At a recent networking lunch. I was lucky enough to enjoy a presentation from Laurelle Rond, who runs a sound therapy clinic in Oxfordshire.

Laurelle was an amazing speaker, with confidence to stand up in a room full of people, and deliver a clear, compelling and resonating presentation.  I remember booking a speaker for an event once, who had to speak to over 50 business people, who leapt at the chance, saying ?I absolutely love speaking in public?.  Whilst I found this completely alien (I am not a fan of public speaking), I take my hat off to such people, and thank Laurelle for challenging my belief that public speaking is a bad thing.

I am not alone in the UK, apparently the majority of people would admit that they do not like public speaking.   As people we have ?herd-like? tendencies and find safety amongst the crowd.  Our built-in survival mode tells us that if you stand up and speak alone in a group of people, you are making yourself known to potential attackers.  You therefore become very vulnerable as you can be targeted much easier by those attackers as you stand alone and make yourself heard.

I?ve read countless tips on how to speak well in public, from practicing in front of a mirror, identifying friendly faces in the audience, imagining they?re all naked?.. (I?ve not actually tried that one!)  What Laurelle did though, was take us down a completely different route, one that made a great deal of sense.   She made us see that we have the power to remove the fear of public speaking, once we recognise the balance between mind and body and how this affects our ability to speak publically.  Yes we need to know the content of what we?re delivering, but using techniques to bring a state of mental and physical calmness will automatically improve our public speaking.

I learnt some simple and effective tips at the meeting that I hope will change my approach to public speaking.  I?d like to share those tips.

–          Breathe correctly – in today?s frantic state many of us (myself included) do not breathe correctly.  Put your hand on your chest – if you are breathing to here and your chest expands, then you are doing it wrong.  Look at how a baby breathes – as they inhale their tummy goes out, not their chest.  As they exhale, the tummy deflates.  As you breathe into your diaphragm you become calmer and more focused, and this is quickly reflected in your voice.

–          Find your normal tone and pace of voice.  The best speakers deliver a presentation that comes across almost conversation-like.  They speak with a structure to their words that people can actually hear, not just a load of words coming out one after the other.

–          Stand well.  Correctly breathing will straighten your frame, this will help you to connect with your audience.  Holding the audience?s attention is achieved when they are engaged in you, only about 5% of what you are saying is retained, the rest is body language.

–          Know your subject – discovering what it is you want to say transforms confidence.  As you relax you lose fear, your voice becomes lower, slower and much more engaging.

–          Don?t try to deliver information you have little knowledge of – your body will reflect this by tightening your breathing and therefore your voice.

–          Get professional help.  Laurelle runs Enlightened Voice Workshops – these will give you vocal techniques to transform your confidence about public speaking.

Overall Laurelle taught me that using sound you can entrain your brainwaves for focus, concentration and creativity, and can make a public speaker out of me yet!