LEARNING TO SPEAK IN PUBLIC –“To learn to speak distinctly, Demosthenes talked

LEARNING TO SPEAK IN PUBLIC

–“To learn to speak distinctly, Demosthenes talked with pebbles in his mouth and recited verses while running. To strengthen his voice, he spoke on the seashore over the roar of the waves.”–

I prefer acting lessons, to public speaking lessons but whatever works.

I learned far more from the study of shakespearian actors than from public speaking courses.

Why? Most of us know our content (or we shouldn’t be speaking). When the problem is focusing on our diction, inflection, pace, volume, eye contact, body movement and gestures.

I try to interact with the audience in person before any speech, so I develop a sense of ‘who am I talking to here’, and then take off my glasses when on stage, so that individual expressions in the audience don’t distract the autistic monster in my head that notices every detail. 😉

Myself, I hate being the center of attention but I love ‘preaching’ to the audience. 😉

Why Am I Writing This?

Because we all know someone who has ability and talent but lacks the confidence in speech and skill in presentation that separates that individual for success and wealth. 😉

Cheers

PS: Ordinary acting (pretending) in the british school, not method acting (being) in the american school. And shakespearian stage acting (orating) rather than film acting (signaling).