convention presenting on the same day-but what a difference. I am tall, while she's short. The Top Four Ways To Get Audience Involvement In A Presentation In the thousands of speeches I've heard very few presenters truly engage and involve the audience.Remember, even the most disciplined and attentive of audiences will switch off after 20 minutes. Lessons in Love for the Shy at Heart One of the biggest regrets of my life is that I was cursed with the shyness gene. Shyness is an often misunderstood condition that can leave the afflicted alone and miserable. A Short Guide to Effective Public Speaking Delivering an effective presentation to 20 or to 200 people is difficult. Because listeners have better access to information since the internet became commonplace, audiences expect more content from speakers today. The Porch Light* Method to Speaking Confidence You know the feeling. Looking out at a sea of faces, you notice a few scowls, frowns, even droopy eyelids on some of your audience members. How to Get Paid to Speak Now that you have all the contacts you can possibly use, when can you expect to get paid for speaking or other business engagements?You have done your job and spoken to many non-profits and Chambers, your name is getting well known and you have even been paid to do a couple of speeches at places of business. Now it is time to look further down the road. 15 Ways for Speakers to Earn More Profits There is huge potential to create additional profits from your speeches by partnering with a professional transcriptionist to convert your audio recordings into text transcripts.1) Speakers and consultants often deliver their presentations via teleconference calls and record them for sale later. The Little-Known Speechwriting Secrets That Won George W Bush The US Election He's been accused of "mangling the language, destroying its meaning by avoiding the use of verbs, twisting nouns into verbs, and endlessly repeating phrases until they become zombified" (Source:'Bush and Blair accused of mangling English' by Kate Kelland, Reuters.com. Feedback I believe that asking for and acting on objective feedbackis the best way to improve your speaking skills. In our Excellence in Speaking Institute (ESI), wecall this 20/20 feedback. 12 Ways to be a Confident Public Speaker Speak from your heart. If you believe in what you say, than others need to hear it. For Speaking Ease, Forgive Your Younger Self I love the Disney movie The Kid with Bruce Willis. In it he plays a stressed-out, high-power image consultant. A Perfect Meeting: AKA When You Dont Want to Strangle the Speaker Have you ever worked for weeks or even months, often far beyond normal office hours on a special meeting event only to have it turn into THE PERFECT STORM. Well, maybe your entire crew didn't perish at sea, but there were those clearly identifiable moments when it looked as if the ship was about to capsize. 13 Publicity Tips for Professional Speakers In a funk because other speakers seem to be snagging all the media attention? It's time to start claiming your share. Here are a baker's dozen of tips that will boost your publicity efforts and help you finally get noticed. Youre Making Me Nervous Almost everybody is nervous when they stand up to speak. There's no shame in being nervous. Know Your Audience What is worse than wearing a tuxedo to an event when everyone else is attending in shorts?I have said the same thing over and over again: before you attend the event, get to know the audience. If the audience is not right for you, you may attend, but it is unlikely that you will gain any new business. Lose Stagefright Over Your Lunch Hour While teaching a two-day Speaking Confidence program to a group of 25 government secretaries, I wanted to give them practice using their personal experience to help others. So I gave them a simple assignment to ponder over their lunch hour: Think of a lesson they'd learned in life and share that lesson with the group when they came back. Fear! I am terrified of heights. The thought of skydiving, for example makes my stomach do somersaults. Speech Writing Secrets Of President Bill Clinton Speaking in public can be a powerful way to build a business. It can help raise the profile of your business, generate new leads and create greater profits. Moving Key Audiences to Take Action? You know, those really important outside groups of people whose behaviors can help or hinder any business, non-profit or association manager in achieving his or her objectives? Are you persuading those key stakeholders - especially those whose behaviors affect your unit the MOST - to your way of thinking, then moving them to take actions that help your department, division or subsidiary succeed?Oh, as a manager, you say you're covered in that regard - your public relations team is racking up some juicy print and broadcast placements, and you say those kinds of exposures are what your PR program is all about?At the risk of becoming a skunk at this picnic, I suggest you consider broadening your public relations field-of-fire to where it best belongs, on your unit's key external stakeholder behaviors rather than the occasional publicity placement.Here's why. |
home | site map | contact us |