Public speaking can be a daunting prospect to people of all ages. Even some of the most confident people can feel their hands starting to shake at the concept of addressing an audience. Instead of taking public speaking courses, which can be scary in themselves, tackle this fear from a new angle with relaxed acting classes.
Public speaking courses have their downsides. First and foremost, while they may be able to point out some flaws and give you some helpful pointers, they are performed outside of a real world situation. Learning to stand correctly and project in a room with a speech therapist is one thing, but that feeling of standing in front of a crowd can hardly be imitated. Besides, being instructed is one thing, and taking on board that learning is entirely another. Speech therapy classes are short term, and packed with so much information that it is likely a large proportion of it will be lost in a few weeks. You will forget the angle to tilt your head and the amount of eye contact necessary if you have simply been told it rather than learning it for yourself.
Learning to be good at capturing the attention of a room is about feeling confident and at home. Some of the typical aspects of public speaking classes, such as body language and speech rates do not work for everyone, and trying to force it will make your performance transparent. You have to learn what makes you appear the way you want to appear, and learn to become confident in doing that. It’s not purely about going through the physical steps, but more achieving a psychological state, from which the physical movements naturally flow.
In a public speaking session, your main fear is the focus. It can be a confronting and challenging experience that does not work for some people. An alternative to this is to shift the focus away from the speaking itself. Acting is an art form that encompasses a wide range of elements to portray a character on stage. Instead of just standing there in a spotlight with a hundred eyes turned toward you, actors are engrossed in a character and move about the stage. Audience eyes are concerned about what is happening in the story, and are not purely critiquing your delivery of a text.
Perhaps one of the other key advantages of acting to develop speaking skills is that it is done within a social context. For those with a serious aversion to public speaking, the thought of a solo performance is unbearable. Performing as one of many however takes a huge amount of pressure off. Of course, performing in a group is also exciting and fun, something that can hardly be said for the delivery of a conference speech. Being one person in a group surrounded by others who might have similar concerns is reassuring that you are not alone. As bonds form, you will be able to naturally raise your self-esteem, and better projection and delivery will follow.
Finally, acting can actually address some of the fundamental points of public speaking tuition in far more depth/ Breathing for example, is more emphasised in acting than in regular speech. In regular speech, we simply take a breath when we need to, and sentences tend to be short enough or broken down into clauses that allow us to pause. Acting can be an entirely different story. The iambic pentameter of Shakespeare will demand bigger breaths in order to maintain the rhythm of the text. Singing too requires more thought being put into breathing. Actors are often dancing or vigorously moving about the stage when speaking or singing, and so special techniques are taught to ensure the smoothest and most consistent delivery.
Begin your path to confidence with Beginner Acting Classes with Stage School Australia..
Public speaking courses have their downsides. First and foremost, while they may be able to point out some flaws and give you some helpful pointers, they are performed outside of a real world situation. Learning to stand correctly and project in a room with a speech therapist is one thing, but that feeling of standing in front of a crowd can hardly be imitated. Besides, being instructed is one thing, and taking on board that learning is entirely another. Speech therapy classes are short term, and packed with so much information that it is likely a large proportion of it will be lost in a few weeks. You will forget the angle to tilt your head and the amount of eye contact necessary if you have simply been told it rather than learning it for yourself.
Learning to be good at capturing the attention of a room is about feeling confident and at home. Some of the typical aspects of public speaking classes, such as body language and speech rates do not work for everyone, and trying to force it will make your performance transparent. You have to learn what makes you appear the way you want to appear, and learn to become confident in doing that. It’s not purely about going through the physical steps, but more achieving a psychological state, from which the physical movements naturally flow.
In a public speaking session, your main fear is the focus. It can be a confronting and challenging experience that does not work for some people. An alternative to this is to shift the focus away from the speaking itself. Acting is an art form that encompasses a wide range of elements to portray a character on stage. Instead of just standing there in a spotlight with a hundred eyes turned toward you, actors are engrossed in a character and move about the stage. Audience eyes are concerned about what is happening in the story, and are not purely critiquing your delivery of a text.
Perhaps one of the other key advantages of acting to develop speaking skills is that it is done within a social context. For those with a serious aversion to public speaking, the thought of a solo performance is unbearable. Performing as one of many however takes a huge amount of pressure off. Of course, performing in a group is also exciting and fun, something that can hardly be said for the delivery of a conference speech. Being one person in a group surrounded by others who might have similar concerns is reassuring that you are not alone. As bonds form, you will be able to naturally raise your self-esteem, and better projection and delivery will follow.
Finally, acting can actually address some of the fundamental points of public speaking tuition in far more depth/ Breathing for example, is more emphasised in acting than in regular speech. In regular speech, we simply take a breath when we need to, and sentences tend to be short enough or broken down into clauses that allow us to pause. Acting can be an entirely different story. The iambic pentameter of Shakespeare will demand bigger breaths in order to maintain the rhythm of the text. Singing too requires more thought being put into breathing. Actors are often dancing or vigorously moving about the stage when speaking or singing, and so special techniques are taught to ensure the smoothest and most consistent delivery.
Begin your path to confidence with Beginner Acting Classes with Stage School Australia..
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