What people don’t realise about public speaking? Tell us some behind-the-scenes secrets. What is it that they don’t know about public speaking? The good, the bad and the ugly – go on! Spill the beans!
Olivia: What don’t they know about public speaking? Well, I for instance, I do a warm-up before I go on stage. A lot of people wouldn’t even think about it. But I kind of like, you know, make sure that my body’s moving. I make sure my face is moving. So, when I say, “My body is moving”, I wave my arms around, my face is moving, I get it going. And one of the things that I do, not just before I go on stage but in preparation, is a little bit of training for my diction.
Corinne: Oh, I was prepared.
Olivia: You were prepared. So, for training for your diction, there’s a little exercise that we learnt at the BBC, and – actually, Brex is very good at this exercise. And you put the cork just between your teeth like that, through your teeth. And then you try to speak as clearly as you can, as if you are the podcast and you wanted to be understood. But you didn’t want people to know you had a cork in your mouth.
Corinne: Right! It’s quite difficult, isn’t it? That makes your jaw hurt, doesn’t it?
Olivia: A small tip…
Corinne: You see, you had more practise than me. I’m going to do that.
Olivia: Except that your cork is probably from a bottle, which is about four millimeters higher.
Corinne: It’s from this thing. I had little chocolates in it.
Olivia: Don’t offer me one then. I’m just a guest.
Corinne: They’re gone now, they’re gone.
Olivia: Yeah, I can see! Okay, so this cork is a seven millimetre cork, so it’s a little bit less than a wine bottle. I cut it, so, it’s got to be slightly uncomfortable but not impossible. And then what happens is it’s like weight training for the tongue. The back of the tongue really has to work hard to say the words. And this is extremely good, particularly if you’re speaking in a language like English that is not your native language. In order to articulate clearly, it’s good to try this exercise. And I give this exercise to my coachees and try to get them to do a minute a day.
Corinne: A minute a day?
Olivia: “A minute a day makes the diction problems away”, is what I say.
Corinne: It sounds like addiction problems.
Olivia: I just made that up on the spot. So, that’s one really good thing. I get my voice sweaty, I do humming
Olivia: So that’s one really good thing so I get my voice sweaty. I do humming.
Corinne: Oh, well, that’s easy to do, isn’t it, when you’re waiting for the zoom call to start?
Olivia: Yeah. I do “brrrrrr”.
Corinne: Oh, I’m quite good at that.
Olivia: And I might do “rrrrrrrrrr”.
Corinne: Oh, I needed this in Bavaria “rrrrrrr”
Olivia: So, I do some of these things which just helps the clarity when I’m on stage. It makes me aware and it makes the muscles work and it makes me more articulate, which is very important when you’re talking for something. So that’s something I do to get ready sort of physically.