SPEAK with CONFIDENCE
When I was in Grade 6 on a particular day, our English teacher brought in a poster of a man and a cassette tape. She asked us if anyone knew who he was, one boy did. It was Martin Luther King Jr. She pressed play on the tape recorder and out poured a speech that would change my life. 'I Have A Dream'. It was whilst hearing those words delivered with such passion, conviction and confidence that I began to understand the power of words, the power in their delivery. To have the ability to reach and touch others; to make them think, question, move to action, learn, feel, imagine and hope. All that, with words.
To stand up in front of a group of people and speak can be daunting, but it is nessesary in our lives. I started as a kid with speech competitions and lip synching contests in school. I was not a cool kid but these opportunities allowed me to find a voice and test out language and how best to present it. Today I am an actor and yoga teacher. I am in front of groups and strangers often. I'm not going to lie, I'm always nervous, but through the years I've learned and put many tools in my tool box to be able to deal with nerves and use them to my advantage. Nerves are good. I know it may sound crazy, but if you learn to control them and not let them control you, they can be an advantage. My acting coach tells us think of it not as nerves but as excitement. It's energy coursing through your body alerting you that what you are about to do is important. Nerves are the fear saying you might fail, reminding you that everyone there will be judging you and your words. But fear not! There are practical physical, vocal and mental things that you can you to harness your fear of public speaking, nerves in front of others or fear of performing on stage.
COACHING PACKAGES
KIDS-TEENS-ADULTS-PERFORMERS
KIDS/TEENS- 5 Session Package
5 - One hour sessions $240
Parents, if you notice that your child is fearful of presentations or doing speeches, has a desire to perform but is held back, these five one hour coaching sessions could be for him/hers.
Identify fears and how they are physically, mentally, vocally and emotionally blocking,
Body/Physicality
Breath/Voice
Diction/Resonators/Use of Tongue and Lips.
Thought Process/Preparation
Tricks/Learning to trust and let go.
ADULTS - 5 Session Package
5- One hour sessions $260
Body/Physicality
Breath/Voice
Diction/Resonators/Use of Tongue and Lips.
Thought Process/Preparation
Tricks/Learning to trust and let go.
ADULTS - 10 Session Package
10- One hour sessions $485
Body/Physicality
Breath/Voice
Diction/Resonators/Use of Tongue and Lips.
Thought Process/Preparation
Tricks/Learning to trust and let go.
Identifying your fears/implement plan/steps to minimize/overcome
Body Language
An vocal/body warm-up tailored to you
Become mindful of detrimental voice/body habits
Polish - putting it all together with your individuality.
Acting Scenes/Monologue Coaching
1.5 hour $80 3hrs $160 On-Going $65/hour
Body/Physicality
Breath/Voice
Diction/Resonators/Use of Tongue and Lips.
Thought Process/Preparation
Tricks/Learning to trust and let go.
Who is this character? Why are you saying these words?
Letting go of physical, vocal blockages
Finding the heart and the story.
Relax into the character/How not to over prepare
What serves you, what dosen't?
Using fear/apprehension as a tool/launch pad.
Did you know that a fear of public speaking is called Glossophobia? In a recent study done by Speech Topics Help, fear of public speaking ranked as the #1 fear!
Top Ten Fears, in order:
1. Public speaking – Glossophobia
2. Death and end of life – Necrophobia
3. Spiders – Arachnophobia
4. Darkness and twilight – Achluophobia, Scotophobia or Myctophobia
5. Heights, altitude or elevations – Acrophobia
6. People or social situations – Sociophobia
7. Flying in airplanes – Aerophobia
8. Open spaces and squares – Agoraphobia
9. Natural thunder and lightning – Brontophobia
10. Confined spaces or small rooms – Claustrophobia
http://artofpublicspeaking.net/fear-of-public-speaking-statistics/
"But what if I fail of my purpose here? It is but to keep the nerves at strain, to dry one's eyes and laugh at a fall, and baffled, get up and begin again."
-Robert Browning
"When you stop being nervous is when you should retire. I'm always a little nervous for anything I do because when complacency sets in, that's when I feel it's time to move on to something else."
-Chris Jericho
"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear."
- Ambrose Redmoon
"Courage is not the absence of fear. It is acting in spite of it."
-Mark Twain