*The basis of all good speaking – EASE

David Mamet’s famous dictum offers us a great way to discover ease in our work. “invent nothing, deny nothing, accept everything”.

Do not push, do not try to hard, do not invent.

 But be open, be vulnerable, be willing to see and seize opportunities that arise, do not deny what happens or what you feel.

Denying will lead to inner stress and outer manifestations of tension.

Go with The Flow.

Lastly accept everything, decide what is within your control and what is not. Focus on those things that you have power to change and influence and you will be happier and more at ease with yourself.

from Mark Westbrook’s Acting Blog http://acting-blog.com/

Barbara Kite is an executive speaking coach and a professional acting coach in Portland ORegon.

*SHAKE it up

How about  a change of perspective? 

My Acting Coach would say you need to get their attention, shock them and change their perspective.

And although this clip doesn’t shock, I found it reminded me that I’m playing it safe and moved me to remember that in America we avoid the big emotions.  What else do we stay away from?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gQ31m4Yt0s&feature=related

Chavela Vargas – La Llorona (Video Clip)

Just another reminder through art, that I need to daily shake myself out of my every dayness.

Just another reminder that as a speaker, I need to challange myself.  A reminder that I’m not using all of me to succeed in my work .

Barbara Kite is an executive speaking coach and a professional acting coach, as well as a keynot speaker, based in Portland Oregon. www.barbarakite.com

*Why I prefer the messy speech over the perfect one

I specifically used the word “messy” because it goes beyond “imperfect” and connotes allowing more freedom than most of us allow ourselves. 

 

I know the clients I work with need a lot of coaching to let go of the need to be perfect, not to fail, not to look foolish.  It reqiures quite a bit of encouraging for them to  be  even marginally messy.    

I once worked with who kept trying to be perfect in their speech and therefore were constantly checking and watching to see if they were or not, thus, taking the attention away from the audience and the topic. That means the energry is going away from the audience. This ends up with the losing the audience.   

The messy speech usually ends up not being messy when given by the “need to be perfect” speaker because they know the subject matter backwards and although they are afraid they will freeze, look foolish or lose their place, they need to be coaxed into realizing they won’t.   They’ll just sound authentic AS IF THEY ARE GIVING THIS SPEECH FOR THE FIRST TIME which is what every actor knows as the key to a fresh., engaging, authentic performance every night.  

And don’t kid yourself your speech is a performance – it requires authenticy, heightened energry and great story telling skills JUST like actors do.     

Letting go is the key to great acting and great speaking. Perfect the speech and then let it go. Screw up, fail. You can always include what you’ve forgotten later.

 

Don’t sacrafice connection, authenticity, humanity for perfection. The latter is never memorable.

see www.bmkite.wordpress.com
for more information about speaking and actng skills.

*PERFECT your speaking skills – Practice these daily

You need to practice to improve and to keep yourself  properly tuned and prepared.

Listed below is some basic daily work you can do to keep yourself in top shape.

1) remind Yourself it’s not about you by rededication to your cause 

(SEE “It’s not about you – the gift and the fear”)

http://bmkite.wordpress.com/2009/04/

2) do vocal work  - so important to keep your instrument golden

(SEE “The Voice and the Speaker”)

 http://bmkite.wordpress.com/2009/06/18/the-voice-and-the-speaker/

3) fine tune the all important  stories (sense memory)

(SEE “Sense Memory: Making Stories vivid and memorable”) http://bmkite.wordpress.com/2009/05/19/sense-memory-making-stories-vivid-and-memorable/

4) practice relaxation techniques perfecting your warm up

(SEE “Professional Actors Warm Up Before they go on”) http://bmkite.wordpress.com/2009/06/08/professional-actors-warm-up-before-they-go-on/

Barbara Kite is a professional acting coach and executive speaking coach based in Portland Oregon www.barbarakite.com