Hey everyone, today I'm introducing a blog I wrote about bringing broadway to the boardroom
and what that means to you.
Now, there are hundreds of crossovers between theater and public speaking, from the way
we train our bodies to the way we train our voices to the way we show up on stage.
But today, I wanted to talk about the way actors warm up for any performance and how
you can apply that to your public speaking.
Now, most of us know that performers and athletes would never consider going into any high stakes
performance situation without warming up.
But we don't think about applying that to public speaking.
I'm going to show you a quick warm up you can do pre-presentation that will get you
into the right mindset, the right headspace, and warm up your body and voice so that you
can give your A-game presentation.
So today we're using Jess here to demonstrate a pre-presentation warm-up that all of you
can use before you give a speech.
We're going to go through four components:
1. Something for our bodies,
2. Something for our voices,
3. Something for our breathing, and
4. A mantra, just to put the cherry on top.
So for our bodies, we're first going to relax our bodies.
Jess, I want you to imagine that you are a puppet and I have cut your puppet strings.
And you're going to just sink into your feet.
Right, so notice how flopped over she is, everything is really floppy in her body.
Now I have magically re-attached her puppet strings and I'm going to pull her up, through
her spine, one vertebrae at a time.
She's going to imagine that her spine is clicking, clicking, clicking.
And notice that her head is still hanging heavy and her arms are still hanging heavy.
And when you get to the top, just take a deep breath.
Excellent!
So that's a great way to just relax your body pre-presentation.
Now a little energizing so that we can get our chi flowing in case you're feeling a little
bit sleepy before a presentation.
Now I want you to imagine, Jess, that there's something really gross stuck to your hand,
I want you to shake it off as hard as you can.
Shake shake shake, harder harder harder.
Now do the same thing with your left hand.
Really shake!
Now your right foot.
Shake, shake, shake, like there's a little dog stuck to your boot and it's biting you.
Good.
Now your left foot.
Shake, shake, shake, shake, shake.
Now there are fire ants all over your body - get 'em off, get 'em off, get 'em off, get
'em off! Excellent!
Now, the added benefit of that shakedown is that it will help to release any excess nerves
you have, as well.
So that's the body component.
Now we're going to go through a very quick facial warm up so that you can speak clearly
on stage.
Jess, we're going to do something called "Lion Mouse."
So when I say "Lion," I want you to imagine that you are a lion yawning in the sun.
So, when I say "lion" you're going to stretch your face as big as you can, like a lion yawning.
You ready?
Here we go, "lion."
Excellent, excellent.
"Mouse"
Now scrunch, good.
Lion, mouse
lion, mouse.
Excellent, Can you feel your face really stretching when you're doing that?
So that helps us really speak clearly on stage.
Now we're gonna blow through our lips like horses.
This really warms up your facial muscles so you don't trip over your words on stage.
That's the worst!
You want to speak clearly.
So, blow through your lips like a horse.
Excellent, one more time.
Now last time, add sound.
And if you're doing this at home, you'll really feel all your facial numbers really engaging
and warming up.
So that's the facial component.
So the next component of a good warm-up is some breath work.
Because what we know about breathing is that incorporating our diaphragm into any kind
of breathing exercise floods our body with extra oxygen and, in turn, lowers our heart
rate.
So this is a great way to calm, focus, and center yourself pre-presentation.
So, Jess, in order to demonstrate, I'm gonna have you put your hand on your own belly.
Right?
And then I'm gonna put my hand on top of yours.
And you can do this while you're watching this as well.
Now I want you to imagine that you have a balloon in your belly, and when you breathe
in, that balloon fills up with air.
Go ahead and take a big inhale and fill up your balloon with air.
Do you see her hand pushing out?
Now exhale and let all the air out of your balloon, out of your nose and mouth.
Now, I'm going to count, and when I count, all she has to do is breath.
OK?
Breathe in- 2, 3, 4, hold - 2, 3, 4, breathe out - 2, 3, 4.
Now, that was perfect.
If we were to do that 3 more times through, that amount of extra oxygen flowing through
your body will literally slow your heart rate down so you feel nice, calm, and focused,
ready to present.
Alright, the last step in our warm-up is a mantra.
Now, a mantra can be anything that makes you feel powerful and ready to present.
So, Jess, can you think of a mantra that makes you feel ready to present?
Jess:"Hmmm, let's do it" Fia: Ok, so let's say "Let's do it"in our biggest voices and
when we do it, we're gonna throw our arms into a V pose, a la Amy Cuddy.
Ready?
Here we go: 1, 2, 3 "LET'S DO IT!"
Alright.
Well, thank you so much for watching MOXiE Talk.
For more tips and techniques on public speaking, visit our blog site at MoxieInstitute.com.