The Value of Diaphragmatic Breathing in Public Speaking

Posted on June 18, 2013 by The Voice Lady

There are several dynamics that make for good public speaking but the one component that far outweighs all others is the need to breathe while speaking. Without air, there is no voice. And yet, many novice speakers never think about that life-giving force when addressing an audience. In fact, it is often the last thing on their minds when indeed it should be the first.

As a people, we are renowned for being lazy or shallow breathers. What this means is that we are using only the upper portion of the chest for respiration instead of making use of the diaphragm and the entire mid-torso region to support our air supply. [Your diaphragm is a muscular partition that separates your chest from your abdominal cavity. Its primary function is to support breathing.]

To find your diaphragm, place your hands under your rib cage and cough as in the picture below.

Did you feel that muscle kick out? If you have ever had a cold in which you coughed all day long, you may have felt sore under your rib cage. Another time this muscle gets a workout is after laughing for a couple of hours during a funny movie. You may remember feeling sore in that area.

Why is breathing so important during public speaking? Obviously because you need air; however, the breathing I am referring to is that which you take all the way down to your diaphragm. In doing, so you will find that you are more relaxed. However, a huge breath is not what I mean: I am talking about a deep breath. That deep breath is healthier because it sends more oxygen to the brain which means that your body is able to rid your blood of nasty toxins. Shallow or lazy breathing, on the other hand, actually increases the toxins which results in an increase in stress.

For the purposes of public speaking, deep, supported breathing allows you to take control of your nervousness and put it to good use. That wonderful rush of adrenaline makes you more alert and more focused in your delivery.

While you certainly need to know your material, make eye contact with your audience, speak with emotion, and believe in yourself, breathing with the support of your diaphragm should be the first thing you do when approach the lectern. You will be amazed at how much better you feel, how much more confident you look, and how much more in control you are of those nervous jitters.

To see how voice training can improve your life, both professionally and personally watch a brief video as The Voice Lady describes Dynamic Public Speaking.

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Captivating Your Audience Means Speaking from Both Your Head and Your Heart

Posted on June 13, 2013 by The Voice Lady

Ever wonder why the best in the business are so successful when addressing an audience? Is it their message? How about their delivery? In truth, it is both of these components.

While you may have an excellent message, without a dynamic delivery, your message will not be heard. Likewise, you may regale your audience with color and passion as you speak, but if your words have no value, your message is non-existent.

Successful public speaking needs a strong delivery as well as a strong message – a message tailored to satisfy the needs of your listeners.

Planning your topic with a specific purpose in mind – to sell, to convince, to persuade, to inform, to motivate, and/or to act – is your 1st objective when creating your material. This is where your head comes into the picture in which you outline what you plan to say by means of blocks of information. Your opening is one block. Your development will consist of anywhere between 2 and 5 sub-topics, each of which is its own block. And, your closing is the final block.

Once you have a basic layout of your ‘blocks,’ you should begin practicing it out loud, block by block, and, at the same time, refine, change, add, and delete. Your goal is to hone your script.

When you are comfortable with your outline, record yourself as you practice your presentation, preferably by means of a video recorder, and then study the playback. Your video recorder is a fantastic tool because of what you can learn in watching yourself. [It would also be most beneficial if you could have friends or family members as your audience. When I teach presentation skills privately, I place large stuffed animals in chairs throughout my studio which also works quite well!]

Take note of whether you are making eye contact with your audience. Are you speaking with emotion, with life, with animation? This is where your heart comes into the picture because you need to address your audience with passion. If you are not passionate about your message, why would you expect your audience to be? To sell, persuade, convince, motivate, or even just to inform, you must express yourself with emotion which will be:

    1. seen in your facial expression and body language; and,

    2. heard in the vocal variety of your voice.

Public speaking is not a performance – it is the art of communicating orally with an audience. And, reading your presentation or delivering a memorized script does not allow for that type of communication because you are not interacting with your audience. Instead you are talking at them.

Know your material well; let your passion be seen and heard; and, you will captivate your listeners with both your head and your heart.

captivate audience,dynamic presentation skills,speak with passion,body language,facial expression,vocal variety.

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If Others Do Not Understand You, Is It Because of Your Diction?

Posted on June 10, 2013 by The Voice Lady

If your diction is difficult to understand, it could be due to an accent. Please understand that accents are not a problem. They are part of your culture; part of what makes you, you. If you have an accent, I do not recommend trying to eliminate it. Instead, I suggest you work on speaking more clearly and your 1st step in the process is to record your voice. Until you hear how you sound, you may not recognize that your diction is at fault.

In a workshop I held recently, one of the participants was a woman originally from China who was the director of a biomedical lab for a medical university. She was appalled when she listened to herself on the video recording we made. Having been in this country for many, many years, she thought she was speaking clearly until she heard the recording.

Your 2nd step is to speak English in your home as much as possible. While you may be speaking your native tongue to your children for their benefit and their education, I would suggest that you spend a little more time with the English language as well.

Your 3rd step is to watch movies in English. Listen to the diction of the actors. Notice how clearly they speak. Whether you drive to work, take a train or a bus, or are an urban walker, listen to audio books in English.

Your 4th step is to take an accent reduction course or a program in voice training. The former will help you with your enunciation; the latter will do the same – however, voice training will show you how to find your ‘real’ voice, the richer, warmer, deeper sound which is more mature in quality and is powered by means of your chest cavity.

Two other problems for those who speak with an accent may be lack of volume and speed. Often those whose mother tongue is not English, speak rather softly and have the uncanny ability to talk very, very fast; therefore, it is important to cover these issues as well if you are affected by one and/or the other.

Some who are soft-spoken are concerned that they will be too loud. Nothing could be further from the truth. The last thing I want as a voice coach is for anyone to speak loudly. There is a huge difference between a loud voice (which hurts your listeners’ ears and your throat) and more volume.

On the other hand, if you are talking at ‘100 mph’ and your listeners are accustomed to ‘75 or 80,’ then you are losing your audience every time you open your mouth to speak. As mentioned in step 4, when you power your voice by means of your chest cavity, you gain control not only over your voice but over your speed as well.

If you want others to listen, they must first hear and understand your words.

If you would like to see a wonderful improvement in diction and volume control, watch Mohammad’s ‘before & after’ video clip at Nancy’s Voice Training website.

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If You Are Soft-Spoken, We Can’t Hear You!

Posted on May 28, 2013 by The Voice Lady

You know others ask you to repeat yourself (a lot) and you know that you lose control of the conversation when people talk over you. You know you have great ideas but those ideas are not being heard because you are often interrupted. You know you are frustrated when you hear, “What did you say?”

Being soft-spoken is not a quality that is highly regarded in the business world today. Business is moving faster than ever and if you expect to be taken seriously, you must be heard the 1st time you say it or business will pass you by.

It is also possible that you are not comfortable addressing this issue because you wrongly believe that if you increase your volume, you will be shouting. Nothing could be further from the truth.

It is very important to recognize that if you are soft-spoken, more than likely you have been speaking at a .8 volume level when everyone else is at a 1.00 or Volume Level 1 as I refer to it. Now you may think that a .8 or is no big deal but it is. Think of it this way: at .8, you are using 20% less volume than the majority of the population. And that is not normal.

Another way to look at this picture is to imagine the volume control on your remote. Let’s say that you are watching a movie and you have the volume set to hear the conversation comfortably. Maybe the levels on the remote are at 50% of output. Were you to drop the volume down to 40%, there would be a noticeable difference in the volume output which means that you would not be able to hear much of what was being said. And, if there is other noise in the background, you probably would not be able to understand anything that was being said.

Everyone has the ability to speak at a Volume Level 1 naturally. What is not natural is that you have pulled back your volume. Perhaps you were raised in a quiet household and you are imitating your parents. Maybe you were raised in a loud household, were uncomfortable with the volume level of your family, and spoke softly so as not to sound like your loud siblings or parents. Whatever the reason for your lack of volume, if you want others to listen to your words, then they must be able to hear you.

No, I don’t want your volume to be ‘loud’ – just normal. If you are tired of the words, “We can’t hear you,” then it is time to make the change.

If you would like to see a wonderful improvement in volume control and diction, watch Mohammad’s ‘before & after’ video clip at Nancy’s Voice Training website.

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Public Speaking: Man’s Greatest Fear Needn’t Be Yours

Posted on May 14, 2013 by The Voice Lady

Have you ever questioned what you are truly afraid of in public speaking? Personally, I am glad that you are nervous; if you’re not, then something is wrong. All the greats – from professional athletes to entertainers are nervous. And, they will tell you so. It is their nervousness, however, that enhances their abilities.

Are you afraid of making a fool of yourself by making a mistake? You needn’t be. Consider every President you have ever heard speak. Every single one has said something wrong and, in a sense, made himself look a bit ridiculous. It is not the end of the world and it certainly did not end their careers. Vice President Joe Biden says foolish things constantly; and, it hasn’t stopped him.

Mistakes are made in public speaking just as they are made in live acting, sporting events, and musical performances. It is unavoidable. It is also not something that the actor, the athlete, the musician, or the President worries about. Mistakes are made on the radio and on television news broadcasting as well and you probably are unaware of most of them.

If you know your material (and I mean know it by practicing it out loud many times), look your audience in the eye, and show emotion when speaking, then do not worry about forgetting your place or making a mistake. Your audience is not worried about it so why should you? If you make many mistakes, however, then you are not prepared and that is your mistake.

Concerned about what to do with your nervousness? Try breathing. Better yet, try breathing with the support of your diaphragm. As a voice coach, I teach others how to breathe diaphragmatically in order to discover their true voice. That same supported breathing is the best means of controlling your nervousness in any form of public speaking.

Stop worrying about what could go wrong and instead concentrate on what will go right. Treat your audience as if you were having a conversation with them in your living room and you will be surprised at how much more successful you will be with your delivery.

Life may be risky. But not attempting public speaking because of fear is actually riskier if it jeopardizes or impedes your business or personal success. To change the famous quote just a bit: It is better to have tried and made a mistake or two, then never to have tried at all.

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Acting & Public Speaking? Worlds Apart

Posted on May 9, 2013 by The Voice Lady

Acting and public speaking have only two things in common: both need an audience and both involve words coming out of the mouth. That is where the similarities end however. Actors who teach public speaking often disagree with me on this point because they fail to recognize that public speaking is the art of communicating with an audience whereas acting is a means of entertaining an audience.

Admittedly, I do hope you are entertaining as a public speaker but that should not be your first priority. Your goal in delivering a speech or presentation is to communicate information in some fashion. It may be informative or persuasive. Either way, your objective, when standing on a stage, at a lectern, or at the head of a boardroom table, is the imparting of knowledge to your listeners.

Certainly an acting background can be beneficial for public speaking, but it is important to understand that acting involves taking on the role of a different character. This is definitely the greatest difference between the two. Your goal in acting is to be someone else which is the last thing I want for you as a speaker. The best public speakers are themselves, first and foremost. Remember, your audience did not come to hear someone else speak: they came to hear you.

What is also interesting is that actors do not need strong, personal communication skills to be great in their craft. Their strength lies in their ability to be someone else. In fact, some actors are shy or introverted, avoiding talk shows and interviews as much as possible. Likewise, being great at public speaking does not necessarily mean you will be great in acting. You may or you may not be.

One of the most striking differences between the actor and the public speaker is the quality of voice so obvious with the former, especially stage actors. Most have had some form of voice training and it is apparent in how clearly they speak, how resonant they sound, and how well they control their nervousness. You would be mistaken to think that stage actors do not experience nervousness. They do. The audience does not see it or hear it, however, because the actors are breathing with the support of their diaphragm, something the majority of public speakers are not doing. Often we hear a nervous quiver in the voice of the public speaker which we do not hear with the actor. Again, it is the breathing and the powering of the voice by means of the chest cavity that make the difference.

Yes, both acting and public speaking require an audience and a voice, but that is where the similarities end.

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How You Sound and How You Think You Sound – Two Different Ball Games

Posted on May 8, 2013 by The Voice Lady

I recently read an article dealing with the power of the speaking voice and the fact that people who have resonant voices can earn more money than those who do not. As a voice coach, I will not tell you that a great-sounding voice will make you rich; however, I can tell you that those who discover their ‘real’ voice sound better, look better and feel better about themselves which can lead to better jobs, more sales, certainly greater success in your business.

Before going any further, I should explain that you have 2 voices: the one you hear on your voice mail, answering machine, or other form of recording equipment and the one you hear in your head. The bad news is that everyone recognizes you the way you sound on a recording. That which you hear in your head is distorted sound, vibrating in the solid and liquid of the brain. Unfortunately, it is not a true sound.

The good news is that you actually have a much better voice inside of you. I call it your real voice and it is powered by means of your chest cavity. Most people are unaware of and not using this, the largest and most powerful of our resonators when they speak. Instead, they rely on the throat, voice box, mouth, and nasal cavities to power and amplify their voiced sound. The results are voices that may be whiny, throaty, high-pitched, weak, wimpy, nasal, shrill, hoarse, reedy, whispery, too soft, too loud, etc. The list is never-ending.

When you discover your real voice, the pitch of your voice will probably be deeper. Not only will your voice be deeper but you will also notice that it has more breadth – fullness – and can be increased in volume without shouting which is known as projection and is only possible if you are using your chest cavity as your primary sounding board.

Another benefit of discovering your ‘real’ voice is that you will be heard the 1st time you speak. If you are constantly asked to repeat yourself because you are soft-spoken or possibly have a heavy accent, your voice will be easier to understand because your volume and your diction will improve.

No, I will not tell you that you will become rich with voice training but I can say that you will be more successful, both personally and professionally. Discover your real voice and you really will captivate your listeners just by the sound of your voice.

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3 Steps for a Sexier Speaking Voice

Posted on May 6, 2013 by The Voice Lady

Did you know that it is in your genes to have a sensuous, hot speaking voice? Everyone has the potential. The question is whether you are willing to go after it because you will need to break some old habits and instill some new ones in order to achieve your deeper, sexier voice.

If you listen to the voices of the actors and actresses who have the qualities you are looking for, all of them are speaking are in their lower register – not the lowest point but in the lower area of their range. James Earl Jones, George Clooney, Cher, Ashley Judd, Morgan Freeman, Felicia Rashad, Julia Ormond, Kathleen Turner, and the late great Barry White have a warmth and sensuality to their sound that is being produced by means of their chest cavity. More than likely, you are not aware of nor using your chest as your primary sounding board. All of the actors listed above, are.

And, you don’t have to have a bass voice in order to have that warmth. Kevin Spacey is not a bass but he has a fantastic, warm voice. Given the right tone, it can be very, very hot!

    Your 1st step is to learn to breathe with the support of your diaphragm. This is the only way you can get your sound to vibrate in your chest. That is where the warm quality of the speaking voices lies.

    Your 2nd step is to find the optimum pitch of your voice. As I mentioned earlier, it will be in the lower range of your range. For women, especially, this change in pitch can be quite dramatic. It certainly was for me when I made the change many years ago. And, the really good news is that my voice continues to improve with age – much like a bottle of good, red wine.

    Your 3rd step is to take the pressure off your throat and vocal cords and allow your chest to become your primary sounding board. By breathing with support and speaking within your optimum range, you will discover a richer, deeper resonant sound that may surprise you.

The actors mentioned above do not have a gift. Just a voice that is powered differently than the way you are doing it. It is all in your voice placement. Get it out of your nose and your throat and let your chest do your talking. You will be surprised at just how good you sound!

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4 Steps for Eliminating a Verbal Tic

Posted on May 6, 2013 by The Voice Lady

Nothing is more annoying for an audience than to be subjected to a verbal tic over and over and over again. Instead of paying attention to your message, your audience begins to count the tics.

Verbal tics include the sounds um, ah, uh, or the words like or you know.

If your message is replete with any of these habitual utterances, you should stop the practice. The best way to do this is to:

    1. Record yourself saying your presentation. You don’t need to record the entire thing – just a few paragraphs. [This does not work for reading material. It is rare for someone to um or ah while reading.]
    2. Play it back and make note of when and where you add the tic. It could be at the end of every sentence. It may be after every 4 or 5 words.* If the latter is the case, then you probably speak in rhythm as well. This is known as sing-song and is a sure-fire method for lulling your audience to sleep!
    3. Record yourself again saying just 3 or 4 lines of your presentation. As you say your words, listen to yourself closely. Having studied your playback from the original recording, you know when it is happening. Now you need to listen for it as you speak. This takes a lot of concentration but it is so worth the effort.
    4. Play it back and, again, listen for the tics. Were there less or hopefully no tics this time? If not, do it again until you can say one paragraph at a time without the tics.

Your question may be what to do when you are not uming or ahing? Allow yourself to pause. Take a breath, thereby supplementing your air supply, when you feel the urge to um. You may be very uncomfortable with the pause but it is better to have a brief moment of silence than an ah.

    *If you find that you are adding verbal tics every 4 or 5 words, you need to stop your rhythmic speech. In this particular case, there is the possibility that you read in rhythm as well. Practice reading out loud with your recorder and getting through as much of the sentence as you can without a pause. Then apply this technique to your spoken sentences, recording yourself as in the steps above.

Verbal tics are annoying for your audience. You can stop the ums and ahs if you are motivated. Learn to concentrate on ‘how you are saying what you are saying.’

If you would like to work on eliminating your verbal tics, join me for one of my Voice & Presentation Skills Workshops. For more information on upcoming workshops, visit Voice Dynamic.

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