Fellow Speaker,
Do you inspire others when you speak?
When a speaker inspires you you hang on their every word, you feel energised, refreshed, compelled to rise to the challenge for you know you too, through your words, can inspire. You’ve seen it in the eyes of a loved one comforted and the confident smile of a child once struggling with numbers and long division. You know you can inspire, you’ve known it for years, but what you haven’t known is how to convey your magnificent talent through your oral communication?
To achieve this requires you to learn the skill of the professional actor, though you need to be clear that acting does not mean pretending, instead, it is a method of externalising what is deeply held within. Acting for public speakers is in effect about working with your emotions, and in the process interpreting for others, connecting through your use of body movement, your facial expressions, hand gestures, and the resonance of your voice.
As a public speaker you become an actor the moment you are introduced to the podium. For many new to the experience of public speaking this is difficult to understand. Speaking and acting are surely different disciplines? Milo O. Frank said in “How to get your point across in 30 seconds – or less,” that a workshop participant once observed: “I thought I was here to learn how to communicate, not how to become an actor.” The truth, as this student discovered, is that inspiring public speaking is a form of acting in its own right.
Through SPEAK UP! you learn professional acting skills to: (1) ignite your hidden emotions and help interpret for others; (2) become more animated and compelling to watch; and (3) make your voice more powerful. When you have mastered this, just as Milo’s student learned, you’ll understand that through your acting skills you too are able to inspire others when you stand to speak.
Bobby Livingston
Founder
The Speakers College
SPEAK from the HEART 