At some point in our lives we all have to give a verbal presentation. To many of us, its something we do every day, meeting people. Occasionally we have to give a speech, whether it is at a wedding or for a job interview. How we present ourselves when we open our mouths can be as imposing as what we wear and how we look. How do some people manage to do this and never fumble a word and look as cool as a cucumber? How can some people command instant respect and audience attention from the very minute that they open their mouths? Perhaps you are ashamed of an accent or people find it difficult to understand and it is prohibiting you or you have a minor speech impediment all can be greatly improved with correct and helpful training.

If we were going to complete 1000metre running competition we would train. If we were going to play a musical instrument at a performance we would train and practice yet, we all take our speech for granted. From the moment we are born we make a noise. We cry. We experiment as we develop. Noise becomes words. We grow; we put ourselves on a stage. We never train. We are at risk of damaging our voices. We try to project our voices for that important speech and it all goes terribly wrong because we are straining our voices. We are not relaxed. This can often be quite difficult when an audience of 500 is waiting to hear what you have to say! I am not saying that you probably will still feel nervous but it will not show in your performance. Many experienced actors admit to still being nervous but they have learned how to control it!

EXERCISE 1 –RELAX!

Stand with your feet slightly apart, level with the width of your shoulders. Your hands should be loosely hanging at your sides. Your shoulders should be relaxed. They should not be hunched up tight and brought forwards. Concentrate on being relaxed. You head should be facing front in a natural stance. Shake each one of your feet and hands in turn to relax muscles. Now drop your head forwards so that your chin is towards your chest. Allow your head to roll in a circle relaxing all the tense muscles at the back of your neck and throat. As you do this make your mouth ‘yawn’ as wide as possible. You should be able to feel your soft palate being ‘freed’ and your jaw opened

EXERCISE 2- BREATHING

Stand in the position that we started. Place your hands on your hips, Inhale air through your nose to the count of 10. As you inhale you should be aware of the tummy muscles moving downwards. These are the intercostals diaphragmatic muscles. They are allowing the lungs to fill with air (our raw material that enables us to make good speech) Hold the breath until the count of 10 and then slowly let it escape, also to the count of 10. The breath will probably want to ‘gush out’ but you must control it. Good speech can only come from well supported lungs. Practice this exercise and gently increase the number. I would suggest never more than 20 (as I don’t want people collapsing all around the Country!) This is one of many simple exercises that can help in presenting.

These are the first basic steps of presenting. How the air changes into voice and clear articulation can be easily remedied. Speech is a gift that was given to us but its certainly up to us how we choose to use it. Knowing certain ‘tricks’ can give us confidence and help us present ourselves much better!