Public Speaking – Interview with ‘How to be a D.I.V.A. at Public Speaking’ Audiobook Narrator Kristin Aiken Salada
This is an AI generated transcript so please forgive any errors and spelling mistakes.
I am so excited today because I have a wonderful guest here with me on today’s show, who has helped me no end to bring the message of How to be a D.I.V.A. at Public Speaking to the masses. So if you are watching this very close to the time of recording, then it’s around about where are we? We’re at the end of February in 2021 and International Women’s day is coming up in just under two weeks now.
A little while ago, I decided that I would find a wonderful voiceover or voice recording artists to help me to get the book, how to be a diva at public speaking out to more people. And I was very, very lucky enough to have come across Kristin, who is here with me today. And she did a wonderful job recording the book.
Public Speaking – audiobook release in time for International Woman’s Day 2021
The book came out in 2017 and Christine did a wonderful job of giving her voice to the book so that now it’s got this new lease of life. We’re in 2021, and it’s, it’s getting out there again in the world in time for International Women’s day, because I do feel with this year’s theme, which is choose to challenge the idea of being a diva at public speaking dovetails really well.
Shola:
So enough for me, I just would love to welcome today’s guest Kristin onto the show.
Kristin:
Thank you, Shola. It’s a delight. I love joining you across the pond. It’s great to be part of your project. And I love that you’re celebrating international women’s day and important day.
Shola:
Thank you. And Kristin, where are you today?
Kristin:
So I’m connecting with you from Denver, Colorado, uh, right in the middle of the United States and, uh, Shola and I had a good laugh earlier about whether or not I would bring any attempts at a good British accent to the book, or if I should just stick with my American accent. So that’s where I’m coming from the middle of the U S today. It’s great to join you.
Shola:
Fantastic. Thank you, Kristin. And I’m sure that there’ll be some of you out there who perhaps read the book or are interested in, well, why did Shirley you clearly operative? Why did you choose an American to help you realize the audio book version? And if I’m honest, I started out looking for a British artist because I thought that was the, the best thing to do to have someone who sounded a little bit like me at the very least. But if I’m honest, as I went through the various auditions of the various artists, Christine’s stuck out to me because she has a lovely voice, a rich voice, and it’s full of expression. And that voice was enough to make me change my plans completely to find a British artist and instead to go with Kristin. And the reason I share this is because first of all, I’m sure if you will, you wonder, well, she, she got some aspirations to be American, is that why he chose?
Shola:
But if it’s not that it, to me, it emphasizes the importance of being a pleasure to listen to. And I know that it’s something that a lot of women want to, uh, to do, to work on their voices so that they come across as more authoritative so that they sound like they have more presence. And Kristin had all about for me. So my first question to you, Kristin, is, is what do you do with your voice to have it sound so great? Or is it natural? Do you do anything specifically to, to have more presence because especially with so many people now speaking on camera, because during these days of, of, um, of COVID, we, we need everything that we can muster, uh, to, at our fingertips, to come across as more powerful, more punchy and to get noticed. So, Kristin, yeah. Tell us a little bit about your voice and is it natural? Did you pop out of the womb that way?
Kristin:
Well, I’ll tell you, it’s kind of an interesting story. Uh, my older sister was born deaf and she came out, she came out of the womb, having already lost a huge percentage of her hearing. So by the time I arrived and we learned that it wasn’t anything, uh, genetic, there, there was a huge amount of time her, she had to spend in speech therapy and learning to speak. So most of my childhood dinners involved my parents telling my sister to lower her voice because she couldn’t tell that she was starting to talk with me. Right. And so I got lots of messages throughout my childhood that having a low rich resonant voice was important. Now, whether that changed the way that I spoke or that was just something I kind of naturally came to the table with for me, I have a little bit about when I hear a very high pitched female voice.
Kristin:
Now I realize many of us come to the table with just a range of things, but I very quickly, um, was reminded that it’s easier for people to hear you, if you can catch the resonant lower tones in your, in your sound. Um, the other thing was, my sister would work to pronounce certain words and she would struggle with that. So my parents would spend time enunciating. And any of you out there that may know, someone’s, who’s hearing impaired, whether it’s an elderly family member, that’s lost some hearing or someone who is actually not had hearing, you know, that a big part of their understanding is reading your lips. So I spent much of my childhood being very articulate and speaking very clearly using my lips as a way for her to understand. So I, I expected that that’s a big part of why my voice is the way that it is and why audio books were a natural draw for me. Because when you speak as a you’ve shared with your, your listeners and your audience members and your readers, you’ve got to slow down from your natural speaking tone, just enough for the latency of people, hearing what you have to say too, to sit for a minute before the brain can kind of comprehend what they’ve heard. So I guess that’s sort of an odd and interesting way to tell you that I actually think that’s a big part of why I speak the way that I do,
Shola:
How interesting I’ve got Sebastian. I’d never heard that story before today. So that’s fascinating. And I love the fact that it’s something that you, not that you necessarily born with, but he just kind of absorbed it as you went on through these interactions with your sister and your family. So thank you for sharing that. And if somebody is interested in working on their voice, so to have that kind of rich and resonant tone that you had, do you have any advice for them? Because I tend to sometimes let my voice get a little bit high page. There’s a singer. I cause you do a lot of work to get your larynx down and that sort of thing, which naturally gives you, uh, a low pitched voice. But sometimes when I forget, I can end up speaking little squeakly, but a little coming that way. So is there anything that any tips or advice that you can give us, uh, as, as lay people who wants to work on our voices? Crispin?
Public Speaking – practice slowing down for a richer and more resonant tone
Kristin:
Yeah, it’s interesting. Shola I think what I would mostly recommend is I’ve noticed when people speak to someone who doesn’t speak their same native tongue. So when you speak to someone who’s visiting from another country or someone who lives locally, but as learning English as a second language, we tend to slow down our speech. And I’ve noticed when people speak to folks that are learning your language, we also tend to lower our pitch. So I often use as a tip and recommend to people that I’m working with on public speaking, that they actually speak at the pace they would, if they were speaking to someone who didn’t speak English as their first language. So sometimes when you’re up on stage, you can imagine your audience is a collection of folks with a mix of knowledge of English. And that will naturally cause you to slow down. And I have found it will naturally cause you to sort of hit on those more resonant tones in your voice, cause you naturally would want to make sure they understand you clearly. I hope that helps. I find that it does for me.
Shola:
Thank you. That’s a really good tip. And it’s interesting because quite often when we get on stage, we, we, uh, breathing spots to speed up and everything actually pushes us the other way to speak a lot faster and to have a higher pitch. So there’s a lot to keep in mind when we are presenting to audiences. But yeah, that’s a really, really helpful tip for me. I’ve always found that this idea that you’re, you’re not there for yourself, but you’re there to serve other people. So if those other people needed to slow down, you slow down. If they need to hear a rich voice, you find a way to have a richer voice because it’s not, it’s not about you. It’s about them. So thank you.
Kristin:
Good advice. It’s it’s if you combine that with the advice to speak to the person at the back of the room, right? You hear that a lot. Like we kind of get, cause we want to make eye contact with those that are closest to us. Even at a, a table in a staff meeting, we often can find ourselves just speaking, sort of to the people right next to us, as opposed to the one all the way across the table. And I think if you imagine the one all the way across the table is kind of new to English that will tend to slow you down.
Shola:
Excellent advice. Thank you for them to hear a bit more about you, Kristin. I know that you do some work with leaders in, in Denver and possibly even around the world. Now we’re working virtually, but I’d love to hear a little bit about your background and the, the, the corporate work that you do.
Kristin:
Sure. Yeah. Gosh, it’s been, I think 17 years now that I’ve been able to consult my businesses, new angle consulting, um, in combination with Kristin voiceovers and as a consultant, most of the work that I’ve been doing is as a facilitative consultant or a facilitative trainer, which essentially means working with a leadership team to help them get stronger and more effective at the work that they do. So it may be a two to three day offsite that we go and we say, how can we be more effective in the way we work so that we can create a better environment and atmosphere for our employees so that we can create the kind of culture that people wake up and say, I can’t wait to go to work. I feel valued. I feel that I’m doing my very best work. I feel empowered to do the work and this group of people that I work most closely with really support and make me feel good about the work that I’m doing.
Kristin:
And I’m proud to be in this company. There’s a lot of us that just sometimes wake up and sort of dread going to work. And wouldn’t it be a better world. If we felt rewarded, we felt valued. We felt inspired to work alongside those around us and that we were doing good work together. So I, my goal, it’s funny when, when someone it’s been forever since I’ve been on a plane, but my answer to what do you do for a living or what’s your purpose? When, when I was on an airplane, I would often say my goal is to make it so that more people are excited to get up and go to work each day because they feel valued on the team they work with. And therefore they come home as better parents that are family members that are neighbors. Uh, so it’s fun. And it’s wonderful. A lot of the work that we’re doing is helping those leaders have greater presence with one another, uh, being able to speak, honestly, candidly talk about the white elephant in the room. So a lot of the time we find ways for leaders and teams to talk about the things that everyone’s talking about at the coffee maker or kind of offline, but haven’t had an opportunity to comfortably and excitedly and willingly discussed collectively with each other. So it’s really rewarding work.
Public Speaking – sharing with transparency creates connection
Shola:
Fantastic. It sounds like it, you can certainly light up when you talk about your work has been, and I love what you, you have the talking about the accident and then this sort of transparency, this idea that people can share, they have presence and they have transparency. Cause I think that the two of those combined are really huge Palla full any, any leader so that they’re not, they’re not their energy, isn’t being drained by what they’re hiding or what they’re trying to keep away from people, but they stand proud in who they are, their authenticity and then the transparency of the message and the presence of the delivery. So, um, thank you for sharing that. And I think that kind of brings us nicely to this, that part of the message that’s in the book has to be the public speaking, which is how do you have that presence.
Shola:
And also how can it be founded on a basis of authenticity where you are truly being yourself rather than thinking, Oh, just because I’m in front of this audience, I’ve got to put on a different hat or be a different person. I can’t be me and still be successful as with, as a communicator with quite presence. So, um, th those of you who aren’t familiar with the books, a diva stands for being dynamic eyes for inspiring these valuable and a super important is being authentic. And that’s kind of the foundation of the book, but then on top of that, it layers. How do you prepare a presentation? How do you prepare yourself to deliver that presentation? How do you analyze that presentation afterwards so that you continue to learn and grow through your public speaking and just in general communication experiences? So, um, I’d love to hear from you and Kristin as somebody who approached reading that book and somebody who obviously has done a lot of work on her voice and uses of voice at the time and work on presence, leadership, I mean, for you, what was the, were there any stand out parts of the book, or what do you think was the most helpful perhaps to you as somebody who’s an expert in this game, but also somebody who might be new to having to do public speaking and communicating to groups?
Kristin:
Yeah. So that’s a great question. You know, I think more than anything, we, humans are wired as storytellers. So when I think of the idea of being authentic, uh, I just thinking about Ted talks that I’ve seen, the ones that are most compelling to me are those that have a really powerful human story. Um, so each of the great pieces of your diva framework really stood out to me because they invite someone to tell an authentic and wonderful story. Um, there are so many different kinds of ways that you can just be a bit vulnerable and share who you are and what you bring to the table. Um, when you are authentic and vulnerable, you tend to naturally be inspiring because I think it’s so natural for people to tell you their story, get to the important part, tell you kind of like the thing that really drove them to make a decision or get past a challenge.
Kristin:
And at the end of that, you naturally have an ability to just show up as yourself and to inspire people through your own words. So I th I like to think of, of public speaking as an opportunity for storytelling. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve worked with someone I was telling you before we started recording, working with a group of leaders in an organization that spent an entire year doing a big project. And then at the end have to give a group presentation to the executives. And while working with them, they would often stand up, say they’re a bit. And then as soon as they would stop, they’d say, Oh my gosh, that was hilarious. Did you see me do the following? And all of a sudden their personality comes out as soon as they’ve stopped presenting, right? And so we often talk about just be yourself, because those natural things that you naturally do when you’re chatting with a friend are a powerful part of who you are in the course of storytelling.
Kristin:
And your book does such a wonderful job of allowing people to kind of piece it out, look at each part. And when you put those divs parts together, again, your values, you know, how can you bring your values into the, into the conversation, but then also what’s, uh, what’s of use to others. I, when I think of all the people that I’ve met in my life, those that have offered me something wonderful, not, not something specific, but just their presence, their wisdom, their experience, their joyfulness brings me value. And it makes me want to continue to talk to them and hear from them. So that’s what I would say. Be a storyteller, just tell, tell from your own deep, authentic self and let yourself shine through.
Shola:
Thank you for that, Kristin. And yeah, it’s, it’s so important because that’s you say people often feel that they, they, they switched to this sort of robotic trying to be perfect, but they become a robot and all the juicy fun stuff disappears. So it’s really about how do you keep that while still giving people the best of yourself as an, as a communicator and giving them the information that they need. And, um, yeah, really interesting that storytelling as well, because one of my private clients that comes to me for one-to-one coaching, she came at the beginning and she said, well, I, I really want to be an inspiring speaker. And I said, okay, well, what, what, what stories have you got? And she said, well, I haven’t put any, I don’t have any stories. I said, well, how can you be inspiring if you don’t tell people anything about yourself?
Shola:
And then a couple of weeks later, we looked specifically working on storytelling and I want you to share her story because it’s personal to her. But she had a story that was so profound and not much makes me cry like in a session. But when she called that story, I was crying. Right. And then she’s not using that to help, to connect with people to grow her business. So I think everybody has got a story, at least one story that is moving and it doesn’t have to be this, somebody, you know, meeting a bad end or awfulness. It can just be something quite small, but that can still move the right people. And I think it’s so, so important to tap into that and allow yourself to tell that story in an honest way. And I think often it’s women as well. What we tend to do is when we, we, we share our stories, we try and gloss over anything that makes us look good.
Kristin:
It’s like, no, tell that part. That’s the juicy, good stuff. Yeah.
Public Speaking – why should women tell stories when public speaking?
Shola:
Oh, the frameworks in the book is called the dead, which over now, then how framework, which I had from Lisa Nichols, the, the, a motivational speaker in the space. And I don’t know if it’s something you recall Kristin, but it starts with where you are now. So typically something that you’ve done, some achievement, and then it talks about a challenge that you had in the policy you transition and you say, well, but it wasn’t always that way. And then finally you come out of the framework by sharing how you went from where you are in the past, the struggle to where you are now. And typically when we, when I use this in workshops with, with women, they will do the best that they can to make, to minimize the now. So they might have some great job or something wonderful is this happened? Well, I’ve got to do a nice job, but if I think about six months, we don’t get enough or the joy that they experienced in currently, or the achievements that they they’ve made. And we really want, especially the storyteller. We want enough contrast between the different situations you’ve been in that people actually sit up and take notice because otherwise it’s more, very mad, very bland. And then really stories is this sort of trivial bit of information that no one cares about,
Kristin:
But we do care. I think you, you raised such a great point. If anybody looks at how movies are created in Hollywood, right. They’re typically in three act and act one is kind of setting the stage and letting us know the characters. And then it works up to act two, which is where the big, Oh, no. How are they going to get out of this situation? Kind of thing happens, right? And then act three is the denouement or the resolution. We need a full middle act. And I think for us, as women will sometimes say, well, you know, and I went through a divorce while my kids were young and one was in therapy, but then, you know, it’s like, woo, back up, let’s hear a little bit more about that. What was that like, what kind of therapy, how long, how did you get through that?
Kristin:
Right. When, when we can connect to the human side of people and as women, we sometimes, you know, we shy away from anything that is slightly at all related to bragging. And I think if we forget it as bragging, we’re not bragging. We’re telling you the truth of what the situation was. And that’s a big part of what got us to where we are now. So I absolutely agree with you. And, um, perhaps that’s a bit of a mindset shift, sort of a reframe from bragging to filling in act two of your story, right? Nobody likes a movie that, that middle part is too short. It’s really unsatisfying. And it just doesn’t, it doesn’t make the, the, the resolution nearly as juicy and enjoyable and engaging. Yeah. I’m with you on that.
Shola:
Yeah. I liked your analogy there with you. Wouldn’t go to a movie and pay good money to just pay for everywhere. So here I wakes up here has a good day here. Right. It goes to bed.
Kristin:
Yeah.
Shola:
And, and, and that detail is what we call hooks as well, because for every little piece of data that you share, obviously not so much that your story ends up running for an hour or something, but for every little detail you share, that’s the thing that someone says, Oh yeah, I experienced that. Or, Oh yeah. I know what that’s like. And so each of those is a hook for somebody else to sort of grab onto your story and to connect with you. So the fewer bits of detail you share that there just aren’t enough books for people to really become invested in what you’re sharing with them.
Kristin:
That’s so true. And if what you’re sharing, if you’re an entrepreneur and you’re trying to get more clients and more connections and build your network of people that could benefit from your wisdom, the more relatable you are to things that they can connect to, even if it’s, Oh, that reminds me of a friend of mine. Gee, you ought to talk to that friend suddenly. There’s a reason for them to speak with you afterwards. And that opens the doors of opportunity for follow on work with them. Right? So I often say to people that, um, and I do this both in, in work and in regular, uh, work that people are doing connecting with one another life is really about relationships and relationships very much are about the ins and outs of stories that we can find in common with each other, those moments of connection that we can find. So I love that idea of details, lending to hooks, which lend to reasons for folks to want to speak further with you and connect with you longer.
Shola:
Thank you. And it’s interesting. You talk about networking and because I don’t know if you ever, do you ever give people tips on giving their 62nd elevator pitch, Jody, one of the things that you do
Kristin:
Here and there it’s, it’s, it’s less, um, a part of it, but what it’s less about networking, and it’s more about when you’re in a meeting at work and you’re already in your position. And if you’re interested in furthering your opportunities at the, at the company, or you’re interested in being considered for a promotion for me, it’s how can you, uh, add a little bit about previous successes that you’ve had or previous accomplishments that you’ve made in the context of making a suggestion? Right. So as we’re deciding, as a group of people, we’re brainstorming, you could say, you know, it’s interesting the last time that we attempted to solve this problem, we were able to save about $2 million on our business. So drawing on that experience, what I recommend that we do, right? It’s this little moment of letting folks know what you bring to the table and strong and great and, and, uh, effective about you as an employee or you as a teammate.
Public Speaking – seeding is useful when presenting and networking
Kristin:
So it’s kind of similar to the elevator pitch and the sense that there is an opportunity to sing your praises very briefly, but it doesn’t come across the singing, your praises, it comes across as here’s why you should trust me. Here’s why you should know that I’m the right person for this job, or here’s why you should hire me as your consultant, because I’ve got this piece that I can do. And let me tell you a little bit about how I’ve done it before. So, you know, I’m not just making it up, I’ve got the experience to back it up.
Shola:
Hmm. Yeah. That’s really interesting. And it’s funny because that’s something that comes up a little bit in the book in terms of seeding this idea of when you’re delivering a presentation, especially if it’s something where, you know, perhaps it’s a sales presentation or it’s to promote your business, you don’t want to have this horrible, clunky thing at the end, which is what people used to do back in the days of, you know, they’re sort of selling it the back of the room. So they give you a little bit of value then at the end that it is horrible. So 20 minutes by my being by he is quite offensive, right? So, um, there’s this idea of what we call feeding, which is instead of having this big, horrible, clunky thing at the end, you just lightly drop like the farmer, just dropping a few seeds into fertile ground, but you lightly drop a few little bits here and there, or what Mike, when I was working with my clients, so-and-so who now is a $10 million business, or when I was doing this, when I was talking to ed pro, I’m going to show three weeks or whatever it might be.
Shola:
So you just try it out casually, but they, they, they serve to kind of grow this plant in people’s minds. Ooh, okay. I’m dealing with someone here who’s actually worth finding out a bit more about them and possibly working with this person. So that, that’s what came up for me when you mentioned that example, Kristin.
Kristin:
Yeah, that’s great. So, and I love the idea of seeding because, um, if, if I can be so bold as to say, observe the men around you, they tend to do this a lot naturally. Right? It’s just part of the, the, the way of letting people know, Hey, here’s why you should be listening to me. Um, it’s real. It feels rewarding when you can do those things and you leave your presentation or your leave, your talk really feeling like you’ve added value, not just hoping you’ve added value. Wondering if you know, your last little freebie that you gave at the end is going to be enough to really grab people. If you do it all along the way. And it’s just part of your, your presence with the group, it just makes folks want to come talk to you. And it feels great. Doesn’t it?
Kristin:
At the end of the presentation or at the end of a talk, when folks are just coming up and want to talk to you, you know, you’ve added value and, and you’re not selling them a bill of goods that is, you know, something that they don’t believe in, you believe in it. And you believe in you and what you bring to the table. It’s just really rewarding when you can do that. It’s not rewarding when you present offer stuff at the end and then kind of wait to see if anyone wants to come and talk with you further. And you’re right. It’s those moments of seeding ideas and authority that make people want to talk to you further because they know that you’re the real deal. They know you’ve got something really valuable and worthwhile for them to learn more about.
Shola:
Yeah. And it’s, um, that, that kind of what you were just saying there, cause they made me into thinking that also when people put presentations together, they’re not thinking what’s in it for me to deliver this presentation. So let’s say that your boss at work calls you to deliver something or you have an opportunity to speak at maybe it’s a networking event or an event where there are potential clients in the audience and people often leave things to chance. They just think, well, if I do a kind of good generic presentation, people will flock to me afterwards or I’ll get that promotion or without actually being strategic about what needs to be in this presentation for me to achieve my goals. So whether that’s defining which stories you tell with your seeding or defining, okay, I want to do a brilliant job at this presentation and mention that I have aspirations to go into the sales department and then see if something happens as a result of mentioning that aspiration. But when we writing speeches and presentations, we are in this great position to actually be taking people on the journey that we want them to go on and to learn the things that we want to share with them. So that’s not something to just leave to chance and be too casual with a bounce. So I don’t know if that’s something you’ve ever encountered where people just write this. I just wrote the presentation without really seeing the opportunity and milking that opportunity for what it’s worth. Yeah.
Kristin:
One of the pieces of advice in your book that I love the most, and I share with people also in particular, when I’m working with highly technical folks, I work with a number of folks with an engineering background in business teams and they start by writing their presentation using PowerPoint, right. It’s and I love your advice is no, don’t start that go analog as Gar Reynolds would say, go analog, start by just conceptualizing what it is that you want to convey. What’s your end goal? What are the main things and to kind of map it out a little bit. The other thing I love and you you’ve encouraged this as well is say it out loud here and on your tongue, you know, practice, listen to what it sounds like, grab someone in your house and have them listen to you. Because as soon as you kind of put it into words and get it out there, you start to realize the parts that don’t work.
Kristin:
You start to realize the parts that feel a little too, Ooh, that didn’t transition into that. And I think when we are so focused on putting the details on PowerPoint, you know, getting all the numbers down or getting all the research down, we can lose the story. We can lose the journey that we want to take people to be with us and understand. And I know for me, I can craft the best little presentation in my head possible as soon as I start talking, I think, Ooh, that didn’t those don’t those two don’t go together. That didn’t flow. Um, so it’s, you know, you wouldn’t use a PowerPoint to craft a story, to tell someone at the coffee maker at work. So don’t do it that way. When you’re thinking about presenting it’s, it’s communicating, it’s having a conversation and we typically don’t structure our conversations with PowerPoint. So I love your advice there go analog practice. Think of the ideas that you want to convey, be purposeful about it before just, you know, getting the PowerPoint to back you up. It should be your support deck. It’s not the thing that drives the person.
Public Speaking – don’t focus on great slides, put your efforts into crafting a compelling story
Shola:
Yeah, absolutely. I’m really happy that that, that resonated with you because I think another thing along those lines is when people write their speech out word for word with, and they just try and memorize what they’ve written without actually thinking, well, hold on, I need to change the language because if you write, if we were to speak, like tells the kids wrote with breakfast, I think it’d be quite an interesting time to feel it. People, you know, very long words, very technical language dog, and because it’s been written and then it’s so easy to tell when a speaker is, is, is, is using a sort of handwritten presentation versus something that was written to be spoken, um, because the language is completely different. So I think that’s something else to be aware of. Again, Christine, not sure if you’ve had experience with some of your people you’ve coached or trained.
Kristin:
Yeah. We, we talk about that, but I’ll say another thing that that is really important is just your presence. Um, my colleague duty ringer and I, she has a background in Ikea and so she brings an awful lot of experience to the table around grounding and centering. Right. And so I think there’s an awful lot once you’ve kind of crafted what it is that you want to say, it’s that taking the moment to really be present and grounded. That’s when natural hand gestures come, that’s when natural, natural vocal variation and pitch and projection come to the table. And what’s funny about this current world of zoom is really limited by our gestures, right? It’s really, you can’t walk around the room like you would normally on stage, um, or even in, in a, um, a meeting where you’re presenting. Sometimes it can be really hard to get into your natural self and to allow your natural, uh, vocal qualities to come through.
Kristin:
But I think when you’ve got a really compelling story crafted, and then you take the time to ground yourself and breathe deeply and let yourself naturally get into the story and start telling people what it is that you want to convey. All those things come out, you move naturally. You know, you, you tend to, to have a presence. That is what you’re saying, combined with how you’re saying it. And those two together make for a really powerful impact with folks. Have you noticed the same that it there’s something about that grounding and then what do you advise people when they’re presenting over zoom? Because it can feel very limiting.
Shola:
It can feel very limiting. And I, I, I must admit that I really love this opportunity to communicate on Zen. And I think what you can do, maybe you don’t have the same sort of lateral movement that you would do, but you do have this movement towards and away from the camera. And I think you’re, you’re more of an actress. I mean the basketballs, the Lake who’s there, but, um, the, the, the, the difference between being a stage actor and being TV actor, if you’re on stage, you’re running around the stage, you’ve got this whole space versus on TV. You could just raise an eyebrow and people understand something’s wrong. Versus if you’re on a huge, who’s going to see your eyebrow raised, right? No, that’s right. So there’s an opportunity to be more expressive on camera that we don’t have when we’re on a stage, but it’s about being aware of that opportunity and taking it for what it is because communicating on zoom is different of course, than being on stage.
Kristin:
It is. And it’s funny, even as I’m talking to you, I’m wishing that I hadn’t done this in a chair, right? I think that’s why someone told me recently that the sale of a convertible desks to sit down, stand up is off the charts this year. And then that for certain desks, there’s a backlog on being able to order them. And I know some of that is just, we get tired of sitting, but I also think a big part of it is you just, you’re more natural and more relaxed and able to just convey your natural self when you’re standing. So that’s another piece I would advise people if they know that they’re going to be presenting an awful lot. And in this COVID world, it may be over a, a video communication platform like this, get yourself a place where you can stand up and talk, because you will just be able to ground your feet and be able to be more natural and relaxed.
Kristin:
And like you said, move around a little bit. I also love it’s very interesting because you can learn, you can take advantage of making your point when you have that opportunity. And the audio recording picks up a little bit more of the vocal variation. So when you’re on a stage, you kind of need to keep the volume at a certain level. But when you’re here, you can actually get quiet, right? You can use all those qualities of your vocal, um, mechanism to, to convey the story, to add groggy tasks, to add anticipation. One of the biggest things about voiceover acting that, that we learn in particular for audio books is how important paces that people need time, not just to hear what you’ve said, but to be able to digest and understand and make sense of what you’ve said. And I don’t know about you, but when I hear other people talk, naturally I go, Oh, that reminds me of time.
Kristin:
Right? I immediately connect it to my own life. You also need added time to do that before the speaker moves onto the next topic. And so with leaders, we often will say to them, one of the reasons teams get dysfunctional in their communication with each other is we’re so excited about what you’re saying. Like, Shola, that’s such a great point that I’m going to interrupt the end of your sentence and take it and run with it. And I’ve noticed that end of people’s sentences sometimes is where the really meaty part is the important part that we really need to hear. So I often encourage leaders to repeat in their heads silently what they’re hearing the speaker say, right after they’re saying it, that has two great advantages. One, you literally can’t interrupt someone because you have to wait until they say the last thing they’re saying.
Kristin:
So you can repeat it in your head. That second, you hear it twice. So that now you have a chance to make a good strategic choice about how to respond to it. And so the link to public speaking is speak at a pace with enough space in what you’re saying so that people can receive it here at again, whether they repeat it again, or they connect it to something they know in their own life, and they will come away really feeling like you spoke at a pace that was comfortable for you. It might feel like you’re talking slowly. I know when I first started voiceover work, I was like, wow, that is really slow. And they said, yes, but with audio books, people are doing other stuff. Often when they’re listening, that’s part of why you have to slow down. And the truth is even if you’re at a staff meeting, someone’s busy making notes and doing something else sometimes while you’re talking. So to be able to really meet them with that pace, I think makes a difference and you get more used to it. The more you do it, all of your advice in your book, you get better at it. The more you
Public Speaking – the power of repetition
Shola:
Do it. Thank you for that. Yeah. That’s a really good tip. I’ll, I’ll keep that one in mind, but repeating things back because it is very easy, especially at home on zoom. As you say to you, you’re multitasking, you’re listening to something going on in the next room and there’s all sorts of things going on. So we need devices to help us to listen better. And I think another thing that helps there is it’s for you as a speaker to be really intentional about your message. Uh, I was with a client yesterday who was delivering a presentation with me and she could have been talking about, uh, being a tour guide, looking out the window. She could have been reading the recipe. It could have been anything. It was just words that had no impact and very little expression. So what, what, what, what are you feeling? Are you feeling joyful? Are you feeling excited? Are you feeling like this is a warning? And what, what, but let that permeate the words that you’re sharing so that people get the full impact of the message, not just the words. Cause we have to work very hard then to actually make those words mean something. And it’s your job as the speaker to, to impart that meaning in whatever way you can, on top of the words were alongside the words.
Kristin:
That’s a great piece of advice. And in, in the audio book world, we are taught to tell the story to one person, to read the book to one person, right? So it’s funny. I had a childhood friend see on Facebook that I was doing audio books and she said, Ooh, you’re reading aloud. And I thought, no, it’s more than that. Right? Reading aloud can sound very mechanical. It can sound like you’re reading a recipe. The difference is when you can really connect with that one person, I find that sometimes what helps me is reading as though I’m talking to kids, because any of you that have read a book to a child knows how much you put into it and the pauses. And you might add, you know, sometimes we add in between the words that are written and you can do that too with ads that, that character, that spirit, that emotion.
Kristin:
And then we can go on the journey with you much more easily. So I find talking to the whole room can feel overwhelming when you’re speaking. But if you imagine telling one person in the room that might be a tip from voiceover, or even telling a child with the energy and enthusiasm that you would naturally bring to storytelling when you’re reading a book to a kid. So I find that those pieces of voiceover work might be translatable to the highest of successful exacts that may be listening to us today. Right? We want, we don’t want to hear you read us the recipe. You know, if you’re gonna read us a recipe, raised lamb with Rosemary, right? That’s what we want to do.
Shola:
I love that. Brilliant. Well, I’ve taken up a lot of your time today, Kristin then, and I know you’ve got so much going on and you’ve probably got to run off and do something exciting now, but I really want you the audience out there too. I hope you’ve really enjoyed hearing Kristin’s lovely voice. And if you want to hear more of her voice, then you can do by getting hold of the copy of view’s year book of how to be a diva at public speaking. And I just want to thank you, Kristin, for stepping up and auditioning to, to, to, to read that book. And then for you all the tips and advice that you’ve shared with us today, because they’ve really been amazing. So can you share with us, if anyone would like to get in contact with you, what’s the best place to do have a website or social media? How can they do land?
Kristin:
Probably the easiest is Kristin voiceovers.com and it’s K R I S T I N. Um, that’s probably the easiest just to Ave for anything. I’ve got a presence on Facebook and Twitter as well, uh, and kind of go back and forth between connecting with work and leaders in organizations and leadership teams, as well as voiceover work. And I must say Shola, there are, if you can imagine, there are a lot of books out there and needing voicing, and unfortunately, a number of them. Aren’t great. Your book was an absolute joy to narrate because it is so well thought out. It’s so practical and you come through in your book. I feel like I got to know you by reading your book and bringing it to life. So I just want to encourage any of you out there thinking about doing more work, where you have presence, where you’re able to give a presentation, really follow shall this tips because they are, they’re just first rate.
Kristin:
Um, and I would love to be able to support others in any other voiceover work or any other leadership teamwork, but it’s been a real joy to connect with you today. I so appreciate your time, Shola, and the one of these days, I want to come hear you saying, well, thank you so much.
Shola:
Thank you, Kristin. It’s been an absolute pleasure and again, do get in touch with Kristin and check out the audio book. I’d love for you to take a look at that and then let either one of us know what you think, whether it’s the voice of the woods, you know, way we roll is so, um, thank you very much for your time and I’ll say goodbye for now.
Take care. Bye for now.
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