3 Ways to improve your Sound

I was yesterday asked, "What can I do to improve my voice and speech in time for my presentation next week?" I have three suggestions. You can decide which exercise to go for depending on which aspect you want to improve. If in doubt, practise all three.

You absolutely should start with the breathing and vocalising as described in Warm up your Voice: Part 1 and Part 2 .  You can then add one or more of the following exercises:

• Is your voice weak, soft, breathy or tending to fade before your thought is completely voiced? You need to co-ordinate thinking, breathing and speaking by practising this counting exercise:
  
  Imagine yourself simply and calmly saying the word ONE, then inhale and speak “ONE”
  Imagine yourself saying the words, then inhale, speak “ONE TWO” on one breath
  Imagine, inhale, speak “ONE TWO THREE” on one breath
  Continue adding the word for one more number at a time. Practise once or twice a day until you are comfortable speaking each of the numbers from one to ten calmly and clearly on one breath. If it helps you, you can choose an object in the space about two metres away from you and project your words to this object.

• Is your articulation of consonant sounds slow or imprecise?  You need to practise these sentences to reduce mumbling and gain crisp articulation.  Allow your lips, teeth and tongue to move freely to form the sounds, keep your jaw relaxed.  Don’t strain or shout, the pace is steady and careful. These sentences have proved to be really helpful for improving confidence and competence in articulating English if that is what you need.
  
  Pass the pens and pencils please
  
  A packet of mixed biscuits
  
  Packing prickly pickles poses problems
  
  She sells sea shells on the sea shore
  
  Six times six is thirty six
  
  Bring me some coffee in a proper copper coffee pot
  
  What a lot of little bottles
  
  Quick! Quick! Quick! Bring the twins a drink!
  
  Red leather [lorry] [lolly], yellow leather [lorry] [lolly]
  
  Fred refused to view his defeat as final
  
  Leave the lazy lion alone
  
  The pilot landed the plane safely

• Are you unused to hearing and feeling your own voice as you speak? Simply practise humming, "HUMMMMMMM". With a relaxed throat and shoulders, and without strain, try humming more softly, more loudly by using more volume of air, sending your sound further, then nearer, humming at a higher pitch, at a lower pitch. In other words, playing with your sound. This will also help you sound more audible, expressive and interesting.

Good luck with your next presentation or speech

Andrea

To make an appointment for voice coaching or to book a workshop please go to my website

WINTER SPECIAL OFFER!

COMMUNICATION SKILLS AND VOICE  COACHING SPECIAL OFFER

Once again I'm offering my fantastic WINTER SPECIAL! 

During June, July and August 2012 you get this amazing deal: for every two private lessons you pay for, you get a third lesson free. YES, FREE!

What does this mean? It means that you could benefit from three sessions for the price of two or six for the price of four and so on. It means that the expert coaching you thought would be way too expensive right now is actually affordable.

Of course, as I'm based in Cape Town you need to be here too.

Contact me here

21 Reasons why working with a communication and voice coach might just be the greatest gift you give yourself in 2012

1. better voice projection lets you sound more confident
2. improved posture and physical poise lets you look confident too
3. an expressive and well-modulated voice is interesting, engaging, attractive
4. 'as we breathe so we think', if your breathing is more relaxed and more controlled so are you
5. you improve your ability to articulate ideas, explain your thinking
6. this in turn enables you to be more persuasive and more influential
7. your self-confidence improves
8. your self-esteem rises
9. you can speak up and speak out instead of remaining silent
10. so you find it easier to be more assertive
11. you contribute more socially, professionally and in your community
12. you communicate better in meetings
13. you communicate better at home
14. you communicate better in presentations and speeches
15. you speak better even when unprepared
16. you develop deeper awareness of yourself in relation to others
17. this leads you to listen more and with greater empathy
18. you find out how to be heard more clearly
19. awareness of how you communicate with yourself lets you develop more positive and encouraging self-talk
20. you learn how to deal with, and express more usefully, anger, resentment, frustration
21. you enjoy yourself more and gain more joy from your relationships!

These are just some of the ways communication coaching can help you

 ... in the meantime: good luck with your next presentation!

Andrea 

To make an appointment for coaching or to book a place on a workshop go to

my website

Wedding Speech Structure and Etiquette

If you are participating in a rather formal western-style wedding and have to make a speech you might be wondering exactly what you're expected to say! This article gives you the basics and is helpful in making sure you do and say the right thing. I find it handy, follow the link!

WEDDING SPEECHES: WHO SHOULD SAY WHAT?

Good luck with your speech!

These 5 TED speakers inspired me in 2011, I hope they'll do the same for you in 2012

This collection of five presentations showcases a variety of speakers and skills.  I have used most of them as teaching examples for my clients, Monika Bulaj's presentation is a new addition to my collection.  I hope you'll find them helpful as you seek out and develop your own special gifts as a speaker.

Some are experienced and skilled speakers, like Eve Ensler and Jane Fonda.  Eve Ensler shows us just how powerful it is to evoke emotions through language,  metaphor and specific examples. Jane Fonda shows us how to convey new ideas confidently and articulately.

Eve Ensler: Suddenly, my body

Jane Fonda: Life's third act

Monika Bulaj's short talk moves and influences us while showing us that the fact that English is not her first language cannot detract from her compelling words and images.

Monika Bulaj: The Hidden Light of Afghanistan

Here Kevin Slavin puts paid to the notion that "technical" presentations can't help but be dry as dust, factual and lifeless, appealing only to experts in their particular field. Note especially the visual impact and simplicity of his slides.

Kevin Slavin: How algorithms shape our world

Cartoonist Liza Donelly entrances with her cartoons.  More than that, she shows us how someone who might not usually verbalize her point of view can find her voice and be interesting and articulate. As well as how she says it, women especially might take note of what she says.  Developing physical presence, occupying the space in which you find yourself, are aspects so important for speakers.   Only about 18 minutes long, worth taking the time to make yourself comfortable, watch and listen to the wisdom of Liza Donnelly.

I hope these presentations from 2011 will encourage and inspire you in 2012.

Best wishes for the New Year and good luck with your next presentation!

Encouraging, life-enhancing, useful self-talk

How vital it is to ensure that our self-talk is healthy and is moving us towards wholeness.

The work I'm presently doing with a client is once again strongly reminding me of this. Again and again negative self-talk comes up in my teaching.  Again and again it arises in my own life.  Again and again I teach and learn how we can face our self-loathing and hear our inner voice speaking to us of our hopelessness and unlovability. Again and again I am amazed at how we can transform our experience by transforming our self-talk.

This particular client is frequently faced with a task which she believes she cannot hope to complete successfully. It involves speaking out in a professional situation in a language which she believes she speaks incompetently.

I asked her to identify her self-talk after a recent work meeting during which she delivered a report. When she realised that the only thing she told herself afterwards was, "That wasn't good enough.", she was filled with sadness.  My client at once understood how this self-talk made her disheartened and afraid, how it drained her of confidence. 

She also gained insight into just how important it was to her to be "good enough" and how much fear and anxiety she could generate around these feelings.

So now together we realised how negative, stale and even laughable her self-talk has been.

And now together we have arrived at some new self-talk for her. Statements which are encouraging, useful and truthful for her now.

"That wasn't good enough" becomes "That was good enough for now"

Her list "I'm not ... " becomes a summary of positive qualities and skills 

"I am ... "


Instead of highlighting incompetence in her speaking skills by saying "I'm bad at ..." she identifies strengths and tells herself

 "I'm good at ... "


She enhances her transformation by telling herself how she is changing:

 "Day by day I am becoming more ..."


So I encourage you to identify your self-talk and then to shed that which is old, stale, useless.

Be kind to yourself and tell yourself what you long to know: that you are, above all else, completely lovable; wholly worthy of being loved and loving.


I find this affirmation to be useful and life-enhancing, it's from Margaret Fourie's book "TALK' (Metz Press, 2007) 


"I am competent, confident and worth loving" 

Indeed you are and good luck with your presentation!

For more about me and the communication coaching I offer go to my website

Latest rates September 2011

One of the first questions most of us need to ask about coaching and learning programmes is, "How much will it cost me?" My clients are sometimes surprised at how affordable my rates are, someone recently described my prices as "too cheap". That may be so for some, but I aim to remain affordable for ordinary Capetonians who want to improve their lives and perhaps their working prospects.

My latest basic rates as from 1 September 2011:

Communication coaching (one-on-one) R190,00/hour

These sessions are full of possibilities.  They can be about anything and everything to do with communication. We may include confidence, self-esteem, understanding personalities, voice and speech skills, public speaking, business presentations, interpersonal communication, social anxieties, social skills, customer interactions and other related material which will help you.

EFT R160,00/session or R900,00 for 6 sessions. The length of an EFT session is between one and two hours.

Group workshops and group learning programmes are priced according to content and timing. We start with an assessment for you or your business and employees, so contact me to get started.

Be more coherent using Linking Words and Phrases

Along with confidence and credibility, coherence is a quality the audience looks for in a speaker and in their presentation.  The Concise Oxford dictionary says that the adjective "coherent" describing a speech means that it is "logical and consistent; easily followed". Language provides us with many devices we can use to show how our ideas are connected so that our thinking is easily followed.  In my experience, however, these devices are not always readily available to us when we are speaking our second or third language.

During the past couple of weeks I've been working with a client who, like most English speakers, did not have English as his mother tongue.  We had noted that his presentations sometimes lacked coherence even though his thinking was logical and were working together to improve this. I was reminded of how valuable it is to show how ideas are connected, in other words to show our thinking.

My client achieved great results simply by using linking words and phrases to show how his ideas were connected and point to his thinking.  At once his seemingly disconnected and random points hung together like beads on a thread.  The flow of his speaking became easier as well and he was able to speak more comfortably without referring to his notes as often as he had been.

Whether or not you are a first language English speaker you might find it helpful to use more of these words and phrases to connect your ideas and show the logical structure of your presentation. Of course, you can use them in your writing too.

Beware! Using a few linking words here and there is not a magic cure-all for poor thinking, inadequate research and lack of planning and certainly won't make a brilliant presentation out of a few random bullet points.  However, especially if English is not your first choice of language to speak in then these words and phrases may be helpful to you.

SOME EXAMPLES OF LINKING PHRASES AND WORDS

To extend the idea: further; furthermore; in addition; as well as this; firstly . . . secondly

To state the idea again in another way:  that is; in other words

To show contrast in ideas or to note exceptions: however; on the other hand; nevertheless; unless; either . . . or; neither . . . nor

To explain a cause or reason: because; for this reason; owing to; for this/ these reason/s

To show results: as a result; for this/these reason/s; consequently

To introduce an illustration: for example; for instance; this can be seen in; as shown in; as shown by

To introduce a similar idea: this is similar to; similarly; in the same way; also; not only . . .  but also

To reach a conclusion: therefore; thus; finally; in conclusion; to summarise; to sum up; from this we may conclude that ...

To join one section to the next: "Having covered ... I'm now moving on to discuss ..."; "This brings me to ..."; "That brings us to ..."

If you'd like more clarity on using words to show logical thinking you might like to browse this article.

Warm Up your Voice Part 2: Voice and Body

This is part two of the second of my Top Ten Public Speaking Basics


Again I should say that in my experience it is preferable to work with a qualified voice teacher if you want to develop the full potential of your voice.  The purpose of this article is not to give some "quick-fix" voice exercises to try once on your own to little effect, but rather to offer some guidance on warming up your voice in preparation for your next presentation or speech.

If you haven't already done so you can start with Warm Up your Voice Part 1: Breathing


After the breathing warm-up ...


Warm up your body

• free shoulders with gentle shrugs up to ears and then relax
• clench hands into fists, relax and gently shake out
• gently shake out each leg and then your arms
• give yourself a good upward stretch, arms above head, relax

Improve your posture
Have feet about hip-distance apart, distribute weight evenly over ball and heel of each foot.  If you are comfortable doing so, you can try going down onto your haunches, resting there for a moment and then rising smoothly upwards into standing without altering the distribution of weight on your feet.  This can give a good sense of rootedness through the feet into the floor.

Now lightly smooth down your lower back and buttocks with your hands, this allows you to slightly tuck in your pelvis without tensing your buttocks.

Now you can gently, lightly lengthen your spine upwards as it rises from your tail bone up through to your neck. Keep shoulders relaxed and falling away from your ears; chest relaxed, softened and open. 

If you were now to look at your self sideways in a full-length mirror you'd see your shoulder in line with your hip and your hip in line with the middle of your foot.


Face and jaw

• stretch mouth open as wide as you can, hold for count of five, release. Repeat.

• make exaggerated chewing movements using your whole mouth, tongue, lips as if chewing the biggest wad of gum ever!

Voice

• yawn
• voice on one breath, taken without strain: 'AH'
• voice on one breath, taken without strain: 'HUMMMMMMM'
• repeat on one breath, as above: 'LA LA LA LA LA'
• repeat on one breath, as above: 'ME MAH MAY MORE, ME MAH MAY MORE'
• say 'Bring me some coffee in a proper copper coffee pot'
• say 'She sells sea shell on the sea shore'
• say 'A packet of mixed biscuits'
• say 'Quick, quick, quick! Bring the twins a drink!'

Back to breathing

• Breathe out fully without force

• Wait till you feel the need to inhale, as your ribs spring apart inhale through your nose

• As you inhale allow your back to relax, note how your lower ribs float apart as your diaphragm contracts and moves downwards. Pay particular attention to the swing of the back ribs as you relax your back.

• As exhalation happens, let the air move out of your mouth, note how your ribcage moves simultaneously downwards and inwards and how your abdominal muscles slightly engage as the last of the air moves out of your body

• Continue breathing easily and comfortably in this way for five breaths.

You are now warmed up and READY TO GO!!!

Good luck with your presentation. 

Should you use pictures to enhance your presentation?

I'm often asked for help in preparing slides for presentations. My advice is always to make them more VISUAL, that is: use pictures, photos, graphics, tables, charts.

Why?  Because audiences understand more and retain more information received as visual than they do information received as text or as spoken word. Hearing and reading are less effective than SEEING.  The combination of SEEING a photo and HEARING the speaker talk about it has greater impact than for example hearing the speaker say words while reading the same words in, for example, a bullet point.

Check out 'My Favourite Web Resources'

Warm Up your Voice Part 1: Breathing

This is part one of the second of my Top Ten Public Speaking Basics

In my experience it is preferable to work with a qualified voice teacher if you want to develop the full potential of your voice.  So the purpose of this article is not to give some "quick-fix" voice exercises to try once on your own to little effect, but rather to offer some guidance on warming up your voice in preparation for your next presentation or speech.

All credit and honour is given to the brilliant voice coach Stewart Pearce whose teaching in his book "The Alchemy of Voice" (Hodder & Stoughton, 2005) has profoundly influenced my teaching in the past few years.

Know your audience, their needs and expectations

The first of my Top Ten Public Speaking Basics

Helpful things you should know about your audience:

1. How many?
2. What are their positions or occupations?
3. What is their background?
4. What is their gender?
5. What is their age?

More things you should know about your audience:

• Are they experts in the subject?
• How much do you need to tell them in order to achieve your objective?
• What is their attitude to you and your subject?
• What is their previous experience of your topic and how might this influence their attitude?

You should establish:

Why your audience is there: voluntarily? no choice? they invited you?
What they are expecting: to be informed? to be entertained? Beware of assuming that your objective and the audience's expectations are the same. You should make your message relevant to them.
What they need: e.g. if their immediate need is to cut costs they'll have a hard time hearing a message about how increasing expenditure in the short term will eventually save money.

My favourite and most useful general workplace needs come from Cristina Stuart of Speakeasy Training.

For management:

• Saving money
• Increasing productivity
• Saving time
• Improving quality

For staff:

• Making more money
• Being recognised for what they do
• Job security
• Job satisfaction
• Career advancement

In a business context you'll find that if you can meet these needs it is easier to achieve the objective of your presentation. You'll probably be able to identify other needs for your particular audience.

I use aspects of NVC or Nonviolent Communication in my work. For this reason I ask speakers to think about how their speech or presentation contributes to fulfilling more universal human needs. For example, paying attention to the need for autonomy helps us to avoid sounding dictatorial or assuming that everyone's values are the same as ours. Our ability to empathise and listen helps us to align our objectives with those of the audience.

Some basic needs you can bear in mind:

• Autonomy
• Celebration
  
• Integrity
• Interdependence
• Physical nurturance
• Play
• Spiritual communion

1. Autonomy: choosing dreams, goals, values; choosing plans for fulfilling these
2. Celebration: celebrating life affirming events; celebrating losses of loved ones, dreams etc
3. Integrity: authenticity, creativity, meaning, self-worth
4. Interdependence: acceptance, appreciation, closeness, community, consideration, contribution to the enrichment of life, emotional safety, empathy, empowering honesty which enables us to learn, love, reassurance, respect, support, trust, understanding
   
5. Physical nurturance: air, food, water, movement, protection from life-threatening forms of life, rest, shelter, sexual expression, touch
6. Play: fun, laughter
7. Spiritual communion: beauty, harmony, inspiration, order, peace

Being mindful of both particular and general needs will undoubtedly help you deliver a presentation or speech that is relevant and meaningful to your audience.

Good luck!

My Top Ten Public Speaking Basics

1. Know your audience, their needs and expectations
2. Check out the venue in advance
3. Warm up your voice
4. Relax and smile
5. Have a specific purpose and stick to it
   
6. Start well
7. Structure your presentation or speech
8. Connect your ideas
9. Tell stories, paint pictures
10. End well

I'll be sharing some guidance on each of these ten tips in the coming weeks.

Sagitta Communication & Life Skills: new rates

My basic rates as of September 2010:

One-on-one coaching

R180,00/hour or R650 for four sessions

One-on-one private learning programmes:

8 hours "Confident Public Speaking": R1200,00
8 hours "Confident Interpersonal Communication": R1200,00

Group learning

Start at R650,00 pp/pd for one-, two- or three-day programmes. Highly negotiable, e.g. recently held a communication skills workshop for the Women on Farms Project, venue supplied by them, for only R500,00 pp for two full days. Two-day entry level "Communication in Customer Service" workshops start at R650,00 pp for two full days.

One-day (10h00 - 17h30) Presentation Skills Workshops R450,00 pp

Next workshop will take take place in October or early November, date to be announced. Please contact me if you'd like to book a place.
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Spring is here in the Western Cape. I've been hard at work in the garden cleaning up after the winter, feeding, composting and mulching ready for the long hot windy summer. Rewarding work, good to get back in touch with my garden. Today there's a north-wester coming up as a cold front moves through. Hoping for some rain as it's been quite a dry winter. When the front has moved off later in the week will complete the last section feeding and mulching.

Last week lost two of my dear goldfish to a beautiful grey heron. If it's the same one, she fishes our pond about once a year, dignified and silent. I don't begrudge her the food, almost all wetlands around here are gone now. Sad though for my big Goldie who survived a previous attack only to have it happen again and this time not so lucky. Of course it happened on a beautiful morning when I decided to leave the net off so they could enjoy a spring frolic. They seem to go still when the pond is covered. Decided to leave net off until about 10h30, went to work in the front garden, came back to see heron with wet head sitting on roof of next-door house. Went cold. Rushed out, no sign of any of the four fish in the pond. Shimmering scales in the water like confetti. Then spotted two quivering wrecks hiding as best they could. Covered pond, thought, "Shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.". Apologised to fish now being reincarnated as heron.

Here comes the rain!