In this Issue

• Stealing time to practice

• The 3 top pages this month

• Say goodbye to public speaking nerves

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The art of mini-rehearsals

Following my last newsletter on the need for rehearsal I got some forthright feedback:

Between working full time, minding my children and household chores I do not have time to practice.

Rehearsal is a luxury. Only privileged people with time on their hands can do it.

An hour to rehearse? Every day for a week? What planet are you on?

All of that is totally understandable.

I'm well acquainted with the juggling act needed to fit everything in.

I'm also aware, as you will be, that the only way to get better at something is to practice.

So where does that time come from? A quick look at your daily diary and there seems to be no space at all for fitting anything extra in.

But wait...

Have you considered that instead of trying to make regular large chunks of time available, you could use the smaller scraps of down, or in-between time, that occur naturally throughout a day?

I call this stealing time.

Places to steal from

Places you could quite easily steal from for practice include:

Drive or commute time
If you're in a car by yourself use it to go through your speech aloud. Or to practice speech openings, closings, telling stories, assuming character voices, transitions, articulation exercises, eliminating filler words ...

If you're commuting with others pre-record your speech and then listen for what you do well and what needs refining.

Rehearse in your mind. Use your imagination to systematically go through your opening, closing, introducing the break out session, and more.

With repeated effort you'll learn to see and hear yourself quite clearly.

Ablution - bath or shower time
Choose one aspect or segment your speech to practice. Five or ten minutes trying out different openings or transitions is better than none at all.

Commercial breaks
Yes, use those breaks in the program if you're watching television. Press mute and in the time available go over one aspect repeatedly until its learned.

Routine tasks
Weeding, pushing the lawn mower, sweeping the courtyard, folding laundry, ironing ...

Practice while you do any repetitive task that doesn't require your complete attention. For example I regularly talk my way around the garden weeding or mowing.

If you genuinely can not manage to set aside large chunks of time do not be discouraged. These mini-practice sessions do work. Minutes stolen on a frequent basis quickly add up to hours of rehearsal.

Try it.

For more information

If you missed it last month here's my 7 basic step-by-step rehearsal tips to take you safely from notes to stage.

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The 3 top pages this month

1. Do you have a thanksgiving event coming up soon? And perhaps you are planning a speech or a toast?

Check this page: thanksgiving speech. You'll find themes to choose from, a template, an example speech and links to pages on the history of Thanksgiving.

2. Do you want to know how to structure an impromptu speech effectively?

This article, Banish impromptu speaking blues, offers strategies as well as 7 templates to help you fall in love with impromptu speaking.

3. And if you're going to work on impromptu speaking skills some subject ideas would be helpful.

Here's a link to 50 impromptu speaking topics. Once you open the page you'll find ongoing links to more.

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Overcoming public speaking anxiety

Perhaps you've tried a whole lot of things to rein in the anxiety you experience when you have to speak in public.

And maybe nothing has worked for you, yet.
I've a suggestion: self-hypnosis.

I've used it to help myself with anxiety in the past and found very beneficial.

This is gentle, cost-effective, user-friendly treatment from recognized experts.

And I want to be totally upfront. If you buy a treatment package through my link, I may earn a commission.

Look and see for yourself. Click manage public speaking anxiety or on the image below for more information.

Comment, share & connect

If you've got comments, feedback or questions you're most welcome to contact me through my about me page.

If you liked this issue of Speaking-Out-Loud, please feel free to send it on to any friends or family. The site url to forward so they can subscribe is Speaking-Out-Loud.

And I'd love to see you on write-out-loud.com's face book page too.

Until next time,
Happy speaking,

Susan

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