Vocal Warm-ups that Actors Use-- Great for Public Speaking

When I was in school and college I did a fair amount of acting and am so very happy that I have a recollection of some of the vocal warm-ups when I need to do a bit of the old public speaking. Vocal warm-ups are so helpful in releasing tensions from your throat and face. If you have a tight throat or even a tense tongue(!) it can result in a very unattractive tone of voice-- something akin to strangulation. Watch this little clip to get a good idea of some things that can be done to warm up your vocal apparatus!

What if You Are Shy? Does Toastmasters Work?

I am naturally a fairly reserved person-- quite introverted (meaning, my expert friend told me, that I have lots of internal stuff going on and too much external stuff coming in can be 'overload')and I think I could describe myself as "shy" in many situations. As I have gotten older, I find that it is becoming easier to let go of some of the "false" personality traits, such as a kind of forced gregariousness that I used to wear at parties in my youth. My mother was a 'talker'-- in fact, she was one of those people who could talk non-stop for hours. I am not. I like a good conversation, but mostly I enjoy listening. However, many times in my life it has been important for me to summon up my confidence and get up and speak in front of others. Doing some acting at school was helpful (I was told I was quite good, which built my confidence) but as a middle-aged adult, joining Toastmasters and using the energy psychology or meridian tapping technique called Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) was VERY helpful in allowing me to present in front of groups (or even just to 'speak up' in group situations about things I felt strongly about). The video clip that follows shows EFT Master Sandy Radomski talking about how even she had to overcome a fear of public speaking.

Getting a Voice and Feeling Acceptance with EFT

In one of my Toastmasters' meetings there was a fellow who 'dragged' himself to the meeting because his daughter was getting married in the summer and he was terrified of getting up at the wedding and speaking in front of the wedding guests. At the end of the meeting he was very shiny (sweating profusely) and shared with me that he could just not "imagine" himself speaking out in the TM meeting and just could not come back. I offered him information about EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and am assuming that he might have looked into that. What interested me was that this fellow was a successful realtor-- he was fine working one-on-one, but saw 'public speaking' as a fate worse than death (we have all heard of that). Take a look at this clip of a fellow who is getting under his fears to 'the suppressed thing' that prevents him from feeling confident and whole:

Joe Vitale Talks About How EFT Helped with Public Speaking Anxiety and Many Other Issues

When we are stressed and phobic we sometimes feel like we are "the only one"-- it's pretty inspiring to hear that people like dynamic speaker Joe Vitale was also "afraid of public speaking"-- he had answers to people's problems around wealth-building, but he was terrified of public speaking. In the video that follows he talks about going to Toastmasters or to the Rotary Club, etc., and before getting up in front of others, it is useful to state what the belief behind the block (the limiting belief) and then apply the Emotional Freedom Technique so as to release the limiting belief.

Using EFT Tapping to Overcome Public Speaking Phobia

When I first started going to Toastmasters-- all by myself, the "new kid in town"-- I was pretty close to terrified. I spent every start of the meeting in the john with my 'nervous gut'. Then I started to employ a couple of helpful, simple techniques that helped immensely with my nervousness: one was not to eat heavily on the day of the Toastmaster's event/meeting, and the other was to do this excellent EFT tapping that you can see in the following video:

Building your Vocabulary for Great Speech-Making

When I was a young child my teachers often marveled at my expansive vocabulary when my parents went to the Parent-Teacher meetings-- we lived on a farm in rural Canada, but my parents were both voracious readers. Dad read aloud to all of us (including my mother) at bedtime. Early books included "Winnie the Pooh" and "Mill on the Floss". I had very little understanding of George Elliot's "Mill on the Floss" but was delighted when it turned up on my first year English reading list when I went to College.

I do believe that the growth rate of my vocabulary has diminished as I grow older. I play on the computer more and read less, particularly fiction. I have no stats to prove it, but I hunch that reading good fiction-- literature, if you will-- is an organic, osmotic way to go about increasing your vocabulary. Take a look at this video clip and start developing your vocabulary today:

Exercises for the Face Muscles for Public Speaking

Have you ever noticed how pleasant it is to listen to people who have a relaxed, smiling face? One of my Toastmaster buddies was really focused on telling people how their voices lifted and warmed and got colorful when they smiled. That was certainly one of the most important tips I received from him. Sometimes when my dh is on the phone and very sombre I will jump around with my fingers at the corners of my mouth to cue him to smile... he is such a great sport, and I DO notice how it changes his voice color and quality.