tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8797548749870864034.post2583960995645254828..comments2024-03-17T02:41:07.351-05:00Comments on Advocacy Teaching Blog: The First Advocacy Agony Aunt Q&AChris Behanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758408764783435612noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8797548749870864034.post-37839755935843557792011-01-25T14:12:19.441-06:002011-01-25T14:12:19.441-06:00I was interested in the question on how to help a ...I was interested in the question on how to help a student whose voice becomes shrill under stress. It caused me to think about how we frequently forget that what we do as advocates is wrapped up not only the visual (how we look, or present) but also the oral (what we say) and the aural (how we sound. ) Because we use video review so much, the last two components can get short-charged compared to the last two. Let me suggest a technique I’ve found useful to help students learn to listen to themselves and to alter vocal problems that interfere with their total presentation.<br /><br />You can buy a cheap dictating machine or recorder at Office Max for less than $20.00. Suggest that the student get one, then tell them to practice their presentations with it. Using the recorder allows them to focus only on what they say and how they sound. Since we don’t hear our own voice the way everyone else does, this can be a revelation for the student. Using the recorder also allows them to work on specific problems. Let’s take the shrillness problem, for example. I agree that this is frequently related to talking too fast. I suggest to students with a speed problem that after recording themselves, they slow down the playback speed, listen to how that sounds, then try to train their brain to talk at a slower speed, to feel like that their voice is coming out like the slowed-down recording. (Of course, slowing down the playback also makes the recorded voice deeper, and hence less shrill.) The student won’t actually sound like an old 45 played at 331/3 (that’s a reference to vinyl for all you young folks), but they will learn to slow down and deepen their voice. If the student is too soft, they put the recorder at an appropriate distance, and practice projecting. If they mumble, they can learn to articulate. If they are too sarcastic, they can hear how bad that sounds. If they use a lot of clutter (“um,”, “er”, etc.) they can hear it and eliminate it. And so on…..<br /><br />Remember: “It ain’t what you say, it’s the way that you say it.”<br /><br /> Bob McGaheyBob McGaheynoreply@blogger.com