Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
[Soness speaking gibberish. Yeah. Gibberish.]
>> GRAIG: Soness, enunciate.
>> SONESS: What?
>> GRAIG: Enunciate.
>> SONESS: E-nunciate!
Well today, let's find out:
Are people getting your message?
On today's Show-N-Tell, Graig Russell
will share with us three easy steps
to make sure that every one is clearly
getting your message.
>> SONESS: Graig Russell, I'm so excited to have you here!
Now, for those of you who might not know,
Graig Russell is my dialect coach.
So when I need to speak with an accent,
this is the guy I turn to.
Graig, I'm so excited to have you here.
>> GRAIG: Thank you.
>> SONESS: What are some reasons people would need
a voice coach?
>> GRAIG: Well I mean obviously, some people just have issues
with their voice.
They have a stammer or a stutter or that kind of thing.
Or they have a really, really quiet voice
because they're very shy.
But even as sort of ordinary people --
we all use our voices every day, all day
to try and get our message across
to other people, right?
We have something that we want other people to know.
And if you're not using your voice to its
full potential, then you're losing
50% of that message.
It doesn't matter how good the message is,
if you're not giving it in the right way,
people aren't going to receive it the way you want them to.
>> SONESS: Yeah. So why would people have problems with
connecting with their message?
>> GRAIG: I mean, there's lots of things, you know.
Often we're distracted or whatever,
and there are lots of psychological reasons why
people's voices might not be as strong
as they'd like them to be.
I mean, a lot of people think they can't sing.
I believe everyone can sing.
It's just some people think they can sing,
and some people don't think they can sing.
>> SONESS: And what about the people who think they can sing
but they really can't?
[laughter]
>> GRAIG: Well, that's a whole different issue I suppose, but
there are a lot of psychological factors
and those sort of things that go into it.
But also there's just basic good technique
for using your voice.
And if you don't know those techniques,
then you can't use your voice properly.
>> SONESS: That's exciting.
So what are some simple ways
that we can get our message across more clearly?
>> GRAIG: Okay, so first of all,
the fundamental of your voice is your breath.
Okay?
That's the very, very foundation
of your voice.
The first thing you need to do is
try and breathe properly.
Often, if I say "take a deep breath" to someone,
they'll do this:
[Graig inhales]
which is about as bad as breathing can get, right?
All this up in the chest
and that kind of stuff.
So there are a few techniques and what-have-you for that.
The next thing you need to do is
relax.
And a way I really like to help people relax is yawning.
In my workshops, when I do workshops with people
I encourage yawning throughout the entire workshop.
As big and noisy, so you could just--
[Graig yawns]
[Soness yawns]
These big yawns -- that's great for your voice.
>> SONESS: Really? Because in my workshops,
I encourage people not to yawn.
>> GRAIG: Yes, that's the usual thing, right?
But no. In my workshops,
yawn away, yawn away, yawn away.
And the last thing I would say is
there are two, sort of very common problems.
And it is either people speaking too quickly,
Or people speaking too quietly.
>> SONESS: I'm guilty of the first one.
[Soness and Graig speaking too fast]
>> GRAIG: ...Which is great, because if you're excited about
your ideas and stuff, you want to get it out.
Or if you're nervous, you know?
And you just want to get through it,
then you'll speed through it.
But if you want your audience to hear what you're saying,
you've got to slow down.
And most of the time, go slower than
you think you should be going.
It's usually the right pace.
And then, speaking up.
Now I say "speaking up"
because it's a slightly better image than--
if you say "speak loudly",
often people push and that's where you can really
hurt your voice. If you're like,
"Aaaah!" just to shout across the room.
But if you think of it as speaking up,
and just tossing your voice across the room--
that's right.
I often use this image of an arc
of your voice coming out and going, "Heeew"
>> SONESS: Aaah!
>> GRAIG: That's right. Speaking up and out.
And that's great, yeah.
Those are the three I would say:
Focus on good breathing;
before you go on, just have some nice,
big yawn, to really stretch and relax your body,
and then when you're on stage,
in front of the class or wherever you are,
you need to slow down and
speak up.
>> SONESS: Slow down and speak up.
I will speak more slowly now.
[Laughter]
So Graig, thank you so much for joining us today!
I'm so excited.
Guys, you've got to check out his lessons--
they're amazing!
He has been the most amazing vocal coach for me.
And I know that you will have amazing results with him.
So, what are some ways that you could improve your voice
with vocal warm ups, exercises, and breathing?
Please Show-N-Tell.Us and leave a message
in the comments below!
And be sure to contact the Yokohama Theatre Group.