Live Longer

It is with great sadness that I read today of Arthur Lessac's death. Now who is Arthur Lessac you might wisely ask?

Arthur Lessac has been one of the most influential North American voice teachers of the last century and it was reading his seminal work, "The Use and Training of the Human Voice" that first piqued my interest in teaching voice work. He believed that the sounds in our language are like instruments in an orchestra and that one can develop both the body and the voice until it operates like a Stradivarius. Not only has he coached some of the most prominent actors of our time, he was a singer who performed with the likes of Paul Robeson and Burl Ives.

Now how does this relate to living longer? Lessac firmly believed that developing and using the human voice would, in fact, allow you to live longer. He died on April 7th at 101 years of age and roughly a month before that he was teaching at university in Croatia where he danced with his students in the streets!

I deeply regret that I never had a chance to witness this master teacher at his craft and am thankful that he has left behind a wealth of ideas that we can still access.

If you would like further information, check out the Lessac Training and Research Institute:

http://www.lessacinstitute.com/index2.html

Questions

What do we fear when we get up in front of large or even small groups of people? Is it that they will throw rotten fruits and vegetables at us, tie us to a stake and roast us over a hot fire or simply think less of us? Since the first two are fairly rare, I am assuming for most of us the answer is the latter. I have spent too many hours in my lifetime worrying about what people think of me, but if I remind myself what I am doing when I present it simplifies things.
"What are you doing?" you may ask yourself.
"I'm exchanging information." I respond.
"But you are the only one talking?" you query.
Ah, I may be the only one talking out loud, but every single person listening is having a thought as I speak and hopefully I am responding to those thoughts.

I recently worked with a presenter who wanted to become more comfortable with his material. We found that whenever he turned his material into a question and answer all of the technical elements fell into place. When he verbalized, "What are our objectives for today's session?" he began to breathe and add vocal variety and relax his body and connect visually with his listeners.

"So you actually want me to try this?" you ask incredulously.
"Why not? What do you have to lose? At least use it as a practice technique to see whether or not it changes your relationship to your material or the listener. I've found it even helps answer questions people have around structuring their content." I respond confidently.

Go on-- give it a try!

Santa

Last week, with my one-year old daughter strapped on my back and my four–year old son in tow, we spontaneously made our way into Santa’s workshop on Granville Island. After a rousing rendition of Jingle Bells, accompanied by maracas and bells jangled in a most rhythmically challenged way, my son had the opportunity of a life-time: to sit on Santa’s lap for a full ten minutes. Despite the fact that he has been writing his Christmas wish-list since April 28th, the day after his birthday, he was stunned into silence by the gigantic realness of this mythical being. When Santa came to that perfect of all questions, “What would you like for Christmas?” my son said nothing!!! Santa suggested board games to which Griffin blithely nodded his head in a euphoric stupor, despite the fact that he already has Candy Land and Snakes and Ladders, the two board games Santa proposed bringing.

Now, I don’t know about you, but in the event that I, too, lose my brain the next time I see Santa; I thought I should get down in writing what I would really like. Last year, he brought me the perfect present, a DVD collection of Playing Shakespeare (John Barton’s master class with Royal Shakespeare Company actors bringing life to the Bard’s sonnets, scenes and monologues).
This year I am dying for Patsy Rodenburg’s latest book, The Second Circle. I haven’t read it yet, but take a look at this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ub27yeXKUTY

For those of you confused by the concept of “presentation/performance energy” this is the book for you. I’ll fill you in further in the New Year, if Santa is good to me. I know that what my son really wants is the Playmobil Red Dragon. Think I might have to track Santa down myself and fill him in.

The Pacific Voice Clinic

Dr. Linda Rammage, a speech-language pathologist, wrote a wonderful little book on vocal health called "Vocalizing with Ease." Here is a link to more information about the book, as well as some important “Do’s and Don’ts” for getting the most from your voice.

If you ever fear that you may have a vocal health issue in need of consultation, use this site as a reference.

http://pvcrp.com/about_pvcrp.php

The Voice and Speech Trainers' Association (VASTA)

The Voice and Speech Trainers' Association (VASTA) is a worldwide organization designed to link voice and speech trainers and to provide a space where lay people can access a trainer. Part of their mandate is to spread the message of vocal health, and this site provides a thorough list of online resources that cover basic anatomy, vocal disorders, and much more.

http://www.vasta.org/

VoiceGuy

Eric Armstrong, a professor with the Department of Theatre at York University, has created an outstanding web-based resource. His website is easy to read with podcasts that take you from relaxing the body, breathing and simple sound, into more intermediate voice practices.

Download all of them onto your iPod and you can have a voice workout wherever you go.

http://voiceguy.ca/

Fillers and Mosquitos

With the heat each summer arrives a bevy of insidious mosquitoes that buzz in our ears and leave big welts on our skin. So each night, my husband has a whole routine that he follows to the letter: all windows and doors are shut at dusk, citronella essential oil is positioned near all drains and then the fly swatter comes out and any remaining mosquitoes are "taken care of". It works beautifully, but only if he performs his nightly routine.

I have had a few requests to discuss the idea of fillers; those "likes", "ers", "ummms" that creep unknowingly and sometimes all too frequently into our lectures, casual conversations and other important interchanges. Linguists disagree as to whether this is a negative or positive aspect of speech but most listeners would agree that by the tenth "ummm" in a two minute time period, we are paying more attention to the "ummm" than the content.

So what can we do to reduce these fillers if we find that they are running amok in our speech?

1. Assess what fillers you use. We each have our own and a good friend, partner or respected student will usually be able to help you out with this (in a respectful manner). Another choice is to record yourself speaking spontaneously on a set topic.

2. Don't be afraid to pause when you sense a filler approach. Sometimes verbalizing the "ummm" is our way to buy time as we develop the perfect wording for our communication.

3. Practice in manageable chunks. Concentrating on fillers all the time may become overwhelming. Choose a brief interchange, a five minute section in your lecture or short presentation where your focus for that moment can be on reducing fillers.

4. Expand your vocabulary. Learn a new word each day and soon the joy of finding just the right word will allow you to resist the general "umm" as you toss "penultimate" at your now intrigued listener.

5. Take time to practice a little bit each day and ask for feedback from others regarding your use of fillers.

Now, we still get a few mosquitoes from time to time, despite my husband's efforts and you will probably find that the fillers will appear occasionally even after all this work. What matters most is that you feel more confident and less held back and restricted in your communication.

Go ahead-- get out that fly swatter and reduce those fillers!