Resonancevoice

Some thoughts on charisma and presence and public speaking.

2012-02-22T03:16:00.002-08:00

In a workshop recently the question of personal presence and charisma arose. We were talking about being ‘centred’ and how actors use this as a term to denote readiness for ‘action’. Being centred is also taught in any martial arts training. Your centre, as a place for balance, means your centre of gravity is located around the navel. There is a very nice exercise that allows you to discover your physical centre simply by thinking low in the body. When doing this you gain stability with flexibility.

But does a centred person have more charisma? I have always believed that your charisma/presence is something we al have and that as an adult you opt to ‘give’ away. I sometimes use the analogy of a there never being a baby that does not invite being looked at, albeit in an involuntary way. This has led to challenges from parents who say of course some babies have more personality than others and this may well be true. When centred you have to be in good alignment (babies always are) – so your spine is fully flexed, lengthening you in the neck and small of back. Your shoulders are also dropped and wide. You are strong and vulnerable. You can catch but you can also throw – a punch or a ball.

Centred is often sexy. It has a ‘look at me’ quality and sexy is usually also a mixture of strength and vulnerability. When public speaking you have chosen to be looked at. Often people don’t feel they have made the choice. In fact they have by dint of being in the job they do. Once you overcome the denial and accept the responsibilty of being in the spotlight it becomes easier. Once you choose to be seen you are already developing your presence. Of course some people take longer to find or exploit what is natural but I am sure we all have it.

Wedding Fair Season

2011-09-30T08:49:00.000-07:00

Wedding Fair Season - London and Birmingham. And I have missed out again. My timing this year has been terrible!

However I have had a couple of clients who came first to the Professional Speaking Open Courses at Vestry House Museum, E17 and then followed up with a few individual sessions so they could shine at their respective engagements in their particular roles. And it worked!

Preparation is very definitely the key when making a speech at a wedding. That and not getting drunk before you make it of course. Alcohol really does lead to disaster. Best men who have had one too many are prone to make bad jokes, spoil the punchlines, and upset relatives. First it will be the mother of the bride, then the grandparents, and then anyone else who appears in the stories.

If you can hold off till a bit later on, having honed and practised your speech, you will make everyone happy and your star will shine. Remember you have to pause to breathe so you have to punctuate and, if at all possible given your nerves, do smile. Everyone will feel glad not to be you and glad you are enjoying yourself.

If you have something coming up and want help I do have a course in London on the 21st October. See www.resonancevoice.com/opencourses

Louise

Blooming voices - May 28

2011-05-29T06:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I delivered the first open voice workshop I have run for a few years. It was a reminder of how positive an experience it can be to bring together a diverse group of people. All had a central focus but also individual needs and issues to explore. We met at the Vestry House Museum in Walthamstow and I think I may have made a few new converts to the area. In spite of the chill yesterday the gardens at the museum were in top condition and the situation is nothing if not charming. I had a diverse group of people who variously came through google, referral, a local ad in the paper, telephone marketing, a flyer, youtube and an old aquaintance. Just goes to show that diverse forms of marketing do work! Everyone was generous, committted and managed to have a laugh as well as going home with some new skills and certainly plenty of factual knowledge about their voices in performance. The highspot for me was during an exercise in which we chanted to gain extra resonance. Everyone spoke on a single but not the same tone and we effortlessly achieved some absolutely beautiful harmonics. I nearly stopped the workshop there and then to form a choir!

Bring on June 16 and 17 when I am running my next two courses.

Voice training for returners to work and for interviews

2011-05-05T10:14:00.000-07:00

If you have had a spell off work through illness, redundancy or maternity leave then getting back into the right frame of mind can be tough. The lack of contact with work mates leaves you feeling out of the loop. Getting back into the physical routine might seem very arduous and a bit daunting and you may feel that you won't cope. It may be that you feel your mental muscle is never going to come back and that you won't be as good as you want to be. Essentially your self esteem is generally a bit in short supply!

What I value above all about the training we offer is its physical nature. We appreciate that the mind and body are intrinsically interlinked and that to ignore the needs of one in order to focus solely on the other is not a great game plan. Of course we need to prepare content in order to come across to any audience with clarity and focus but if we leave out the physical preparation we can seem lacklustre, even boring to our interviewer. We may not even be heard. Our training focuses on the physical signals we send out and then offers ways to easily counteract any negativity. We accept that most people can't spend hours improving themselves vocally so we offer simple practical ways into vocal work that when tied in with the bodywork has an immediate effect. There is a beauty in its simplicity and the way that after some brief very but affirmative interventions people are more buoyant, stronger and back in a frame of mind that allows them to take on the world again. They also look and sound terrific.

Top tip: Sound goes where it is placed. Focus your voice on a point just beyond the person furthest away from you to ensure everyone hears what you have to say.

Ten Top Tips for the Best Man's Speech

2011-04-28T07:29:00.000-07:00

On the eve of The Auspicious Day I feel behoven to give a few tips to all Best Men out there getting nerves before the great day.
1. Stay off the booze till after you have spoken (one nip is ok but NO MORE)
2. Practise without notes several times the night before and a couple on the day if you can - then rest.
3. Try to get a decent sleep
4. Speak to the furthest guest from the Top Table to ensure everyone hears
5. Move your lips more - especially the top one - this will aid clarity and slow you down
6 Breathe from your belly.
7. Stand to your height, relax your shoulders back and down
8. Keep a chuckle in your throat so you dont tense vocally
9. Keep your jokes clean for Aunty Mabel
10. Speak from your heart and with love.

Continuing Professional Development with the BVA

2011-04-27T07:43:00.000-07:00

I went to a day's workshop called Fair Exchange held by the British Voice Association a couple of weeks ago. Lyn Darnley of the RSC and Christina Shewell were among the guest speakers. I have just bought Christina's new book 'Voice Work : The Art and Science of Changing Voices' which will give me many happy hours. It is such a 'complete works'. By the time we all did our MA's in voice at Central School of Speech and Drama the speech therapy department was a thing of the past. Happily for us many of their skills were passed onto the MAVoice. This helped to make it a qualification of great value, as scientific as it is artistic (or certainly was in David Carey's day). Christina is both a speech therapist and a voice teacher and has splendidly brought both together into her writing.

It was very refreshing to meet great new people, Milly, David et al and be reminded of just how much there is yet to learn.

Open Courses from May 28. Book Now

2011-04-20T01:38:00.000-07:00

Before I talk about the open courses I want to say 'The best speaker won!' I was one of the judges at The Jack Petchy Speak Out Challenge in Waltham Forest last week. Xavit Hoxhaj gave a terrific, funny and powerful speech about the BNP. I hope we see him at the Final. Well done Xavit.

Open Courses.
We are running these once more after a break because people want something they can do for themselves rather than wait for in house training. The first one is May 28th at the Vestry House Museum E17. It is a lovely accessible venue in Walthamstow Village and five minutes from the station. We provide lunch. Please come along and have a great day out whilst learning something really really useful!

For more information and booking: www.resonancevoice.com/opencourses

PS
Did you know the vocal folds vibrate 440 times a second whilst singing an A above Middle C? Since we only speak on the courses so we can't prove this but it is true!

Louise

Judging for Speakersbank in E17

2011-04-01T01:40:00.000-07:00

I am delighted to have been asked back by SpeakersBank this year to judge their Waltham Forest Jack Petchey Speak Out Challenge final along with luminaries such as Stella Creasy (moi with Stella!).

I did this a couple of years ago in Stratford and was asked last year but could not do it unfortunately.

Speakersbank (though probably officially a competitor of Resonance Voice Training) provide a great service to young people encouraging them to develop their Public Speaking skills and confidence within schools. The talent is fantastic and it is great to see young people develop their ability to argue a case and perform to large enthusiastic audiences.

It is a competition so although I know they will all be good I will be looking for that something extra...perhaps a connection with the audience, commitment and passion for the subject and quality of delivery. I intend to keep my ears open for the ubiquitous rsing upward terminal inflection!

More next week,
Louise

The King's Speech and voice training for the masses!

2011-02-07T13:40:00.000-08:00

I was lucky - I saw The King's Speech over Christmas in snowbound Scotland before it reached the cinemas. If I told you how I would have to kill you.

Back in London I have been able to reflect on why it has been an important film for me. Fanatical as I am about voice training and its benefits, here is a film that brilliantly encapsulates what we do at Resonance and shows why it matters.

Not that we only give presentation or public speaking skills training to people who stammer - whilst we could, there are even better qualified speech therapists who help people to overcome this. But we do deal with the many other complexities connected to public speaking at work that are as paralysing as having a stammer. Nerves that shut us down and make us unable to utter a word, an adrenalin rush that speeds us up so much we can't be followed by our audience. The inabilty to breathe sufficiently to get enough volume or power or make us interesting.

Our core Voice training courses deal with all these issues but more than that - and as shown in the film - by working physically with the body and breath self confidence grows. As a person finds their natural speaking voice so they seem to grow bigger before our eyes and flesh out - becoming somehow vocally and physically complete. That is magic to see and hear. That is also why voice training the Logue (and our) way is not just for royalty - it is for everyone.