Real Talking Tips with Elaine A. Clark

Anticipation… wait for it… moments are powerful. Why? Properly placed pauses engage the audience and make them active listeners. Writers use dashes, ellipses, commas, colons, and semi-colons to indicate pauses. Speakers need to fill in those spaces with an emotion and attitude that rides on the breath and connects the statements together. Contrary to what some people think, adding a pause doesn't mean that the speaker disengages, quits working, closes the mouth, and stops the airflow. Pauses should be filled with opinion and attitude to activate audiences, add impact, anticipation, drama, comedy, and memory retention. Pauses are also used to shift focus from one topic to another. In Real Talking Tips Episode 22, Elaine Clark demonstrates three main areas where speakers can add pauses. Pauses help create a dialog with the listener when a statement has numerous choices and answers. Comedians and Speakers use pauses to get a laugh. Longer dramatic or 'pregnant pauses' add impact. Pauses add tempo changes and jazz up the speech tune.

What is Good? What information is Bad? Words can be the same but attitudes and opinions can be completely opposite! When both good and bad information is shared in a script, message, presentation, or conversation, the story and focus of the spoken message and endorsement can easily get muddy and confusing. Adding Tempo Changes is the focus of Real Talking Tips Episodes 18-22. Comparing good and bad information fits right into that tempo changing challenge. Why? Good information needs to be said slower. Bad information should be spoken faster. Adding a smile when saying good information slows down the tempo. Not smiling or staying emotionally neutral allows the speech pattern to get faster. That's because more facial muscles are required to smile than frown. Good information is also more positive when the palm of the hand faces up. Bad information sounds worse when the palms face down. Listen to Real Talking Tips and practice along with the script and blog at ElaineClarkVO.com/podcast. If you want to see communication tips demonstrated, you can also watch the Elaine Clark YouTube video. Actively practice and put these speaking tips in your body so your speech communication, presentations, voiceovers, podcasts, and everyday conversation improve and you're 'wired for sound'.

Lists can turn off a listener if you don't know how to change the speech rhythm and focus of the key words. Lists need their own location, meaning, and musical placement. Lists shouldn't be spoken with one repetitive sound and tempo. List items shouldn't be lilted upward unless the intention is to bore the audience. Lists need their own tempo and focus. There are four different and distinct list types. Noun lists focus on people, places, and things. Verb lists require action. Modifier lists clarify the merits of the person, place, location, product, or service. Laundry lists offer multiple options and expectations. Join host Elaine A. Clark in Episode 20 Real Talking Tips as we explore ways to say lists with more meaning and impact.

Why do public speakers, presenters, and voice actors have a tendency to speak at a steady pace and rhythm? In regular conversation, people vary their speaking pace. Important information is slow. Unimportant information is fast. And normal information is spoken at a medium speed. Yet, most people tend to get trapped and forget to add variety to their voice when they're giving a speech, presentation, or recording a script. I'm Elaine Clark, host and creator of the Real Talking Tips podcast where I offer practical advice on how to effectively get your message across and speak like a pro. Episode 19 offers communication and voiceover tips for speakers who want to break you out of "reading conditioning" and into expressive, real, conversational speech. #ElaineClarkVO #Communication #VoiceOver #VO #Podcasts #Business #Speech #TalkingTips #There'sMoneyWhereYourMouthIs #Voice-OversForPodcasting #ActivateYourVoice #AddingMelodyToYourVoice #Presentations #Reporting #Interviews #SpeakLikeAPro

Listeners Need Time to Process What You're Saying. Words can be meaningless or powerful depending on how the message is presented. Hi, I'm Elaine Clark with Real Talking Tips offering practical advice on how to effectively get your message across and speak like a pro. Communication is a Powerful Tool if you're in sales, making a presentation, hosting a podcast, being interviewed, recording a voiceover script, or talking to friends. You can always find ways to improve the way you speak, connect with your audience, and sound real and believable. There are three sections format and structure of the message: Set-Up, Body, and Resolve. SET-UP - establishes the problem. BODY - acknowledges the problem and offers solutions. RESOLVE - summaries the benefits and suggests that the audience take action. That action can be to go into a store, look at a website, purchase or sell something, tell a friend, explore other options, calm down, travel, accept changes, or a whole array of other choices. The Power of Silence! Silences are necessary for the audience to absorb and process what was just said. Those brief silences are necessary in order to change the breath and shift emotions during the transitions between each of the three speaking segments: Set-Up, Body, and Resolve. When the emotional shift of silence occurs, the body has a chance to connect with the message on a deeper level The Format and Structure of Transitions provide an Arc of the Story. Practice the physicality and speaking tips, and visit the website: elaineclarkvo.com/podcast to read more about each speech communication topic. Please take a moment to add a comment. I love hearing from you! #ElaineClarkVO #Communication #PowerOfSilence #VoiceOver #VO #Podcasts #Business #Speech #TalkingTips #There'sMoneyWhereYourMouthIs #Voice-OversForPodcasting #ActivateYourVoice #AddingMelodyToYourVoice #Presentations #Reporting #Interviews #SpeakLikeAPro

What does it mean to be a Sing-Talker? Your voice and speech pattern are integral to your unique tune. The goal of the RealTalkingTips speech communication series is to help people improve everyday speech and the retention and absorption of information in business presentations, interviews, podcasting, and voiceovers. Rhythm and melody alter when the articulator is voiced or de-voiced. Musicality of vowels change based on the shape, position, and movement of the mouth. Tempo, Speed, Movement, Emotion, Location, Attitude, and how the sentence is Balanced makes a difference in speech musicality, too. Real Talking Tips is a 52-episode speech communication series with information, practice tips, and homework assignments. So listen, practice, and check out the blog at ElaineClarkVO.com/podcast.

Why do people emphasize the word 'and' rather than the key words on either side of it? The purpose of that little conjunction is to connect similar type items together. Yet, AND has a habit of drawing focus away from those items and informational elements. There are several reasons why AND stands out: 1. The musical downbeat and rhythm of the message. 2. Lack of follow-through and breath-support on the final item. 3. The speed and tempo in which someone speaks. 4. Lack of commitment. 5. Confidence and knowledge of the items. Let's explore how to de-emphasize the "AND" and draw focus to the "Bookend" elements on either side of it to achieve balanced speech and proper word focus.

Let's get to the point about Nouns! There are: Common Nouns – Generic terms for people, places, things or ideas. Proper Nouns – A specific person, place, or thing where the first letter of the word is usually capitalized. Collective Nouns – Group or Team of people, animals, or things. Personal Pronouns – I, me, we, us, he, him, she, her, it, they, them, us, you . Why are nouns important in voice-overs, writing, and speech communication? What makes nouns unique is that they have a location. Typically, the location is stationary… but if that noun has movement, like a car or airplane, it may need a corresponding movement to correspond to the location. In Episode 13, we talked about Storytelling and how using the body and imagination creates a 3-D world. In Episode 14, we gave Verbs active and subtle gestures and movements. Now it's time to point out where people, places, things, creatures, and critters are located. What makes nouns unique is that they have a location. Typically, the location is stationary… but if that noun has movement, like a car or airplane, it may need a corresponding movement to correspond to the location. Join me, Elaine A. Clark, on how to speak so people will listen and this "noun" speech communication journey. And don't forget to download, subscribe and share each new RealTalkingTips episode. For the blog notes, practice scripts and info, go to RealTalkingTips.com. #ElaineClarkVO #ElaineClark #RealTalkingTips #Nouns #Voiceovers #VO #SpeechCommunication #Presentations #Speaking #BusinessCoach

Verbs have Action. That means, when you say a verb you need to have some sort of body movement that corresponds to the action. That movement will be heard in the voice… whether big or small, depending on the type of verb. Okay VERB geeks. I know what you're thinking. There are Action Verbs and Static Non-Action Verbs. Why should they all have action? Action Verbs are expressed through bigger gestures and movements. Examples: Walk, Reach, Jump. Non-Action Verbs are subtler; a head nod or shake, shoulder shrug, eye movement, or an internal response. Examples: Agree, Remember, Understand. Verbs are easy to comprehend. Verbs tie the nouns together with a big or subtle action. One way to sound authoritative is to give action to the verbs. By giving verbs movement, you sound like you know what you're talking about. So if you want to speak with authority, give the verbs action!

Be a visual and emotional storyteller. Create a three-dimensional world where the listener sees, hears, and feels what you're saying. Hi, I'm Elaine Clark. And welcome to RealTalkingTips Episode 13. Storytelling. It's the buzzword these in #business, #publicspeaking, #presentations, #podcasting, and #voiceovers. On the surface, it means telling an engaging story from a narrative point of view. In other words, storytelling is taking the listener on a journey of exploration and discovery, holding the listener's attention, and guiding the listener out of logical thought and into a creative and imaginative 3-D world. But how does a speaker take thoughts, images and experiences that live in their head and share them with others? Here are 3 storytelling tips that will help bring your message to life!