Speaking @ MindSay 
Note from webmaster: One thing an actor has to have, walking into the audition room, is confidence and a sense of ease. This is your very first contact with the casting director and whomever else might be in the room, including writers, producers and directors. If you walk in looking nervous and insecure, you've already stacked the deck against you, no matter how brilliantly you then audition. Also, the first words out of your mouth are vital. If they don't come easily, if your voice is choked, over-enthusiastic or too low to be heard, you have already predisposed those with the power to hire you, to be concerned. A great tool for the actor, to become more comfortable in the room and in their own skin, is to attend a good public speaking class. I'd also recommend self-help programs geared toward creating a more genuine, relaxed presence in high-pressure situations because what they see then can color everything they see later. Recommended:
Cure your fear of public speaking
7 Public Speaking Survival Tips
I used to be terrified of public speaking - now it's natural and fun.
Dry mouth, fast heart, sweaty palms, blank mind - yeah I've been there! It's easy to fear public speaking. But I was never just content with overcoming fear. I wanted to be a great speaker. What I needed was a way of calming down and applying simple techniques and strategies to talk like a pro.
When I'd learned to relax (more of that later) I learned and applied the following four steps.
- Reassure your audience - they need to know you know your stuff and you are human!
- Hook them by being interesting and relevant. Tell them why what you are saying is relevant to them.
- Inspire them by giving them information and ways of seeing that are new and applicable.
- Leave them on a high by telling a story them encapsulates your central message.
How do you become confident enough to apply the four steps?
Here's some tips some of which are practical some of which are to do with the way you think about your public presentations and also how you can start to change the way you feel about them.
Public Speaking Tip One
Breath your way to calm. When you breath out you relax that's why people sigh when they're stressed.
Breathing in without breathing out causes hyperventilation and worsens anxiety. Just before your speech take five minutes breathing in to the count of seven and out to the count of eleven (quick count-not seconds!). On the out breath hold it a second before breathing in again. This will produce quick and lasting calm. Remember extending the out breath calms you down.
Public Speaking Tip Two
You have a responsibility as the presenter but relax you don't carry all the responsibility. Presenting is a team effort. Audiences are responsible for politeness, extending their attention and attempting to learn. It's not all you-it's a meeting of two halves. Never mind how they judge you. How do you judge them?
Public Speaking Tip Three
Use metaphor and stories. We all experience life metaphorically. The most technical logical person spends at least two hours a night dreaming! Talk detail if necessary but present patterns with metaphors. Folk from 4 to 104 love stories. Use em.
Public Speaking Tip four
Captivate attention by using words that evoke all the senses. Describe how things look, sound, feel, smell and taste. Paint pictures and sensations in their minds with your words.
Public Speaking Tip Five
Vary your voice tonality and speed of delivery. Keep them alert and engaged. Convey energy when need be and slow down when you need to 'draw them in close.' You are the conductor to their orchestra. And pepper your talk with humour. Your willingness to be funny shows personal confidence and confidence is contagious.
Public Speaking Tip Six
Tell them what they are going to get. What they are currently getting and then what they have got from you. Sell your sizzle!
Public Speaking Tip Seven
Watch and learn from other great speakers until compelling, relaxed speaking is a part of you.
Rehearse positively. You need to rehearse how your going to feel as well as what you are going to present.
Don't think about your forthcoming presentation whilst feeling nervous as this creates an instinctive association between fear and presenting. This natural negative self-hypnosis is very common with nervous speakers.
Hypnotically rehearse your speech whilst feeling relaxed. This produces the right 'blueprint' in your mind. In fact when you do this enough times it actually becomes hard to be nervous!
All great speakers know how to use great self-hypnotic rehearsal. Hypnosis changes attitudes and can bring emotion under control. I used hypnosis, to change my instincts around public speaking. Now I just can't get nervous whether it's 50 or 500 people. The world needs great communicators. Go for it!
Cure your fear of public speaking - if you want that extra boost of awareness and confidence the next time you have to speak in public, get the help you need with this fantastic hypnosis download.
Tonsillitis and sore throat information featured for actors: hypnosis for great acting
I think the older you are, the less your accent will change at all. My mom's best friend, a native Southern Californian, moved to Texas when she was in her early 30s. Living in SoCal, she talked like a styeriotypical valley girl. After living in Texas for almost 16 years, I recently spoke with her on the phone and she still sounds like a valley girl - exactly the same. Must make her really stick out in East Texas... But she hasn't picked up any of the Texas accent at all. Not even the dialect, as in saying "ya'll". She still says, "you guys".
There is also myself as an example. I was born in SoCal, too. My mom also moved us to Texas, but we moved back to SoCal the Summer before I began 4th grade. SoCal is where the bulk of my socialization happened, as I spent elementary school, middle school and my first year of high school there, before moving to Vegas (which is becoming ever more populated with Californians each day). I did pick up "ya'll" as a kid in Texas, but quickly lost it when I moved back to SoCal. This is more of a dialectical difference than accent, though... But another dialectical difference, which I just have to throw in here for the hell of it, is when I started hearing "come on" in California. I remember when we first moved back there, my sister's cousin would always tell me when she was aggravated, "Come onnn!!" I would be like, "What the hell are you talking about?! Come where?!" That sounds really stupid now, but I seriously was clueless. Soon I was using it too, though.
Anyway, I recently moved to Vegas and also spent some time in Chicago this past Summer. Several times I have had people point out my "accent". Some say it's cool sounding or whatever, and some are just curious, I guess. I've never thought of myself as having an accent, though, until I had people pointing mine out, and since then I've kind of become fascinated with them overall. A few people have actually asked me straight up, though, "Are you from California?" or, "You're from California, aren't you?" ... heh. I'm not sure if that's good or bad... Judging by the fact that one of these people said, "Oh, I spent some time in California. You couldn't get me back into that state with a gun to my head." Apparently he abhors California and Californians...
My point is, I picked up a BIT of accent and dialect from Texas as a child. I moved to California when I was young, and now have a, what I guess is obvious, "Californian" accent and dialect.
BUT! While living in Texas, I grew up with my previously mentioned mom's bestfriend and her sons, who were also born in California. I recently saw one of her sons I grew up with, who still lives in Texas (we were actually born in the same hospital in California). He has a VERY Texas accent, despite growing up with his Californian mom. I don't remember him having an accent when I lived there. He must have acquired it in the 8/9 years since my family left back to SoCal. His dad, who I believe is also from California, seems to have picked up some of the accent, though, unlike his wife. I'm not totally sure if she keeps it on purpose, or if maybe different people are more prone to picking up accents over a period of time or something. It could also be that her California accent is SO distinct. Her husband never had a very distinct accent, but hers always has been. I'm guessing that broader gap might make it less likely for her to make her way over to the Texan accent.
Another example is someone who I know who is an American and moved to Ireland/London in his mid 20s, I believe. He lived back and forth from both places, mostly in London, for 17 years. He never picked up a hint of the accent. In Ireland, he did pick up some of the dialect, as in "wee", etc. But that's it. Other than that, he has now moved back to the US (the South, in fact) and I don't think there's a hint to be gotten that he's been living outside the country for almost 20 years.
I just want to say some more about the California thing. I think since living here in Vegas for ... three years now, there have been subtle changes in my accent and dialect from California. There ARE a lot of other native Californians here in Vegas, which may mean either them losing some of theirs like I have, or Vegas picking up on it and gaining Californian speech.
Some things I do notice about myself, though: As far as dialect goes, I don't say "dude" anymore. I said it all the time in SoCal and even kept it for quite a while after moving to Vegas. Since no one really says it here, though, I seem to have lost that. I don't really say it anymore. My younger sister still does, though, so I'm kind of surprised I haven't kept latched onto it through her. I do say "sweet" sometimes still, and "awesome", which I think is kinda spread throughout quite a bit of the country at this point. When quoting people or conversation or whatever, a lot of times you hear people say "like" instead of "said" or something. I read in a few places that "like" is probably a Californian thing that spread further throughout the country over time. But actually, in California these days, you will often hear "all". As in: "She was all, 'what's going on here?' and I was all, 'I dunno, man, but shit's crazy.'" This is native to California and doesn't seem to have spread much across the country. I myself have lost it almost completely when I used to say it all the time and instead use the now more popular throughout the country, "like" almost exclusively. One thing that cracks me up is that when I DO use "all" these days, I usually couple it with "like", as in, "My mom was all like, '...'". From what I remember, that very popular where I lived in SoCal and where I got it from. I don't think I've really heard anyone else say it here in Vegas. My younger sister doesn't seem to use this, but my older sister does.
Something about the differences between SoCal and NorCal. The word "hella" is actually from NorCal. It seems to have spread quite a bit and quite a few people say it in SoCal now, as well as in Vegas. I personally find it extremely annoying and when I started hearing it in SoCal, I couldn't stand it. Little did I know that it is actually often a source of discrimination between people from SoCal and NorCal. Two nights ago I was on the phone with my friend, who is also a native of SoCal, who is going to school up in Sacramento. I noticed her saying, "hella" A LOT when none of us used to say it at all in high school. After a while I pointed it out (it was becoming irritating) and she was like, "OH MY GOD I KNOW! I can't help it. EVERYONE says it here I hate it! I don't know what's up with it dude but all the people here say it all the time ..." She went on and on and on about how it irritated her too but she couldn't help using it because it's used so often around her. I'm always extremely interested to hear about this stuff... so I let her go on and on. hahah. I notice people use in more here in Vegas than they ever did in SoCal, though. So either a lot of people from NorCal are here in Vegas or the song "Hella Good" has made it more popular in other parts of the West/Country(?) than it has in SoCal, where No Doubt is actually from. (Such blasphemy for them to use words from NorCal in their songs! heheh. Kidding, of course...)
Another clear dialectical difference is the use of "freeway" over "highway". I noticed this myself some time ago when I would travel outside of California. People would say "highway". They never say it here in Vegas. In California, though, we say "freeway". I'm not sure what's up with that difference, but it's there...
Another difference I only became aware of after it was pointed out was our use of "the" when referring to freeways and not often adding the "I".
Example:
Someone else: "Take I-105 to blah blah blah."
Myself, as a Southern Californian: "Take the 105 to blah blah blah."
Now, a serious point and question for anyone who has stayed with me long enough to make it this far:
I was reading about real accent differences in California, not just dialect like I was talking about above.
One thing that I've seen several places since I've been doing a bit of reading about this is this apparent "merger" of the words caught and cot, and how we pronounce Mary, marry, and merry the same.
I have question... How would you pronounce them differently??...
I also read where one guy expressed his frustration at us pronouncing "talk" as "tok". I never even noticed... Are you really even supposed to pronounce the L? It feels/sounds strange..
And a final note to non-Californians who might come for a visit or whatever, it's just OC ... not "The" OC. ;) I know, damn TV shows! (I mean but really, if ya just stop and think about it for a moment... Listen to yourself say, "Let's go to THE Orange County." lol...)
Anyway, so if it's not obvious, I love learning about this kinda stuff. About any region of the country/world, not just because I'm a self-centred Californian (I've also done quite a bit looking into Irish... I could possibly make a post about that, too..).
So if anyone else wants to make a long post about the dialect and accent of their region of the world, PLEASE DO!
I'll leave you with a video some random people shot while walking through the mall in the town/city where I'm from in California, Temecula. There are a lot of examples of what I explained here in action in the video. Also.. notice the girl who works in the store's response when he enters the store... heh. It's one of the things you gotta love about California.
-Liv-
The following information is something that people in speech and debate are taught in their more advanced years and its actually something that politicians follow during elections for the most part. I am going to be defining it, then explaining it so that its clear what is being discussed. If you want further information on what I am going to go into- please let me know and I will gladly link the sources we use.
The first major thing we are taught following the white noise fillers and eye contact with our audience (which is useless in forums and blogs) is to avoid logical fallacy. Now I know that some people think that logical fallacy is strictly holes in logic, and to an extent, it is. But these more have to do with what we on mindsay speak about on a regular basis:
Argumentum ad hominem (argument directed at the person) This is where, instead of attacking the topic that the person is discussing, the attacker focuses on personal attacks of the person. I see this way too often on way too many pages. In short, If you can not debate the topic, do NOT resort to name calling and personal attacks on that person.
Example: "I think that we will never have social security benefits by the time our children are school aged at the rate we borrow against it."
"Thats because we are constantly borrowing against that social security to pay for your fat unemployed ass, bitch!"
It is rude, uncouth, and all credibility that you may or may not have established is washed right out the window.
Argumentum ad logicam (argument to logic) This is pretty straight forward: Someone will assume that because either A) you do not provide proof to what you are talking about or B) that your proof is not strong enough, that you are instantly wrong. I am not providing an example to this because this is common sense.
Argumentum ad nauseam (argument to the point of disgust; i.e., by repetition) This is also pretty straight forward: Stating the same thing over and over and over. Its a form of steamrolling, and all it shows is that someone is incapable of listening. It also ruins credibility because it not only stagnates the debate, but it also stagnates the person doing it.
Argumentum ad populum (argument or appeal to the public). This is where a person will state something like "50 million people cant be wrong! Everyone else has been doing it, so should you!" A debater will state something like a statistic that supports their case, even if the case is wrong. We teach our children about this every day with the simple phrase: "If everyone in America jumped off a cliff, does that mean you should too?"
Circulus in demonstrando (circular argument). This is exactly what it sounds like. Its proving your point by going back to the evidence that proves your point. Its almost repetitive, but there is no flow of new logic.
Cum hoc ergo propter hoc (with this, therefore because of this) This one is an interesting one. Its taking a coincidence with the topic, and incorporating it in as proof to support the topic. The example that we were taught was "look, the economy is good! it must be because of the president who is in office!" You can see where that one goes.
Dicto simpliciter (spoken simply, i.e., sweeping generalization). In short, stereotyping. Not everyone fits into a niche, and not everything can be rationalized into one category.
Non Sequitur ("It does not follow") This is essentially an emotional argument to promote an agenda. An example would be: "abortion is wrong, so we need to illegalize it" There is no evidence to support this action, yet by using emotion it is hoped that it will stir people to action.
Post hoc ergo propter hoc (after this, therefore because of this) This is essentially stating that because A came before B, that B happened because of A. A great example of this: "the war in Iraq happened simply because Bush was in office at the time of the invasion." There is no evidence to support the statement, it is simply a statement that invokes ignorance.
Red herring. This is called the art of distraction. You can not prove your case, so you distract your opponent in the hopes of watching them not able to regain control of the topic at hand.
I realize that while many people do not follow these guidelines as to what to stay away from, that maybe its time we start looking at these principles a little more when pursuing an argument with a fellow person. It gives us all more pleasure in discussing or debating a topic. When any one of these is used in a debate, it takes the enjoyment right out of it. But it does take a skilled person to deflect these when they are brought up. Unfortunately, not everyone can ignore the personal barbs and continue on flawlessly. I am hoping that maybe this will help take the uncalled for part of debate away.
I hate it when people misuse words like "their" and "there" and "they're." It just irritates me. Did you NOT pay attention in the third grade, people?!?!
The same goes for "we're," "where," and "were."
And no offense, but to those people who think "alot" is a word, please, just slip and fall. Maybe this whole fiasco started because there's a verb (allot) that means to apportion, or to grant. People who are educated enough to write formal letters usually use phrases like "a great deal" so the common man doesn't ever see "a lot" used, well, a lot. Heh. You wouldn't write "alittle," would you?
Piss off. Please.
And please, stop saying it's called an ATM Machine. ATM stands for Automated Teller Machine, so you're actually saying Automated Teller Machine Machine. I silently laugh at people when they say things like this, because they're usually making a complete ass of themself.
I can't put together a sentence to save my life, but I can spell, and I guess I owe that (if nothing else) to my father.
Eliot, George 
I was watching dog show the other day and there was a man who was versed in judging 150 breeds of dog. If they came in with the 151st unknown breed and asked him to judge that dog, would he be qualified? No. If he decided to take into account all that is this 151st breed and judge it by all the knowledge he has available to him, he would more than likely be wrong on some count. How much moreso in the world that we grace with our own words! Using those million dollar dictionary words and not knowing what they mean make one look more like a fool than someone who speaks in plain language and can be understood by all *including theirself*.
How about a Torah scholar who has never read the New Testament let alone studied it, trying to discern the meaning behind the texts? First, the scholar more than likely discounts the text as false or inaccurate. Secondly, how is a person who doesn't believe the text or give it credence going to try and tell someone what it means?
Ludicrous! Take into account your words, my friends. If you know you are unqualified to speak on a subject, listen and learn instead of flying off the handle speaking on things of which you know not.
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