Public Speaking - Its not only vocal, its physical too!

One of the top listed fears among the human race is - SPEAKING IN PUBLIC. For some reason our minds kick in and the negative thoughts that pop up start to manifest in the body which results in the entire speech being a botch up and becoming uncomfortable for everyone involved, both the speaker and the listener.
Public speaking is a subject in itself and should be compulsory for every individual. The odd oral at school really does nothing to build up that confidence - in fact I remember it doing more harm to my self-confidence than good...and I was a confident child, imagine what it must have done to the poor sausage who lacked self-confidence.
As a drama teacher with an Honors Degree in drama and performance studies one would think that public speaking would come naturally to me - this is not so! I have definitely become better at public speaking over the years, but for some reason now and again all the memories of past botched up speeches come flooding back, my mouth becomes dry, my voice trembles, I lose my breath and I basically become a nightmare to listen to! Perhaps this is why I have become passionate about teaching drama techniques that help individuals become better public speakers.

If you haven't attended one of my classes, well firstly you should because they're brilliant :) However here are a few tips to remember:
The voice and the body are connected; if we learn to use our bodies properly in speech then we become relaxed mentally and vocally. In each of our lessons we try to teach our students from as young as 3 years old to find their neutral position or neutral posture. This position relaxes the entire body and helps release any tension that we may hold in our necks,shoulders, backs, chests, hands, legs, jaws or feet. This position is the first step to effective public speaking - there is a lot more to it, but I find that if I get into this correct position physically, then mentally and vocally I get more relaxed. It helps me breathe properly too and this is probably the most important aspect of speech...but that's for another blog :)
Happy Neutral positioning!!!
Kerry.