Werrej
This is something that happens sooner or later to everyone: we have to perform in front of an audience. And for some public speaking becomes a serious test. However, there are a few tricks to help you deal with it. And even with success.
In the era of Youtube and other video channels, various presentations, lectures and sales, the ability to persuade becomes an urgent need. Even modest and quiet people have to roll up their sleeves and get to work on their image and voice.
It’s good that there are tricks that help with this. Entertainer and coach Luc Tessier d’Orpheu, who has been teaching professional actors for over thirty years, shares with us the secrets of preparing for a public performance.
1. Ipprepara
Think you can do without preparation? Then remember the words of the most famous Prime Minister in the world, Winston Churchill: «An impromptu speech has to be rewritten three times.»
Why do we reach out to others at all? Here are the main reasons: to report something, to be understood, to share feelings. Whatever the reason, it is important to determine exactly what message you want to convey and what the audience’s expectations are likely to be.
Take a pen and paper and write down everything that comes to your mind in response to the question: so what are you going to talk about? Then structure your material.
Always start with the main idea, with the key message. It is important to capture the attention of the interlocutors (listeners) from the very beginning. Then expand on your ideas in more detail in four to six sub-points, according to their importance to you and ease of presentation.
Start with the facts and then express your opinion. The reverse order weakens the statement and distracts the audience.
2. Find the right pace
Actors start by memorizing the text aloud, they listen and pronounce it in different keys, low and high voice, until they learn it completely. Follow their example, walk around and say phrases until they start to “fly off your teeth”.
Once you’ve prepared your speech, time it from beginning to end — pronounce it the way you’re going to speak in front of an audience. When finished, add another 30% of the result (for example, extend a 10-minute speech by 3 minutes), without increasing the text, just by pausing.
What for? It has been proven that «machine-gun» speeches sound less convincing. The second argument: in the theater they say that the audience breathes as a whole. And holds his breath in accordance with the pace of the speaker. If you speak quickly, your audience will breathe quickly and eventually start to choke. By slowing down your speech, you will capture the attention of your listeners and better convey your ideas to them.
Pause — they draw attention to a particular statement. Pauses emphasize what you want to emphasize. You can stop after the statement to give the listeners time to think about it. Or in front of something you want to highlight.
3. Generate interest
Everyone agrees that there is nothing more boring than monotonous speech. Especially if it is overloaded with details, digressions and descriptions of personal impressions and is pronounced in a barely audible voice. To make your presentation successful, speak as you would tell an interesting story — with pauses and at the right pace, and also in a fairly loud voice with rich intonations.
Clear articulation is the basis of oratory. Practice, on the Internet it is easy to find acting tongue twisters for various tasks: to practice difficult combinations of letters and learn not to swallow syllables. Familiar from childhood, like «There is grass in the yard …», and modern: «It is not clear whether shares are liquid or not liquid.»
Pause, emphasize important things, ask and answer questions, but stick to your own style.
Changes in intonation help to convey emotions (not to be confused with emotionality: constricted throat, incoherent speech) — this is how you would tell a fairy tale to children, changing the tone depending on the plot twists. By the way, children immediately feel when they are told something mechanically.
Convince yourself that the audience is like children. Pause, emphasize important points, ask and answer questions, but stick to your own style (don’t make yourself look funny or cool if you don’t feel like it). Before you speak, yawn a few times with sound to massage your vocal cords and give your voice richness and fullness.
4. Xogħol mal-ġisem
After you have worked with the content of the speech and your voice, take care of the body. This will help you 5 keys.
1.Iftaħ: straighten your back and open your arms as if you are receiving something.
2.Tbissem: smiling reduces the stress of the speaker and calms the audience. It has been proven that smiling people are less aggressive than serious citizens.
3. Nifs: Before speaking, take a long breath in and out, this will reduce your tension.
4.Ara: look at the audience as a whole, and then look at several individuals — or at each, if the number of listeners does not exceed ten. This look strengthens the connection.
5.Il-passi: the moment you start speaking, take a small step towards the audience. If there is no room (for example, you are standing at a pulpit), open your chest and slightly stretch your neck up. This will help establish the audience-speaker connection.
5. Erġa 'għamel prova
In the theater before the premiere there is always a dress rehearsal. It helps to put the finishing touches. Do the same by attracting your loved ones who are friendly and considerate. Deliver your speech to them as if you were speaking to the intended audience.