Fear of Public Speaking? Why Elocution Lessons Can Make a Difference to Confidence in Life
Two school boys, both thirteen. One is confident, the other is a nervous chap. It's 1983 in a preparatory school in the Surrey countryside.
Both pupils have to give a religious reading to the rest of the school. The nervous one stumbles onto the stage and begins mumberling – he's such a wreck that he nervously tuts at the end of each line of the reading. He certainly isn't even speaking clearly. By the end of the passage his school peers begin to pick up on his nervous habit of tutting. He comes to the last line and reads: “This is the word of the Lord” and the rest of the pupils roll their eyes and tuts too. His fear of public speaking was so bad that for months ahead he woke up in the middle of the night sweating – this performance had just made his fears much worse.
The other pupil walks forward. He has relaxed shoulders and annunciates each word. His reading can be clearly heard as he projects his voice even to the far corner of the hall. There is no laughing for this reading, instead each word is listened to intently.
Those two boys were my friend and me. I was the confident one who had elocution lessons just months before the reading which I continued through my school life. My nervous friend, who still has that fear of public speaking, has never spoken in public since and has always lacked confidence in life since.
Fear of Public Speaking
I would have been the same had I not had the elocution lessons. Those lessons not only made me speak clearly but also helped me gain confidence. The technique of learning how to breath properly and annunciating each word have stayed with me. Sure, I still get nervous and I guess there's always that fear of public speaking but I know that those lessons all those years ago help me to speak clearly in all situations. It gave me immense confidence in life. Elocution used to be a dated concept,but what I have noticed is that people of all ages are now realising that to conquer their fear of public speaking and to gain confidence, elocution lessons certainly help.
J Timothy Mitchell is a Director at RedRok Media, which publishes a range of downloadable MP3 lessons, including elocution lessons on how to speak clearly and gain confidence.
Speak Clearly Elocution Audio Downloads
