by Silva Payne

Created on: January 11, 2011

Many people have a fear of speaking in public. The best orators can usually deliver a speech without any notes or cue cards, but for most of us, a few prompts are necessary. This leads us to having to read in public instead.

If you have ever sat through a speech delivered entirely by reading a script, you will know that in many cases, there is a stilted, unemotional feel to it. Often this is accompanied by pauses as pages are turned over – or worse, dropped to the floor – and a complete lack of eye contact with the audience. Can you remember the content of any speech delivered in that way?

The answer to that question is almost certainly not. This is because to retain information, we need to have been engaged in the first place. Learning the art of public reading can help with any kind of speaking engagement, when you do not have the confidence or ability to fly without the safety net of notes.

A good exercise is to start with a very simple piece of writing, such as a short poem or nursery rhyme. You need one that has no real emotional overtone, so nothing too sad or uplifting; Mary Had a Little Lamb is ideal.

Begin by reading the piece in your head. You are probably already familiar with it, but read it to refresh yourself with the meter, or flow of the writing. Work out where the natural pauses are and where the punctuation gives direction. For example, are there question marks that indicate an inflection in your voice?

Next, read the passage or poem out loud to yourself a few times. Try to read slower each time. One of the first lessons learned by actors is that they must deliver their lines slightly slower than they would normally speak. If there are any difficult words to pronounce, break them down into syllables for now, or check the pronunciation with an online audio file if you can find one.

Now try reading the same piece of writing, but with different emphasis. Make your voice rise at the end of each line. Add some anger or aggression to your voice, and then read the whole thing with a smile on your face. By now you will have noticed how your facial expression can affect the way some words sound when spoken. Finally, read the whole thing in a whisper. Really define each word carefully so that each is perfectly understandable.

This exercise introduces the idea of adding an extra layer to the written words in front of you. If you can use the expression of your voice, you can create more interest from your audience. Speaking in a monotone

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