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Lura
has distilled her decades
as a leading stage actress
and teacher into fun,
nurturing, effective practices
for unleashing your voice,
your body, your words
and your personality to
better connect with your
audience. She shows you
that presenting, like
acting, is a conversation
between you and your audience.
She¹ll
improve your communication
skills quickly and forever,
and you¹ll
love learning how. |
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Using
Verbs
An
acting
“verb”
is
a
manner
of
influence—a
psychologically
active
term
that
implies
a
specific
method
of
persuasion.
When
you
choose
a
manner
of
influence,
you
are
on
your
way
to
persuasive
speech.
Exercise:
Say
the
following
sentence
as
if
you
were
trying
to
comfort
your
listener:
“It
doesn’t
really
matter.”
Now
say
the
same
sentence
as
if
you
were
trying
to
humiliate
your
listener.
What
did
you
do
differently?
What
did
the
difference
feel
like?
Exercise:
Identify
the
verbs
that
people
use
to
get
you
to
do
things
in
your
life—for
example,
“cajole,”
“bully,”
“tease.”
Which
verbs
work
on
you
in
what
situations?
Connection
Too
often
people
pronounce
all
words
with
the
same
or
no
emotional
connection.
Or
they
use
jargon
and
technical
terms
that
confuse
and
alienate
their
listeners,
killing
any
hope
of
persuading
people
of
the
validity
of
your
message.
Why
should
they
care
if
you
don’t?
Exercise:
Say
the
sentence,
“The
child
was
heartbroken.”
Now
say
each
word
in
reverse
order
slowly
several
times
and
think
about
each
one.
Think
about
the
word
“heartbroken”
Make
the
words
mean
that
her
“heart
broke.”
Now
replace
“child”
with
“worker”
and
repeat
the
sentence.
Does
it
sound
different?
Replace
“child”
with
“father.”
How
does
it
sound
now?
Mean
every
word—with
all
your
mind
and
heart.
Exercise:
Think
of
a
jargon
or
technical
term
you
use
frequently—“breaking
and
entering,”
perhaps,
or
“leverage.”
Now
imagine
explaining
these
terms
to
an
intelligent
elderly
relative.
How
does
your
vocabulary
change?
Did
you
say,
for
example,
“ransacking
her
home”
instead
of
“breaking
and
entering?”
How
did
that
choice
change
the
effect
of
your
message?
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Voice
and
Volume
If
your
voice
is
timid
or
you
run
out
of
breath
at
the
ends
of
sentences,
you
may
seem
to
lack
commitment
to
your
message.
If
you
don’t
vary
your
vocal
tone,
listeners
may
not
know
when
you’re
asking
a
question
or
making
a
declarative
statement;
they
may
understand
your
words
but
be
unable
to
decipher
your
message.
Exercise:
Get
a
large,
strong
rubber
band.
Hold
one
end
in
one
hand,
next
to
your
chest,
and
take
a
deep
breath.
Now
use
the
other
hand
to
stretch
it
out
while
you
speak
one
sentence.
Finish
strongly
as
you
pull
the
rubber
band
to
its
full
extension
on
the
last
word.
Repeat,
using
a
longer
sentence.
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Exercise:
In
English,
we
normally
ask
questions
with
an
inflection
that
rises
at
the
end
of
the
sentence.
Yet
professional
speakers
often
forget
this
simple
rule.
As
an
exercise,
use
upward
inflection
every
time
you
ask
a
question
today.
You
may
be
surprised
by
how
much
more
completely
people
answer
your
questions,
and
how
glad
they
are
to
talk
to
you.
(Caveat:
You
may
feel
strangely
vulnerable.
This
is
a
good
thing:
you
are
letting
down
a
bit
of
armor.)
Stage
Fright
Stage
fright
can
cause
you
to
become
tense,
muddled,
and
even
physically
ill;
your
voice
may
become
unnaturally
high
or
monotonous
and
your
gestures
nonspecific
and
distracting.
Exercise:
A
lot
of
stage
fright
disappears
when
you
articulate
your
moment-to-moment
goals.
We
call
this
“identifying
the
objective.”
Ask
yourself
what
you
want
your
listener
to
do.
Now
state
that
objective
in
terms
you
can
see.
“I
want
you
to
let
this
person
go
free.”
“I
want
you
to
buy
this
product.”
Repeat
the
sentence
with
even
more
conviction.
Exercise:
For
one
full
day,
concentrate
on
listening
for
subtext—the
objective
behind
the
words
your
friends,
family
members,
and
colleagues
say.
What
do
they
want
you
to
do?
It
is
virtually
impossible
to
sustain
stage
fright
when
you
listen
deeply.
Warming
Up
Professional
actors
wouldn’t
dream
of
going
on
stage
without
a
physical
warmup
and
rehearsal.
You
shouldn’t,
either.
Exercise:
Stand
with
your
feet
shoulder
distance
apart,
hips
aligned
over
feet
and
shoulders
over
hips.
Think
of
your
spine
as
a
rope
and
the
vertebrae
as
knots
in
that
rope.
Pull
up
the
rope
so
you
increase
the
spaces
between
the
knots.
Now
place
your
right
hand
on
your
left
shoulder
and
your
left
hand
on
your
right
shoulder.
Without
changing
anything
else,
bend
your
knees
slightly.
Close
your
eyes
and
breathe
in
through
your
nose
and
out
through
your
mouth.
Let
the
weight
of
your
arms
help
release
your
shoulders.
Take
a
deep
breath
and
sigh
audibly.
Do
this
for
two
minutes.
Listen
to
all
the
chatter
in
your
head—your
inner
monologue—but
try
not
to
follow
thoughts.
Open
your
eyes
gently,
unbend
your
knees,
and
release
your
arms.
You
are
on
your
way
to
a
more
relaxed
presentation.
Story
Human
beings,
alone
among
all
the
species
on
earth,
tell
stories
to
communicate
the
complexities
of
life.
Our
brains
are
hardwired
to
process
information
through
stories,
analogies,
and
metaphor.
It
doesn’t
matter
how
technical
or
sophisticated
your
message
is:
If
you
aren’t
using
story
to
tell
it,
you’re
losing
your
audience.
Exercise:
Think
of
a
truism
such
as
“What
goes
around
comes
around.
”
“Children
deserve
care
and
protection.”
“Hard
work
pays
off.”
Now
think
of
an
experience
in
your
life
that
supports
this
belief.
Tell
the
story
of
your
experience,
from
beginning
to
end,
five
times.
Each
time
you
tell
it,
increase
your
conviction
with
heartfelt
language
and
an
investment
in
the
words.
Each
time
you
finish
your
story,
slowly
say
your
truism—your
“theme
statement”—aloud,
thinking
about
each
word.
Mean
each
word,
and
the
full
thought,
more
fully
each
time
you
say
it.
Exercise:
Use
the
story
from
the
first
exercise
to
begin
a
speech.
In
this
exercise,
you
are
not
a
lawyer,
politician,
or
business
leader,
but
simply
a
person
who
cares
deeply
about
his
or
her
message.
As
you
tell
the
story,
notice
that
you
become
increasingly
at
home
with
your
message.
Your
language,
breath
and
gestures
become
more
natural,
more
human,
and
more
deserving
of
trust
as
you
move
away
from
an
artificial
version
of
yourself
and
come
home
to
your
authentic
self.
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