Chris Davidson

The second of two broadcasts addressing the two most common errors I see people make when presenting. Last week I wrote about the sin of poor structure, resulting in material that's too cryptic, too inaccessible, too complex and unable to simply answer the audience's main question of "What's in it for me?"

This week I'm addressing poor breathing technique, which often results a message the audience can't hear, or can't understand.

Comparison with driving

In case you missed part one last week, here's a quick review as to the similarities between driving and speaking. When someone says that they are "learning to drive" they are really addressing two issues with the one phrase. They are in fact:

Learning and practicing techniques that allow them to control the vehicle, for example, use of brakes and accelerator, clutch control, gear selection, when and how to use rear view mirrors, all that kind of stuff.

Learning the commonly agreed standards by which vehicles (in their part of the world) are used on the highway, i.e. the "rules of the road".

These are two very different things - learning the rules of the road is very theoretical, while actually learning how to control the car is essentially a very practical exercise - you get shown how to do it and then practicing doing it until it becomes second nature.

So to with pubic speaking (presenting). The theoretical bit is learning how to structure your information for maximum impact and the practical aspect is actually standing on stage and doing it.

From the point of view of the latter element - the physical presenting of material - inappropriate breathing technique is what most commonly lets people down - and is what I'm addressing in this broadcast.

Breathing technique

There is a theoretical aspect to breathing (and stage craft in general), just as there is to any physical endeavour, like playing golf, swimming or dancing. Knowledge of the theory isn't enough - you have to actually pick up a golf club and hit some balls, put on your swimming costume and dive in, lace up your dancing shoes and take to the dance floor.

Standing in front of an audience and speaking is a very practical exercise, and a major clue to success lies in the first word of this sentence: standing.

As a physical exercise, speaking relies on the controlled expulsion of air, as does singing. How many singers do you know of that perform sitting down? Not many. If called on to sing (in church, for example) we all have the urge to stand up – it just seems the natural thing to do – even if we're not sure why. The same can be said for speaking, although if you lack confidence you may feel the urge to adopt a more informal style and present silting down. This doesn't cut the mustard. Informality on stage takes a lot of practice. Far better that you opt for a bit of formality and stand up in front of your audience. Why? The answer is as simple as it is fundamental to your performance; you can breathe better when standing. Given that speaking depends on the controlled expulsion of air, adopting anything that gives you more control over your breathing is a good thing.

Many people breathe on stage in exactly the same way as they breathe while pottering about through their normal, daily routine. Such breathing is typified by excessive use of the shoulders and little use of the diaphragm muscle. This is no good for performing on stage. Breathing with your diaphragm muscle provides two benefits:

You have more air in your lungs and this helps you produce a higher quality sound.

Your shoulder and neck muscles remain relaxed (as they're not actively involved in the breathing process). This also keeps the muscles surrounding your larynx nice and relaxed – at least, not inappropriately tense – and this too contributes to a higher quality voice.

I'll close of one final fault regarding breathing and that's "over breathing". I've observed that many people seem to be fearful of not having enough breath to keep themselves going and just before going on stage keep topping themselves up with air until they're like an over-inflated balloon at a children's party - just waiting to go pop! Their whole system is over-tense. My recommendation to those affected in this way is: expel all the air in your lungs. When you think you've got rid of it all, keep blowing. Push it all out, all the way, until nothing's left. Take a couple of restorative breaths - using the diaphragm muscle - and then walk on stage like you own it.

That's it folks for this week - as usual, your comments welcomed and appreciated, particularly with reference as to what you'd like to hear about. I do get quite a few e-mails by the way, and I read them all, so please don't feel shy about getting in contact.

Best wishes for the coming week.

Chris Davidson
Editor, Professional Speakers Journal
editor@professionalspeakersjournal.com