In this Issue

4 updated resource pages to help you with the challenges of meeting online

Take what you need from: learning to replace bland words with vibrantly alive ones, exercises to give you the skills you need to use your voice well, a threesome of fun games that teach speech fluency, good articulation and develop confidence, and a step by step article on putting together a great demonstration speech.

How are you going in this rapidly changing world where we meet via 'Zoom', or the equivalent, to see family, chat to friends and work? I figure I'm not alone in finding it challenging!

It's important, as circumstances change, that we continue to do our best to communicate clearly. Voice, vocabulary, tone, articulation and structure of what we're saying, particularly if it's a workplace presentation, become even more vital online.

Online, typical communication cues are missing

It's because, in this new reality, the usual communication cues we pick up from being present in a shared physical setting are missing. We don't mutually experience: a room, an audience, the tempting smell of lunch as it's being prepared in the kitchen, feel the hardness of the chairs, the sounds of activity outside - cars on the street, children laughing...While Covid is present, most of that is gone.

Online, six senses become two

When we meet via a screen the full colorful palate of our six senses (seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, and moving) are reduced to two. We see, and we hear.

That makes what we say, and how we say it, important.

Here are a few resources to help you make the most of the current situation.

1. Action verbs for speech writing
   Give yourself a vibrant vocabulary! The words we choose color our communications which in turn influences how people interpret or understand what we've said. Why be bland, when you can be so much more?


2. Quick, easy effective tips for vocal variety
   Have you got one of those boring voices? A voice that drones? A voice that is monotone? It doesn't have to be like that. When you open your mouth, ears do not have to switch off. This page has exercises to help with pitch, (how high or low your voice is), tone (the feeling or emotion expressed in the way you speak), and volume (how loud or how soft your voice is). You'll find links to more too: speech rate and articulation.


3. 3 public speaking games
   Here are 3 very popular games that adapt well to online use: permission to speak badly, 1 minute speeches, and tantalizing tongue twisters. They're perfect for helping people to improve their speaking skills in a fun, safe way. They're suitable for middle school plus and each game package comes with resource files.


4. How to put together a great demonstration ('how to') speech
   Nothing teaches the importance of sequencing and structure quite as effectively as a demonstration speech. Get the order of steps needed to complete a task wrong, and it all falls to pieces. Choose an inappropriate subject and it will fail to fly. This page provides a safety net: things to consider before settling on a topic and how to set about finding the best structural sequence for your 'how to' speech. It's good old-fashioned common sense information you can apply to any form of 'show and tell' presentation.

PS.