To nail your next speech, follow these eight tips

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is an interesting article by Jessica Doyle-Mekkes at the Reader’s Digest on December 8, 2023 titled Follow these 8 public speaking tips to nail your next presentation. She is the head of musical theatre at the East Carolina State University.

 

Her eight tips are to:

 

Practice, practice, practice

Breathe deeply

Record yourself [audio]

Video record yourself

Warm up your voice

Hydrate

Get steamy

Talk yourself into it

 

Under Warm up your voice she says:

 

“…My favorite vocal warm-ups are Semi Occluded Vocal Tract Exercises (SOVTEs). If you think of speaking like sitting on a swing and pumping your legs to get going, SOVTEs are like someone giving you a push. They’re great for getting your voice going in the morning, if you’re feeling under the weather and before a speaking event.

 

To do it: Grab a straw, place it in your mouth and wrap your lips around it. Then hum. Be sure all the air is going through the straw. You can hum sirens (from the bottom of your range to the top), hills (small sirens that get larger each time) or use the melody of a song. Aim for two to three minutes, five times per day.”

 

Then Jessica said to Hydrate and to Get steamy. On September 20, 2023 I blogged about Recent and definitive advice on preventing hoarseness (dysphonia). That article similarly said:

 

“Drink plenty of water, especially in dry areas

and to Humidify your home”

 

An image of a hammer from Wikimedia Commons was colored in.