Public Speaking Exercises
Exercises for Public Speaking in Class
The more you practice your public speaking skills, the easier it will be to speak in front of a group. Exercises for public speaking in class can help you continue to advance your public-speaking abilities. Classroom exercises help if you’re teaching a course on public speaking, wish to incorporate public speaking into your general curriculum or want to brush up in advance of your class.
Imaginary Animal
Give students 10 minutes to create an imaginary animal and prepare information about the animal. List five questions on the board to ensure students have a uniform set of information to present, such as its habitat, size, color, sound, number of legs and predatory abilities. Have students then present their animal in front of the class using their notes and answering each of the questions. This type of exercise helps students gain confidence, a critical component when speaking in front of a group. Since the animal is known only to the student, she can share information with an air of authority and expertise.
Neighbor Game
If you are teaching younger students, or a group of older students who have little public-speaking experience, start with a group game. Have each student sit in a chair, creating a circle. Start by standing in the middle of the circle and completing the statement, “I like a neighbor who…” with something that is relevant to the group, such as, “…is wearing a collared shirt” or, “…had Mrs. Smith for third grade.” Everyone to whom the statement applies then stands and moves to another seat, you included, so that there’s one more person than there are seats. The person left without a seat then takes his turn completing the neighbor statement. This type of cooperative game gives students a chance to speak very briefly in front of peers while also having fun.
The Nonsense Speech
Intonation helps students understand how emphasis aids their public-speaking skills by engaging the audience and minimizing the steady drone into which some speakers fall. For this exercise, students don’t need a formalized speech. In fact, nonsense speech makes the exercise more powerful. If your students can’t create a nonsense speech—one in which words are made up—have them recite “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll, which includes many nonsensical words. Have them read the poem or give their speech and call out what intonation they should express—query or emphatic statement, for example—switching every 15 seconds.
Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/233927-exercises-for-public-speaking-in-class/#ixzz2HrrlISMa
Class activities teach students to loosen up in front of others
Public speaking is an important part of the base curriculum for business and communication. Learning how to speak well in front of a group prepares students for future leadership roles. Public speaking skills include forming an effective message and relaying it to others. These skills can be practiced in class through a variety of activities designed to make students more comfortable and confident.
Key-Word Speaking
When speaking in public, it is not wise to memorize your message. Often memorized speeches sound mechanical, and you may lose your message because you forget a word and get flustered. The best way to speak to a crowd is to write down key words or phrases and speak about them. Prepare the class for key-word speaking by making up index cards with common words written on them. Go around the room and ask each student to draw one card and speak to the class, as much as they feel comfortable, about that word. For example, if a student chooses the word “dog,” she may say “I had a dog when I was 5. Her name was Alicia. She was white with brown spots. She always slept in my room and never allowed my parents to come in.” The students will see how easily they can speak without memorization and may even enjoy reactions from the class to their words.
Focus-Point Interviews
Another class activity for public speaking is rehearsing focus-point interviews. A media relations professional usually has three to five points that he must make during an interview. These are the focus points. Whatever questions are asked, he should try to incorporate his points whenever it is appropriate. Have each student choose a debatable topic and come up with three focus points she wants to make to the audience. Have the rest of the class ask questions about the topic. The student should try to get her focus points out as many times as possible during the interview. Practicing this skill shows students how to lead an interview and hone in on a message.
How To Demonstration
Finally, students can put both their message skills and speaking skills together for a “how to” demonstration in front of the class. Ask each student to stand before the class and give a short demonstration on how to perform a simple task. Possible subjects include “How to change a diaper,” “How to make a smoothie,” or “How to French braid hair.” Students have the activity to focus on, making them less nervous in front of a crowd. They also must be clear and concise to keep the audience interested and properly explain their task.
Read more: Public Speaking Class Activities eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/way_5304621_public-speaking-class-activities.html#ixzz2Hrs6VFSw
Know the room.Be familiar with the place in which you will speak. Arrive early, walk around the speaking area and practice using the microphone and any visual aids.
Know the audience.Greet some of the audience as they arrive. It’s easier to speak to a group of friends than to a group of strangers.
Know your material.Practice your speech and revise it if necessary.If you’re not familiar with your material or are uncomfortable with it, your nervousness will increase.
Relax.Ease tension by doing exercises.
Work from your personal brand (Try the exercise)Visualize yourself giving your speech. Imagine yourself speaking, your voice loud, clear, and assured.When you visualize yourself as successful, you will be successful.
Realize that people want you to succeed. They don’t want you to fail.Audiences want you to be interesting, stimulating, informative, and entertaining. They are on your side!Don’t apologize.If you mention your nervousness or apologize for any problems you think you have with your speech, you may be calling the audience’s attention to something they hadn’t noticed.Concentrate on the message — not the medium. Focus your attention away from your own anxieties, and outwardly toward your message and your audience.Your nervousness will dissipate.Turn nervousness into positive energy. Harness your nervous energy and transform it into vitality and enthusiasm.Gain experience.Experience builds confidence, which is the key to effective speaking.A Toastmasters club can provide the experience you need.
Public Speaking Activities Face
In Volte Face, you’re given a topic first. You DON’T get any time to think about it at all! You have to speak FOR the topic for 30 seconds. AGAINST the topic for 30 seconds. Then FOR the topic for 30 more seconds. And then AGAINST the topic for the next 30 seconds! A beep or buzzer-sound tells you your 30 seconds are up!
Apart from giving public speaking practice (because everything has to be so freaking spontaneous!), this will really fill any place with laughter because the guy who speaks keeps contradicting himself again and again!
Like, say my topic is “I really hate my end term examinations.”.
Then I’ll start off spontaneously (as if I were actually speaking on stage :) ) with:
End term examinations are the worst thing ever invented. Suddenly you have to mug up so much of syllabus and vomit it out. Unit tests are much better. We don’t even get enough sleep in our end term examinations: if end term examinations were a mosquito, I would kill it immediately by slapping my hands on it. To hell with end term examinations…
TOPIC CHANGE!
End term examinations give us HEAVENLY moments during college life. Oh the joy of mugging up so many chapters at once! If it weren’t for end term examinations, would any student really study or take in knowledge? I still remember the wondrous nights before my electronics exam when I traversed the magestic lands of transistors and diodes. And are they not so better than those boring classes? I mean all semester the professors talk, thank God, we get a chance to talk and express ourselves while the professors inspect and look mutely. That is very satisfying for me.
TOPIC CHANGE!
But end term examinations suck because…
Lol. Ain’t Volte Face funny? Try it out!
Here are some other interesting volte face topics;
The joy of reading newspapers in toilets
Monday morning sucks.
I love mosquitoes.
What does Volte Face require?
A mike, and a guy timing and sounding a buzzer every 30 seconds. But then if you can’t find a buzzer, the guy can clap too. :)Have you ever been thrust on stage and had to speak On the Spot? Bless you. Please tell your story!
Public Speaking Activities Speech
You must have already heard of it. You speak for 2 minutes IMPROMPTU on any topic you’re told a minute before you start speaking. So basically the guy who speaks get 1 minute to think about a topic and then he’s to speak on it for 2 minutes. I think it’s a terrific way to lose public speaking fear and speak naturally and spontaneously with an audience.
Here are some tummy-poking extempore topics. 😉
Einstein did not know what he was talking about
Best man at my girlfriend’s wedding
Drinking coffee is not my cup of tea
I am OK and that’s a highly contested opinion
..And then the apple fell.
The earth is flat
I was so dumb, I did not start talking till I was 2 years old
🙂
8 Ways to Practice and Improve Your Public Speaking Skills
by Jenny • January 27th, 2011
If you read my post Live for the Dip last year, you know that I felt like I BOMBED my first official bookstore event (even though my friends would tell you otherwise). I’m proud to say that I’ve since emerged from conscious incompetence, feeling much more able to deliver a speech or workshop with the right mix of structure, clarity, humor and inspiration.
Most recently, I delivered a 40-minute webinar that outlines how we can shift the paradigm of Career Development (click here to watch The Ladder is Out — How to Manage Your Career in the Age of the App).
It went off without a hitch, but what you may not know is that as I was being introduced I put myself on mute, clenched my fists (to give my adrenaline something to do), and started taking deep yoga breaths (called ujjayi breathing) to calm my slight nerves at seeing the attendee list hover around 85 people.
When my good friend Doniree recently asked for my advice on how to feel more comfortable at the front of a room, I realized that I had a few great methods to share with all of you from delivering training for over five years at Google.
8 Ways to Practice and Improve Your Public Speaking Skills
Doniree asks:
I’ve been told by my yoga instructor that I sound nervous/short of breath when I teach. I’m not nervous, but I am short of breath and I realized that I could breathe better when I talk in public in general. Do you have any public speaking training or tips you can offer to someone who needs to learn to breathe and talk at the same time?Below are 8 strategies that have helped me hone my public speaking skills. Many of these may apply to you for business situations in general, not just public speaking (or in Doni’s case, teaching yoga).
Download a free recording app on your phone. Practice saying something at your normal pace, then practice slower, then EVEN slower. Playback so you can hear for yourself what the three sound like, and even ask a friend which is most clear.
Take three ujayii breaths before starting. For non-yogis: this means taking a slow, steady, even inhale through the nose (fully engaging your lower belly, ribs, and chest/throat), then exhaling slowly and evenly through the nose. During both the inhale and the exhale, practice making the sound of the ocean in your throat (More on how to do this here). These breaths are always incredibly calming for me and help clear any nervousness in my system.
Make it a challenge for yourself to bring more awareness to your speech in every day interactions. Sometimes even when I’m talking with friends I will practice not saying “um” and other speech quirks that come across as unprofessional. Even though these are low-stakes situations, it helps me change my default speech to something that works in any setting.
Give yourself a rating on scale of 1-5 after every class you teach (or training, or meeting you present at). How’d you do? This will bring awareness to the area/s you are hoping to improve and help you track progress over time.
Pretend you are speaking to a non-native English speaker or a five year old. Does your pacing change? Another trick I use: pretend you are on The Today show, or speaking for the president, or some other super important thing with high visibility. How would you talk? How do you want to sound or come across?
Channel/observe a speaker or teacher you really respect. What do they do well? Ask if you can observe them at future events/meetings (if they live locally) – or look for more examples and videos on YouTube or TED. Bookmark the speeches/speakers you most want to emulate.
Probably most important: ASK FOR FEEDBACK – often! Make sure you have people who are willing to be honest with you. Ask them one thing you did well, and one area you can improve (if you just say, “what’s your feedback?” they’ll be hesitant to share development areas). You might also have people track when you speed up (certain segments?) and when you slow down, so you get more granular data about where to focus.
Clench and release a muscle several times before going up to speak. Try making your fists into tight balls (or any other muscle — ahem, buttcheeks work too), then release and repeat. This will give your adrenaline something to do, and often helps stop shaking (which makes you appear more nervous than you really are) by the time you start.
BONUS: Join Toastmasters. (Thanks Sachit for the reminder!) Toastmasters is a great way to get practice and feedback in a safe environment, and learn from watching others. Something that helps me more than anything is practicing the outline of what I want to say, and having a note-card with the high-level structure. The more I know my content, the less nervous I feel. Toastmasters is a excellent way to hone your presentation’s content and structure.
10 Tips for Public Speaking
Feeling some nervousness before giving a speech is natural and even beneficial, but too much nervousness can be detrimental. Here are some proven tips on how to control your butterflies and give better presentations:
1. Know your material. Pick a topic you are interested in. Know more about it than you include in your speech. Use humor, personal stories and conversational language – that way you won’t easily forget what to say.
2. Practice. Practice. Practice! Rehearse out loud with all equipment you plan on using. Revise as necessary. Work to control filler words; Practice, pause and breathe. Practice with a timer and allow time for the unexpected.
3. Know the audience. Greet some of the audience members as they arrive. It’s easier to speak to a group of friends than to strangers.
4. Know the room. Arrive early, walk around the speaking area and practice using the microphone and any visual aids.
5. Relax. Begin by addressing the audience. It buys you time and calms your nerves. Pause, smile and count to three before saying anything. (“One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand. Pause. Begin.) Transform nervous energy into enthusiasm.
6. Visualize yourself giving your speech. Imagine yourself speaking, your voice loud, clear and confident. Visualize the audience clapping – it will boost your confidence.
7. Realize that people want you to succeed. Audiences want you to be interesting, stimulating, informative and entertaining. They’re rooting for you.
8. Don’t apologize for any nervousness or problem – the audience probably never noticed it.
9. Concentrate on the message – not the medium. Focus your attention away from your own anxieties and concentrate on your message and your audience.
10. Gain experience. Mainly, your speech should represent you — as an authority and as a person. Experience builds confidence, which is the key to effective speaking. A Toastmasters club can provide the experience you need in a safe and friendly environment.
Breathing Exercises for Speaking
Proper breathing technique is fundamental to having a strong, confident speaking voice. Performing some simple exercises will help you to project your sound and maintain a relaxed manner while speaking. Breathing exercises are particularly useful when you are preparing to speak in front of a group.
Posture
In order to breath properly, you must stand in a posture that facilitates deep inhalation and exhalation. Stand with your feet nearly shoulder-width apart, distributing your weight on both the balls of your feet and your heels. With each exhalation, release tension in your shoulders and relax your neck and jaws.
Exaggerated Movement Exercise
A relaxed jaw and throat facilitate deep breathing. Rosemary Scott Vohs, storytelling and speech communication instructor at Western Washington University, suggests making some exaggerated movements with your face to ease tension in the jaw and open the throat. First, lift the eyebrows and open the mouth wide. Then, yawn widely and loudly, saying “yah, yah, yah.” Stretch your mouth, saying “eee, ooo, eee, ooo,” in an exaggerated fashion.
Deep Breathing Exercise
Deep breathing helps to calm your nerves and manage stress before a public speaking situation. Breath in slowly and deeply through your nose. When you have inhaled as deeply as possible, hold the breath for four seconds, then exhale through your mouth. Repeat this inhalation and exhalation pattern twice more.
Calming Sigh
The Oral Communication Program at the Center for Teaching and Learning at
Diaphragmatic Breathing
Breathing from the diaphragm rather than from the chest is important for complete voice support. After taking a few breaths deep enough to expand your belly, add a gentle and sustained “ha” sound on the exhalation. Finally, add some “shoulder bounces” by drawing your shoulders to your ears, then rapidly releasing them. Perform the shoulder bounces the entire time you are sounding “ha” during your exhalation. This exercise releases tension and prepares your body to support your speech.
Vowel Sound Exercise
Using diaphragmatic support, say “hoo, ho, ha, hey.” Begin at the volume of a whisper, and increase to a voiced whisper. Then repeat the exercise at normal volume and then at a loud volume.
Airflow Control
Controlling the air as it flows from your mouth on your exhalation gives your voice power and resonance. Practice this control by breathing in deeply, then exhaling for as long as possible. Then try saying the alphabet as many times as possible on one exhalation
Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/343820-breathing-exercises-for-speaking/#ixzz2HrtRWGmE
Proper Breathing in Public Speaking
In public speaking situations, delivery is as important, if not more so, than content. Many speakers practice certain aspects of delivery, including eye contact, vocal tone, and use of the hands. However, few pay attention to the most fundamental part of speaking: breathing. Neglect of this aspect of delivery often results in fast, breathless speech, the creation of strange noises during the inhaling process, and plain old discomfort on the part of the speaker. By paying attention to three components of breathing, specifically posture, initial air intake, and mouth position during repeat inhalation, speakers can easily make a positive difference in this critical aspect of delivery. In order to speak, it is necessary to breathe. To see this for yourself, try this simple experiment. Try to inhale and speak at the same time. Can’t do it? That’s because the outward movement of air created by exhalation helps the vocal cords do their work. Here’s another little experiment: exhale as far as you can. Let the air out of your nose and mouth, and push it out of your lungs. Now try to speak. You can produce some tone, but not very much, and not of a good quality. And it definitely doesn’t feel good to speak this way. So, you can see now how important it is for a speaker to have a proper air supply, traveling in the proper direction. It’s not hard to develop correct breathing techniques. The first step in the process is to learn to use the maximum lung capacity. To allow the lungs to expand fully, a proper, upright posture is essential. Stand firmly, body directly centered over the feet. Straighten the spine by imagining that your vertebrae are balanced along a string which runs from the floor to the ceiling. Alternatively, imagine that a string, connected to the top of your head, is pulling you upward, forcing you to straighten. The next step in increasing lung capacity is to “open the chest.” Straighten your shoulders by pulling back on the shoulder blades. Imagine that you’re trying to make the tips of the shoulder blades touch in the middle of your back. Next, lift the ribcage. Male or female, thinking of the phrase “boobs up” helps accomplish this step. Finally, turn your attention to the muscles of the neck and throat. Your head should be in a comfortable position, neither held stiffly nor tilted up or down. A tilted head will restrict the movement of air as you breathe, and a stiff neck will just not feel good. This complete posture may feel unnatural at first, especially to those of you inclined to be couch potatoes, but with practice you will discover that it’s just about the most comfortable way possible to hold the body.
Now that you’ve achieved the correct posture for maximum inhalation, it’s time to fill those lungs. The first breath a speaker takes is by far the most important one, because it’s the one that establishes the maximum lung capacity that the speaker will be able to achieve during the speech. In other words, if your first breath is a shallow one, the air won’t last long. You’ll have to breathe sooner and more often, and you won’t be able to increase the lung capacity because you’ll be more concerned about maintaining the pace of your speech than about taking extra time in there somewhere to take a deep breath. But if you start out with a good, deep breath, that air will last longer. You won’t need to stop talking so often to breathe, and the tendency when you DO take a new breath will be to maintain the lung capacity you established with the first breath. So, make that first breath a good one. Keeping the body in the position I have already described, inhale slowly through the mouth. As you inhale, relax the muscles in your lower body. Let the stomach and the muscles of the lower back expand. Feel your lungs filling. Take in a good amount of air, but when you feel yourself straining against continued expansion, stop. It’s important that breathing be as inaudible as possible. No one wants to be so distracted by the breathing noises made by a speaker that they forget, or are unable, to listen to the speech. For most people, the inhalatiooise is high-pitched and fast, somewhat like a hiss. I know a girl who, when she’s nervous, actually squeaks when she inhales. It’s awfully distracting. These hissing and squeaking problems are caused by the position of the tongue, jaw, and lips at the moment of inhalation. When the lungs are open to maximum capacity, they are drawing in a tremendous amount of air. The position of the mouth must be such that the air has room to pass through. The tongue and lips, especially, act as barriers to the air trying to enter the lungs. When the air rushing into the lungs comes in contact with the tongue, for example, a noise is made because not all the air can get past.
The solution to this problem, then, is to get the mouth parts—tongue, lips, and teeth—out of the way. The lower teeth are the ones that cause the problem, and they are attached to the lower jaw, so the way to get them out of the way is to move the lower jaw. It’s helpful to think of letting the jaw drop slightly, rather than straining to open it. It might feel silly at first to let the mouth open, but as long as you are letting the movement happen naturally, you will still look OK. It’s when you focus on opening the jaw that you look silly, because conscious effort here inevitably creates too much movement. Just relax the lower jaw and it will take care of itself. The other mouth parts, the tongue and lips, can be moved simultaneously. Even better, they can be moved in a way that will increase lung capacity in addition to reducing breathing noise! Here’s another fun experiment. Position your mouth to say “E.” Don’t actually make any sound yet, just put your face in that position. Notice where your lips and tongue are. Now, go ahead and make the sound. Be sure to notice any changes that happen in the position of your tongue and lips. Now, return to the original mouth position, form an “E,” and inhale. Aha! A hissing sound, right? It’s not especially noticeable now, probably, but I can guarantee that when you’re nervous and inhaling improperly and often, that little hissing noise will grow. And that noise will be increased by a microphone system (if you’re using one). Now, go back to the beginning of this section and repeat these little experiments, replacing the sound “E” with the sound “OH.” You will find that, by forcing the body to make this second sound, the problems with lips and teeth and tongue will all be resolved. This is because the syllable “OH” automatically relaxes the jaw, moving the teeth out of the path of the incoming air. It rounds the lips, covering the hard surface of the teeth that is a major factor in hiss production. And finally, the “OH” sound puts the tongue lower in the mouth so that it’s not obstructing the intake of air. So, by thinking of the syllable “OH” while breathing, you will not only reduce the annoying noises that are caused by the frequent mouth position “E,” but you will also be able to breathe more deeply more quickly because the obstructions of mouth parts have been removed. Well. You thought you knew how to breathe, didn’t you? You weren’t necessarily wrong. Since you’re alive to read this, you obviously have mastered breathing skills to some degree. But the breathing techniques required in public speaking do differ from those required to simply keep the body going. When you’re in a stressful speaking situation, the most important thing you can do for yourself is to breathe correctly. Start with good posture, take in enough air at the beginning of your speech, and when you replenish that supply later, be sure to inhale while thinking of the relaxed syllable “OH.” If you follow this advice, you will automatically set a better pace for your speech, and increase your physical comfort during the time you’re in front of the audience. Your lungs and your audience will both thank you for learning to breathe correctly in a public speaking situation.
Just Before A Speech or Podcast
First, for every event I request a wireless microphone, even in small rooms. If I am using a microphone I don’t have to use my “loud” voice. For people who talk a lot as part of their job, I highly recommend this. It can reduce strain significantly.
Next, the day before an event I try to rest my voice as much as possible by not talking. The day of the event, I usually begin with a few warm-up exercises starting with deep breathing. If you’re a regular listener, you might remember I covered techniques for deep breathing in episode 3 cleverly titled “How to Breathe Properly.” For me, deep breathing brings my heart rate down. It’s calming and relaxing.
In general, the idea is to relax the daily tension that we hold in our neck, face, and mouth. I usually stretch my neck by doing slow head rolls. I work the muscles in my face by massaging my face and by exaggerating smiles and frowns. The idea is to smile big and hold, then frown and hold, smile and hold, frown and hold. Other ways to stretch are by yawning (yawn) and by sticking your tongue out—as far as possible. And move it from side to side. Oh and don’t forget your lips. You can try exaggerated chewing motions and exaggerated lip movement by saying “Red leather, yellow leather” Here’s how it will sound (Oh man, am I GLAD this is just audio and not VIDEO!)
In order to produce the best possible sound your vocal resonators, articulators, and vocal cords need to be loose and relaxed. The resonators are your throat, mouth cavity, and nasal passages. The vocal articulators are the tongue, soft palate, and lips.
Next, I usually say a few tongue twisters. Rubber baby buggy bumpers. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. Sally sells sea shells by the sea shore. That last one is my favorite because I tend to trip up on sibilants (which are s’s and f’s). Of course, you should pick tongue twisters that are specific to your trouble spots.
If I’ve got time or it’s an important gig, I’ll run through a few singing scales. I like to start by singing the vowel sounds–Eh, Ee, Ah, Oh, Oo— …Eh, Ee, Ah, Oh, Oo. And then I add in consonant sounds…Ma, Me, Mi, Mo, Mu, La, Le, Li, Lo, Lu. I also do scales. Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do, Do, Ti, La, So, Fa, Mi, Re, Do. And so on up the scale. Even though I’m not a singer, and clearly I’m not a singer, singing exercises the vocal cords and the other muscles of the throat much more so than just speaking does.
As part of my general preventative maintenance of my voice, I try to sing every day. That helps to keep my muscles strong. It also puts me in a good mood and I can do it anywhere.
General Preventative Maintenance
So as part of my general preventative maintenance of my voice, I try to sing every day. That helps to keep my muscles strong. Besides I like to sing. It puts me in a good mood and I can do it anywhere.
Again in the category of prevention, just like for your general health, the best thing you can do is stay hydrated. I drink plenty of water throughout the day. Also, I drink water before I go to bed and keep a glass by my bedside. If I wake up in the night, I take a drink. And, in the morning, I drink the rest of the water. My kids do this too now too.
Your vocal cords vibrate very fast and you need the water be sure the lubrication is the right consistency. It’s kind of like keeping your motor oil clean. If it gets too thick and mucky it doesn’t do as good a job. Basically, by having lots of water in your body it optimizes your throat’s mucous production.
By the way, some of you may have heard that you should avoid milk because it stimulates mucous production. However, according to recent research there’s no proven correlation between drinking milk and excess mucus production. Turns out it only feels that way because there is a slight, temporary, thickening of saliva after drinking milk. So if you like to drink milk, go for it, but maybe not just right before speaking.
In addition to water, I enjoy drinking tea. Hot tea is very soothing. I mostly drink decaffeinated tea, because caffeine causes dehydration. Some people like to use “throat coat” tea which is an herbal blend that purports to support throat health.
Of course, both water and tea are ways to internally hydrate yourself, but you can also externally hydrate your vocal cords. I sometimes take a shower or just turn on the shower so I can breathe in the steam. Some people use a personal steamer. You could also run hot water and put a towel over your head and breathe in the steam. For similar hydrating reasons, some people like to regularly use a humidifier. (In fact, we keep our home humidified and one time the humidifier broke. I noticed it immediately because of the way my mouth and throat felt.).
Ok, so there you have it, some quick and dirty tips to warm up your voice and keep it healthy and strong. Scott, I can’t emphasize enough just how important this is. These tips are not just for performers and other professionals that put a stress and strain on their voice; it’s important for all of us to be able to communicate with a healthy and strong voice.
The Voice that Captivates Breathing: The First Step toward a Powerful and Captivating Voice You can speak only as well as you breathe. Control your breath, and you begin to control your speaking voice. Also, better breathing reduces tension in the neck and shoulders that can inhibit your best natural voice. The voice is a wind instrument. Try the following exercises to get yours in tune! Get ready. Stand with your feet not quite shoulder width apart, your weight forward, more on the balls of the feet than the heels. Relax your hands by your sides. Start to pay attention to your breathing. As you exhale, release your shoulders, relax your neck, unclench your teeth, and see if you can’t manage a yawn and maybe even a smile. Diaphragmatic breathing. This is breathing from your belly. It fuels your voice and releases tension from your upper body. It’s also called belly breathing because as you inhale, your belly expands (and your chest and shoulders don’t move). This is the opposite of what you might do on the beach where many people suck in their bellies and puff out their chests. Place one hand over your belly button. Slowly inhale one long breath through your mouth while silently counting “one… two… three… four.” Your stomach should expand, pushing your hand forward (your shoulders and chest should not move.) Feel your hand move out as you pull the breath deep into your lungs. Now, hold that breath and count silently, “one… two… three… four.” Next, exhale the breath through your mouth while counting silently, “one… two… three… four.” Do this until you are comfortable and breathing easily. Now, you are ready to make sound. Ha… You are going to make a gentle “Ha” sound, using up an entire breath on just that one sound. Take in a full belly breath, and as you exhale say a very gentle and quiet sustained Haaaaaa… until you run out of air. Do it again, being certain to really open your mouth as you softly sustain the Ha. Shoulder bounce. Once you’ve mastered the Ha, start to release tension from your neck and shoulders. First, lift your shoulders up toward your ears, hold them for a count of four, and then let them drop, completely releasing them. Now, do this rapidly. This is the shoulder bounce. Next, combine the shoulder bounce with the Ha. With your hands relaxed by your sides, take a full belly breath, and then exhale a gentle sustained Haaaa, running out of air as you did before. Only this time, while you are doing the Ha, simultaneously do the shoulder bounce for the entire time you are making sound. This will help release tension from your vocal chords and help you prepare your voice to speak. Keep it up. Doing these exercises regularly will help prepare your breath to support your voice. Each time you do them you improve your breathing and release some of the tension that can easily accumulate throughout the day. They will help you prepare to speak, not just physically but also mentally, by reducing any anxiety you may be feeling.
Public Speaking Games
If you’re looking for fun-filled speech activities for your class check these out.
There are 7 public speaking games here. You’ll find they’re very adaptable to suit children of all ages; that is from around middle school to adulthood.
Use them in your class room, with the members of your speech club, or as an extension activity for a life skills or communications program. They’ll help by-pass the fear factor, develop and nurture competent, confident public speaking skills, and do it with a large dollop of fun!
* If you’re not sure about how to introduce these games to your class or group, scroll down to the foot of the page. You’ll find ‘how to begin’ guidelines there.
1. Connect the Dots
Prepare a collection of word cards each with a familiar noun on it. You’ll need at least 100.For example: bird, wheelbarrow, hammer, cow, witch, moon, grass, hat, elephant, computer, book, vase, photo, candlestick, shoe, painting, mug, plane, eclipse, operation, halo, knife, eye, storm, girl, pillow, lid, thermometer, jungle, barn, wheel, thistle, steam, mud …
Put the word cards into box or non-see through bag.
A player picks two cards and then must tell a story connecting both words together convincingly. The story needn’t be long, complicated or true.
Once your class is comfortable with connecting two words, add to your word collection and increase the number of cards selected to three or even four.
2. The History of …
Prepare a starter list of events or things.
For example: a postage stamp, birthday cake, books, a zebra’s stripes, a chimney, the tooth fairy, common sayings like ‘a penny for your thoughts’, ‘a red rag to a bull’, ‘a pinch and a punch for the first of the month’,April Fools Day, a wheel, a Christmas tree, ice cream, a ladder, Father Christmas, May Day, a siren, shaking hands on meeting someone …
Each speaker is to give an account of the history (story) behind the thing or event. It needn’t be factual! The goal of this public speaking game is credible fluency.
3. End lines
Prepare a list of endings.
For example: ‘Just do it’, ‘Diamonds are forever’, ‘He’s fallen in the water’, ‘Some like it hot’, ‘His bark is worse than his bite’, ‘Love makes the world go round’, ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’, ‘First up, best dressed’, ‘King for a day’, ‘Funny money’, ‘Laughter is the best medicine’…Each speaker is to tell a story ending with the line they’ve been given.
4. Story Starters
Prepare a list of opening sentences or phrases.For example: ‘It was a dark and stormy night’, ‘I wish people would not say …’, ‘Yesterday I saw a herd of cows ‘, ‘My favorite activity is bird watching’, ‘The wisest saying I ever heard was …’, ‘In 20 years time I will be …’, ‘It made me yell’, ‘All I want for Christmas is …’, ‘Something is terribly wrong …’, ‘The little voice inside my head …’, ‘This is the secret I’ve never shared before’, ‘I never knew what happened …’, ‘Sometimes I just want to …’, ‘You know it’s Summer when …’, ‘Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you’, ‘The story made me want to …’,’I heard the best news this morning’, ‘The sound of people laughing …’Each speaker begins with their opener, building a story and extending it however they wish.
5. Oink Substitution
In this game choose a commonly used word to substitute with ‘oink’.For example: If the chosen word is I, the speaker says oink instead.
Note: Oink is best played as an extension of already known public speaking games for instance, Story Starters or End Lines. Once your group is confident, add the ‘oink’ factor for even more fun! You’ll find substitution hones thinking-while-you’re-speaking skills really well.
6. The BIG Fat Lie
This game fosters imagination, fluency and fun. In playing it your group will learn about body language too! How do you know when somebody is lying? How can you tell?
Each speaker is to share 3 things about themselves on a theme you set.
Examples of theme: holidays, the future, my favorite after school activities, when I was young, my beliefs, the best books I’ve read, the best adventures I’ve had …, my family …
Two of the things they say about themselves are to be true. The third is not.
When they’ve finished speaking, ask the class to identify the lie.
PS. This makes a great icebreaker for groups getting together for the first time.
In the last activity making up of this collection of 7 public speaking games, your class are broadcasters, anchor people for a news show.
The news is whatever has happened during the day. It could be an event on the way to school like a traffic jam. It might be a new menu in the canteen or lunch room. It could be an announcement the principal made.
It doesn’t matter how trivial the happening; encourage the big news treatment for anything at all, even a new set of pencils!
The aim of the exercise is give whatever subject they choose the standard news format. They’ll need to cover who, what, where, why, when and how. Once they’ve mastered that encourage experimentation; adding introduction hooks, on-the-spot interviews, switch backs and summaries.
Easy Public Speaking Exercises
Public speaking exercises simply refers to whatever approach you need to practice speaking in public. There are public speaking courses you can take to help gather some tips and experience, or you can work on it at home. However you do it, public speaking exercises can help improve your overall speaking skills as well as help alleviate public speaking fears.
Memorize and RepeatThe easiest public speaking exercise is to memorize and repeat. Find a short speech and memorize it. Depending on your skill, this can be a simple speech from a textbook or an elaborate speech by a world leader. Gather your family around and give the speech to them. Then ask for honest feedback about your delivery.
A true public speaking exercise needs to be more than just repeating a speech, though. You need to deliver the speech as it was meant to be delivered. You need to capture the right tone and truly give the speech. To do this there are a few things you need to keep in mind:
Eye contact: It’s important to look up and maintain eye contact with your audience when you give a public speech. Maintaining eye contact automatically delivers your voice straight out and into the audience, instead of down and into the ground.
Volume and speed: You need to speak loudly and clearly to deliver a good public speech. Nobody wants to listen to something they cannot hear or understand. Make sure to keep your pace at a medium rate, not too slow and not too fast.
Tone and inflection: Ignoring the tone of your voice or forgetting to make inflections on certain words makes for a very dull speech. Help make your speech interesting and fun by making it sound interesting and fun.
Public Speaking GroupsA great place to find many public speaking exercises, as well as public speaking courses, is in your community. Many areas have local public speaking classes that can be taken for a small fee. You can also look around, either locally or online, for a chapter of “Toastmasters International,” a public speaking group that offers classes.
