Gathering and Discerning Information in the 21st Century
Celebrating over 16 years on the web.
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“Each of us believes himself to live directly within the world that surrounds him, to sense its objects and events precisely, and to live in real and current time. I assert these are perceptual illusions. Sensation is an abstraction, not a replication of the real world.” Vernon Mountcastle

Quote from YouTube Video: Kavli Prize Laureate Lecture – The Restless Brain

The Professional Speaking Guide

The Skills Of A Professional Speaker:

There are no set rules what makes a good speaker but there are some things you can do to be more entertaining and a little more polished as to be professional or at the least not annoying.

 

Voice Development By Diana King.

“The voice is not only indicative of a man’s character, but it is the expression of his spirit,
Other sounds can be louder than the voice, But no sound can be more living.”
Inayat Khan

Diane has both a bachelors and masters degree in voice performance. She has 20 plus year experience working as a professional in opera & musical theatre. During that time she has taught voice and speech both privately and for conservatories through out Canada, England & Italy.

Diane King – Discover your Voice

Soprano

Opera, Musical Theatre, Oratorio

Weddings, Chamber Music

Jingles

Voice Teacher

International Training and Experience

All Levels & Styles

Speech Teacher

Strength & Confidence Training

Accent Reduction

Dialects

Voice Over Artist

Commercials, Narration

Multi-lingual

If you would like to hire Diane for private lesson or group training for your club then give her a call at 604-733-9604 or email her at dianeking@hotmail.com

 

What Makes a Good Speaking Voice.
1. Good vocal techniques include:
Correct posture, abdominal breathing (inhalation), a voice connected to the body (exhalation), a relaxed throat and jaw, good articulation and diction.

The elements of sound include: range, tone, pitch, color, volume, strength, intensity, inflection and variety.

These techniques combined result in an ‘honest sound’ -a quality of sound that is authentic, believable, interesting, compelling and charismatic.

Other elements that contribute to a good speaking voice are range, tonal variety rhythm, intensity, emotional expression.

Correct breathing and sound must be combined with proper use of the ‘articulators’ jaw, lips, teeth, and tongue which are the elements of ‘good diction’.

2. Do you like your speaking voice?
What is your vocal personality? Is it a true reflection of you?

Sound and speech patterns are genetic, social, cultural and gender related.

The speaking voice also becomes a reflection of personality -confidence vs. timidity.

We must give ourselves ‘permission’ to have a voice (this is literal and psychological)

3. Are Good voices ‘born’ or are they ‘made’?
Babies are the most efficient noisemakers. We are all born breathing correctly and producing good, healthy sound. We must learn to return to what our bodies know how to do naturally we must return again to the ‘kid in the playground. We may have lost touch with our ‘true’ speaking voice and can at any age do the work to rediscover a more authentic sound

4. Is it possible to change the speaking voice?
The speaking voice is an ‘instrument’ and can be learned to be played like any other. Changing or improving the speaking voices comes from:

  1. understanding the basic fundamentals of how the voice works.
  2. diligently practicing proper vocal techniques.
  3. mastering and memorizing these techniques until new vocal habits are formed.
Science-fact-theory-hypothesis

Definitions key to discussions:

  • Fact: A fact is a statement that is true and can be proved with evidence.
  • Hypothesis: A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon that can be tested by the scientific method. A hypothesis has not been tested.
  • Theory: Scientific theories are distinguished from hypotheses, which are empirically testable conjectures, and from scientific laws, which are descriptive accounts of how nature behaves under certain conditions. Theories have been rigorously tested and widely accepted by the scientific community who agree the theory best explains the observations or phenomenon we experience.
  • Scientific Method: The scientific method is a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge.
  • Empirical Evidence: Empirical evidence is the knowledge received by means of the senses, particularly by observation and experimentation.
  • Reality: Reality is the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them.
  • Delusion: A delusion is a belief that is held with strong conviction despite superior evidence to the contrary.
  • Insanity: Insanity, craziness, or madness is a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns.