Perfect Poise, Perfect Life
Bring your body into balance and revolutionise your life
By Noel Kingsley
Publisher Hodder Mobius
AVAILABLE HERE
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Speak more slowly, have more impact
Are you aware of how quickly you speak and do you rush your words when anxious? The speed of your speech can make such a difference to how we are perceived and how persuasive we are in negotiating, presenting and just even being heard amidst the babble of a noisy meeting.
In my former career in retail marketing, I used to make a great many presentations; some would be to small groups and others to as many as a hundred. In putting ideas or proposals forward we want to come over persuasively and not to weaken the argument by our delivery. There are many aspects of presenting that will help us present successfully, including varying our pitch of voice so it's not monotonous, moving our body so we don't get stuck, engaging with our audience, the occasional smile and being articulate. However speed of speech can have such an impact on our audience that it must be one of the most important aspects of public speaking that it is worthy of special training and even experimenting in private.
I have worked with many people in business as well as broadcasting and theatre who have wanted to improve their speaking voice. Alexander Technique can help enormously with the tone, resonance of our voice and avoiding strain in difficult and demanding situations. After all, F.M. Alexander was an 19th century actor who had vocal problems and it was these difficulties that caused him to look for a cure after vocal specialists and doctors failed. The years he gave to experimenting, researching and the resultant discoveries about natural poise, balance and co-ordination brought about the Alexander Technique we know today.
Thinking about the benefits of speaking slowly brings to mind a particular client whose job was threatened by his difficulties in public speaking and his ability to persuade an argument.
Peter is a top-ranking European fund manager and partner in one of Europe's largest fund management companies and is personally responsible for managing over one billion US dollars in funds.
Peter had been criticised in an appraisal for generally speaking too quickly, giving unsatisfactory face-to-face interaction, and seeming unwilling to engage in debate. He told me that he felt particularly ineffective during international conference calls where his over rapid presentation, possibly caused by nerves, often resulted in silence rather than the expected questions and debate. This undermined his confidence still further and weakened his business persuasiveness.
Peter came to see if the Alexander Technique could help him. It was important from the outset that we should firstly work on improving his overall postural condition. Peter learnt how to inhibit his tensional habits and encourage a loosening, lengthening and widening of his stature that in turn improved his breathing so when it came to introducing some voice work into the sessions, changing his manner of speech became easy. The emphasis was entirely on making less effort rather than more and ensuring that he maintained his upright poise throughout. Release in his chest brought about a reassuring resonance and gravitas.
I encouraged Peter to speak more slowly throughout the whole session, and particularly when we talked about some aspects of his work that he found stressful. He says himself that this has helped give him confidence and integrate his new manner of speaking into his normal life.
After just four sessions including the voice work, Peter got positive feed back from several sources on his new clarity of delivery. Within a few weeks the new manner of speaking was coming more naturally. Conference calls and face-to-face meetings were no longer as daunting and he had grown in stature and professional demeanour. During his next appraisal six months later he was complimented on how he had changed his voice and abilities in presentation and not only saved his job but received a salary increase.
Speak more slowly, have more impact.
