Easy Tips to a Better Voice During Presentations

Here are some easy to do tips to get you a better voice during presentations:

• Avoid the restriction of tight clothing that might keep the abdominal area from expanding.
• Tight clothing is especially restrictive if you have just eaten a heavy meal.
• Better yet, do not eat a heavy meal before doing a presentation!

Rerun from 12/16/2013 and 03/13/2017

Public Speaking Training:  Great Exercises for Coping With Stress

Here are some of my favorite “coping with stress” exercises.

For some people, anxiety is a problem whenever they do presentations.  Are you like many people and also feel stressed out during your daily work or academic life?   These exercises are good training in your daily life and for using before a presentation.

Taking an active relaxation break is simple.  Find a comfortable, quiet place to sit where you will not be disturbed.  Close your eyes and think of the word “relax.”  Think “re” as you inhale and “lax” as you exhale.  Be sure you are breathing deeply into the abdominal-diaphragmatic area.  It’s simple– inhale “re” and exhale “lax.”  Do this for at least a minute.  Let any thoughts gently float away.  Aim to increase this exercise to five minutes or more.  Doing it several times a day can break the stress cycle you experience in your life.

Visualization can be very effective in reducing anticipatory stress.  Anticipatory stress is what you feel before you do a presentation.  So, if you want to improve your presentations, whether impromptu with little warning, or formal presentations,  imagine yourself doing the best communication or presentation you have ever done.  Create the scene in your mind and let your body relax.  Take a deep breath and feel the sense of well-being in your body.  Visualization is very effective to reduce tension and improve your performance.

Another stress releaser is this:  Have objects on your desk that are pleasant to look at.  You can use one for a brief visualization exercise.  You might use a shell, for example.  Looking at the details of this shell for a few seconds and concentrating your thoughts on the shell will give you a break from your work or academic day.  If you brought the shell from the ocean, you can let your mind go back and feel the sun and the warm sand beneath your feet.  Hear the ocean and really return to the seaside for a few moments.  This short, mental vacation will relax your body and mind.

You can use any object – a flower, picture, something that has meaning to you.

Next time: Did you ever wonder why English has such a strange spelling system?

Be sure to watch our English Speech Tips videos and Accent Reduction Tip videos  for more English pronunciation and accent reduction exercise.

Rerun from 12/25/2013 and 02/01/2017

How to Solve the Problem of a Very High-Pitched Voice from Anxiety

Here is another tip for a problem that is very common with improper breathing – a very high-pitched voice.

• When we get nervous or anxious, our pitch generally rises because of increased tension in the throat area.
• When you combine anxiety with having to increase the volume of your voice for a presentation to a large room, you may also get a very high-pitched voice.
• Do proper breathing so that you are increasing your volume without tensing the laryngeal area to solve this problem.  In other words, don’t use upper chest breathing.  Instead, use abdominal muscles and the diaphragm for inhaling and exhaling AND control the air as it is exhaled. 

Rerun from 12/09/2013 and 03/05/2017

Public Speaking: How to Relax Before You Present

The beginning of a presentation is often a difficult time to maintain your focus.  Try taking a slight pause at the beginning and thinking of a word to help you focus.  That word might be “focus” or for me it is “twinkle” to remind me to enjoy!

It is important to prepare for your presentation by relaxing prior to it when possible.  If you are at the site of your presentation, and it is not coming up for a few minutes, you can do this: Create your own “mental green room.”  Find a place away from everyone and take a few deep abdominal-diaphragmatic breaths.  Think about your audience as being one person, a dear friend, and what this presentation will mean to him or her.  Let your mind catch up with your body.  Your mind may have been running all day.  Calm your mind.

If you can’t remove yourself from the site, then make a dwelling within your mind and space.  Breathe and concentrate on your dear friend whom you will be talking to in a few minutes.

Next time are my favorite tips for coping with anxiety or stress.

Be sure to watch our English Speech Tips videos and Accent Reduction Tip videos  for more English pronunciation and accent reduction exercise.

Rerun from Dec 18, 2013 and 01/25/2017

How to Fix the Common Voice Problem of Glottal Fry During a Presentation

Here are is a tip for a common voice problem called glottal fry during a presentation.

• The Problem: Glottal fry is a popping sound or voice with a low pitch and rough voice that can be heard toward the ends of sentences when the breath supply and pitch drops.
• The Solution: Increase air supply by deeper breathing and do a slight rise in pitch

Rerun from 12/2/2013 and 02/27/2017