Robert ,
Great self-awareness & I appreciate the transparency. You are probably right that you might need to pull back, but there are probably times when that booming voice comes in handy to get attention!
Dr. Ryan Meers
I try to incorporate much of what is presented in this section into my daily routine, however there is one shortcoming I need to address. I need to move around the room more during lectures as I do use the desk as a bit of a crutch. Also, having spent 15 years as a radio announcer I'm sure there are times I need to pull back a bit on the booming delivery and occassional over enunciation.
Shantel,
Great question & one that many speakers struggle with. Here is a link to a website with some exercises: http://totalcommunicator.com/voice_article.html.
The main key is to support your speaking by breathing from the diaphragm, rather than the lungs. This causes us to do a better job of sustaining the tone. Hope this helps.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Timothy,
Notes are a great help & I agree with you on the larger print issue. This really does help as when we look down at our notes it's much easier to see where we are without having to pause & scan through the smaller font.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Kelli,
Just want to say here that I applaud your willingness to grow & learn in your teaching abilities & your willingness to take notes from students.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I would like to improve the volume and strength of my voice. Naturally I have a sofe voice and if I try to talk loud for any lenth of a time my voice gives out and cracks. My native culture discourages loud talking especially for a woman. Therefore my vocal cords are unaccustomed to speaking loudly? :)
Starting next term I am going to be lecturing and I want to project my voice loud and clear to the students. I am concerned where my voice will hold up for 2 or 3 hours.
Then as I was reading The Communication Problem portion of the lesson, it mentioned that breathing control helps project the voice. Are there some breathing exercises to strength my vocal cords and increase the speach volum?
Pacing would be one skill I would like to hone better. Especially in powerpoint presentations and/or public speaking. There are times I catch myself moving too fast and I forget the examples I want to use to get my point across with. Sometimes I lose my train of thought altogether. A couple of things or props I use are pictures and/or items that reflect the content, such as sports equipment. One lecture or presentation I made on Concussions, I brought in a number of balls that could cause damage if a person was hit by them. In the same presentation I used sports pictures and pictures that described wounds made by explosions. Whenever I lose my train of thought I try very hard to refocus but sometimes in my haste I ad lib and forget my points altogether. I have found that notes with larger print or pictures help in refocusing me to the point.
I am told that this will come with experience and comfort, but I would really like to have three different angles in my delivery of subject matter. Many times I find myself searching for an additional way to explain a concept, only to repeat the same information back to the confused student. I need to develope more analogies and/or examples to help connect concepts with these puzzled students. Sometimes another student will chime in and provide that different angle to a fellow student. I always listen and take notes for future reference.
Richard,
This is a great goal. I would encourage you to consider observing or listening to a master storyteller. These individuals generally have mastered the use of pausing, pitch, etc to hold their audience's attention.
Dr. Ryan Meers
phillip,
Definitely a common problem for many of us. One thing I like to do is ask the students to repeat back to me what they heard me say & then I can listen to see if I was clear or not.
Dr. Ryan Meers
as an instructor I would like to improve the use of the pausing and pitch of my voice ,because the correct use of them keep the students engaged in the lecture without losing interests
I also would like to improve my ability to give clear instructions . Sometimes I think I have made what is to be done clear,only to find that some of the students did not understand me.
Donna,
Definitely a challenge. You might want to ask more specific or guided questions regarding the topics you are covering. Instead of asking if there are questions, ask open-ended discussion questions on a particular topic you have covered.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I would like to improve on the question and answer portion of my class. I have a problem with ending the class with "is there any questions" I believe there should be a better way of doing this. To make sure the students got the message I was going for.
Emily,
This is a great example of an individual who has, it sounds like, turned a potential weakness into a huge strength. As you said, this might not work for everyone, but often these unconventional methods, when used skillfully, can greatly help.
Dr. Ryan Meers
John,
That is definitely a challenge. Are you one who uses your hands too much, what I call a hand talker? Or are you more in the camp of they feel like they're just hanging at your sides?
Dr. Ryan Meers
Miriam,
I'm glad this was helpful. And how great that you have a feedback mechanism right there for you. Best wishes, Ryan.
Dr. Ryan Meers
An incredibly effective teacher in our group uses a very monotonic vocal approach but interjects sports (or lifestyle or proclivity) questions when least expected to jolt the classroom into fascinated attention: "What? Weren't we just talking about kneading dough?" He pursues the sports (or whatever) angle until he has everyone's undivided attention, then goes back to the subject at hand. His technique is very droll and the students absolutely love it; they look for little openings to good naturedly rib him about his little antics and wait for his interjections while paying close attention. Not for everyone, but better than nagging a classroom back to attention!
Body language, movement comfort. I don't know what to do with my hands.
Jody,
Yes, when we have that strong baseline of main points this helps give us a reference point as the instructor as well as giving our students that reference point.
Dr. Ryan Meers
