Elocution, Accent Softening & Voice Coaching - Stage 1 by Martin MacLeod
Elocution Lessons - or simply how to make yourself heard at work
Elocution
has been around for centuries as a means of helping people to speak
with more clarity and finesse. But can some simple elocution lessons or
voice coaching lessons actually help improve your impact when you speak
today? And does it really have some place in business training?
Try
some of the very simple exercises in this and a followup article and
find out for yourself if elocution or voice coaching might offer you a
means of creating more impact the next time you are speaking.
Elocution Lesson One - Breathing & Relaxation
Firstly
we are going to try and relax and take a few deep breaths. OK? And when
you breathe in deeply try not to move your shoulders too mulch but
breathe in from your belly (or stomach).
Ready? OK ...Breathe in
..... deeply ... remember to use your stomach ... and now wait a few
seconds .... then breathe out slowly .... and count out aloud as you do
it ...
... 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... 5 ... 6... 7 ... 8 ... 9 ... 10 ...
... 11 ... 12 ... 13 ... 14 ... 15 ... 16 ... 17 ... 18 ... 19 ... 20.
Try and count all the way to 20 as you breathe out.
OK normal breath in again ... and out.
Now lets try the deep breathing exercise again and count slowly all the way to 20.
So ... Breathe in ..... deeply ... and ... wait a few seconds .... then breathe out slowly .... and count out aloud as you do it
... 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... 5 ... 6... 7 ... 8 ... 9 ... 10 ...
... 11 ... 12 ... 13 ... 14 ... 15 ... 16 ... 17 ... 18 ... 19 ... 20.
.... try and count all the way to 20 as you breathe out.
Elocution Lesson Two - Text Reading
How about reading out some text aloud? OK?
Print out this page. Then Find yourself a room where you wont be disturbed - or overheard!.
Now read the following paragraph:-
It
was a beautiful day in more ways than one when Gerry finally decided to
ask Sally to marry him. The Summer weather had now settled down and
although there were still a few clouds in the sky, it was a very
bright, blue sky that greeted them as they left the motel. Gerry took
Sally by the arm and embraced her. And in that moment, he knew they
were meant for each other.
Now read it again but this time think
about how much your mouth is opening. Try and open your mouth as wide
as possible when you speak each word. In fact try and speak each word
individually and not as part of a sentence. Try and make each word
sound clear as possible. Try and "spit" out each of the words.
OK
that probably sounds somewhat strange! What we are trying to do there
is to make each word have a beginning and an end. Oftentimes when we
speak we "slurrrrrr" our speech and do not take enough effort to
pronounce each word clearly enough.
So lets repeat the paragraph
one more time. This time reading it as a whole piece of text (not
individual words without meaning) and making it sound as exciting (and
emotional) a moment for Jerry as you possibly can.
And how did that sound to you?
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