Real Talking Tips with Elaine A. Clark

Hello, I’m and welcome to the final episode of season 1. S1 Ep 52 Real Talking Tips is YOUR time to assess what you learned in each of these 52 speech communication micro learning lessons. As you listen, be sure to rate yourself on all 52 micro-learning lessons on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the highest score. Then tally your score. Your Real Talking Tips speech communication score should fall somewhere between 52 (lowest) and 260 (highest). The score you give yourself should be a pretty good indicator of your perceived speaking skills and the areas that need more practice. Don’t forget that if you ever need help, I’m available for personal coaching sessions. Just go to my website: and send me an to schedule a date and time. Now, settle in and get ready to score your speech success!

Successful speech communication is easily received by the listener and engages the audience's attention. - YOU have the ability to make people feel and take action. - You have the choice to offer a suggestion rather than a demand. - You have the ability to guide the listener into accepting and adopting your message as their own. That’s the power of words, how you deliver the message, and own the results as a voice actor, podcaster, public speaker, sales person, or presenter. Episode 51 is a review of the topics we worked on in Real Talking Tips season 1 and in my Elaine A. Clark books, There’s Money Where Your Mouth Is and Voice-Overs for Podcasting, plus my two speech apps, Activate Your Voice and Adding Melody To Your Voice. What areas of speech do you need to improve? Clarity, Resonance, Breath Support, and Power. Natural Talking Speed and Use of Tempo Changes. Storytelling, Emotional Opinions, and Creation of a 3-D World. Emphasis on Key Words and Voice Placement Locations. Motivation, Action, Through Line, and Story Arc. Authority, Logic, and Emotion. Consistency and Confidence Practice along with the Real Talking Tips videos, audio podcasts, this blog, my Elaine Clark apps - Adding Melody To Your Voice and Activate Your Voice plus my best selling Elaine A. Clark books, There’s Money Where Your Mouth Is and Voice-Overs for Podcasting.

The purpose of a story arc is to ENGAGE the audience's attention and effect a CHANGE. A story arc is needed in every speech, presentation, audio recording, and series episode. For the story to go somewhere, change must occur from the beginning of the speech, to the end of the message, and beyond the spoken words. 'Flat lining a message' occurs when a speaker fails to take the audience on a journey. Story arcs can be from avoidance to acceptance, confusion to understanding, boredom to action, disconnection to support, disappointment to success, etc. The story arc style can be simple, complex, dramatic, or comedic. So remember, the speaker's narrative story arc takes the audience on a journey, which is the foundation of good storytelling.

In Real Talking Tips episode 49, the final E for EMOTION is added to my Elaine A. Clark - Making It M.I.N.E.® 4-part speech communication and performance series. The M-I-N-E acronym stands for: M. MOTIVATION - The moment before speaking that propels the message. I. INTENTIONS - Actions given to words to safeguard a 'win'. N. NEED - The message's purpose and through line. E. EMOTIONS - Adding emotional depth, realism, and opinion. In the previous 4-part Real Talking Tips - Power of Persuasion series, the importance of emotion was discussed in episode Ethos is a primary component of Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle because it establishes WHY your audience should trust you. In this Real Talking Tips episode on EMOTION, get ready to change feelings and emotions and unite them with the breath. And don’t forget that you can learn more about the Making It M.I.N.E.® speech and performance system in my book, . You can also read the blog notes on my SOVA AWARD WINNING website: elaineclarkvo.com. Practice along with the Real Talking Tips video, audio podcast, this blog, my Elaine Clark apps - plus my best selling Elaine A. Clark books, and .

In contrast to INTENTIONS that were discussed in Real Talking Tips 47 that continually change, the NEED of each speaker’s message should remain constant and never change. A clearly defined NEED is the speaker’s through line, driving force, and purpose for speaking. A person's NEED can be for basic existence: sleep, clothing, water, food, and shelter. The speaker's NEED should be unique to a specific situation and expected audience response. The NEED must be condensed and clarified into only one or two words. The purpose of choosing a one or two word NEED is to connect with the audience on a core level so they accept and share the same NEED as the speaker. The NEED focuses HOW the speaker conveys information. The NEED defines WHY the message is delivered in that particular way. While defining the NEED may seem simplistic, it is quite the opposite. Choosing the right NEED word makes all the difference between a strong connection with the audience and a speaker who misses the mark. After listening and you want to learn more about the NEED and the other parts of my Making It M.I.N.E.® performance system, check out Chapter 5 in my book – There’s Money Where Your Mouth Is. To connect and use the M-I-N-E system together, watch Real Talking Tips episodes 46-49 and read the blog notes provided on this website – . As always, In encourage you to practice along with the Real Talking Tips audio, video, blog, my Elaine Clark apps - and plus my best selling , There’s Money Where Your Mouth Is and Voice-Overs for Podcasting.

Real Talking Tips 47 is the second part of my Elaine A. Clark - Making It M.I.N.E.® series on how to add depth and subtext to speech, presentations, podcasts, and voice-over recordings. INTENTIONS are the ACTIONS a speaker uses to ensure a “win”. The movement can be the gestures we worked on in the Real Talking Tips episodes 27 - 37 Word Emphasis series and in my Adding Melody To Your Voice app. Intentions can also be an awareness of a subconscious movement so the speaker can consciously and strategically use those actions. The manner in which the INTENTION words are spoken adds new and varied colors to the speaking voice. Intentions are also tied in to Motivation, the first letter in the M-I-N-E method that we just worked on in Real Talking Tips Episode 46. To find more information about my Elaine A. Clark Making It M.I.N.E.® method in my book, There's Money Where Your Mouth Is and on my blog page, ElaineClarkVO.com/podcast.

The letters in my Elaine A. Clark - Making It M.I.N.E.® performance system stand for Motivation, Intentions, Need, and Emotions. The goal of this series and other Real Talking Tips episodes is to reprogram speech communication and performance out of the head so it can drop into your body. Real Talking Tips 46 kicks off the 4-part M-I-N-E series with MOTIVATIONS. - Motivation is connected to an event that just happened. - Motivation is a reaction that prompts the speaker to respond. - Motivation is based on an activity that was witnessed. - Motivation is the result of a conversation. - Motivation prompts a speaker to voice an opinion based on another person's resistance, disbelief, pushback, misunderstanding, or lack of knowledge. Motivation is about connecting with a specific moment before speaking that actively catapults a personal response. To learn more about MOTIVATIONS, turn to Chapter 5 of my book - - and check out Real Talking Tips episode 46 on my website - .

Real Talking Tips 45 completes the 4-part Power of Persuasion series. In episodes 42-44, we constructed the 3 pillars of persuasion: Ethos, Logos, and Pathos. Now we're going to dig a little deeper into Aristotle's Treatise on Rhetoric where he defined the available means of persuasion into three additional categories: Judicial, Demonstrative, and Deliberate. Because it's about the FUTURE, we’re going to focus on Deliberative Rhetoric, where: Logos: Provides information for your audience to think. Pathos: Encourages your audience to feel. Ethos: Establishes why your audience should trust you. Then, I'm going to give you the Elaine Clark Real Talking Tips guide to using rhetoric as a powerful persuasive speaking tool.

PATHOS is the third episode in this Real Talking Tips - POWER OF PERSUASION - series. Pathos is the emotional addition to the authoritative ETHOS and logical LOGOS discussed in Real Talking Tips episodes -43. At the core of Pathos is an emotional appeal to evoke a feeling from the audience. Pathos also lends an imaginative and storytelling quality that can open up people's minds and hearts to past, present, and future possibilities. Follow along as we explore how to recognize and emotionally connect with pathos as the primary rhetorical component, combined with logos, or sparingly used. Follow along on the website: And, please take a moment to subscribe, download, share, rate, and add comments. I love hearing how this podcast or a specific episode helped you land a job, increase sales, close a deal, or improve your recording or speaking event.

LOGOS is the second rhetorical appeal in this 4-part Real Talking Tips POWER OF PERSUASION series. kicked off the mini-series with ETHOS, a speaker’s authority, background, and ‘street cred’. LOGOS is the very heart and soul of the writer’s and speaker’s message. Logos provides facts, price, size, reasoning, numbers, dates, times, percentages, and function. Logos supports the argument with research, evidence, and proof to make a particular claim. These logical bits of information have a purpose and need to stand out in order to persuade and convince. Using the movements and gestures we worked on in the help define those key logical elements so the purpose and importance of the LOGOS stands out. Therefore: Logos = Logic = Uniqueness.

Real Talking Tips 42 begins a new 4-part series on the POWER OF PERSUASION. Hi, I'm - actor, , , , , and . Listing my background establishes my authority and ethos, which is the focus of this episode. Ethos is one of three powerful rhetorical components and the foundation of writing and speaking. Ethos establishes the speaker’s tone, style, status, ethical standards, credibility, and believability. It’s the speaker’s job to sound authoritative and support the personal ‘WHY’ belief regardless if it’s their own message or someone else’s words. When delivering a speech, presentation, or voice-over script written by someone else, many speakers lose their personal connection to the message. The result is a lack of ethos and audience disconnection with the speaker and information. Join me, along with and some wise tips from Aristotle, on how to own your Ethos! For more information, visit my website:

If you have a monotone voice, get frustrated when people lose focus or tune out when you talk, or are annoyed when people ask you to repeat yourself, this Real Talking Tips ‘Shifting Voice Locations’ episode is for you. Varying pitch placement helps separate concepts, ideas, information, and list items so the audience can stay focused and more easily absorb the entire message and separate bits of information. Shifting voice placement locations helps grab a listener’s attention and take the listener on an informational journey via a musically spoken story arc.

In this 3rd of 4 Voice Placement episodes, we're going to drop the speaking voice down from the middle 'mask voice' and higher 'head voice' to the deeper 'chest voice'. Confidence and authority are usually associated with lower voices. That’s why a lot of speakers prefer speaking from the chest voice area. The following are 4 ways different voice pitched speakers can use their chest voice for optimal strength, resonance, pitch, and tone. Higher voice: Start speaking from your lowest relaxed voice placement and lift the words up briefly and back down. Middle voice: Speak and gesture with the hands at waist level or below to keep the pitch lower in the chest. Weaker voice: Plant the heels of the feet in the ground, bend the knees slightly, and tighten the lower buttock and thigh muscles. Ultra Deep voice: Begin speaking at a higher voice pitch and dip down briefly into the lowest tones before returning to the slightly higher voice. To find out more about Voice Placement and other Speaking Tips, go to .

Real Talking Tips 39 is the 2nd of 4 Voice Placement episodes. Last episode, we concentrated on the natural sounding 'mask voice.' This time, we move the voice pitch higher into the skull and head area. Depending on your work and social interactions, speaking from the head voice can be used to: 1. Calm an uncomfortable guest in a podcast or interview show. 2. Differentiate the sound of two similar sounding people in a live performance, recorded dialog, or interview. 3. Establish specific character voices when reading books aloud to children and voicing higher pitched characters in a variety of entertainment genres. 4. Sound like a baby in a cartoon, video game, or toy. Practice along as we explore when and how to use your 'head voice' in this Real Talking Tips video, blog, my

Speak from the nose to mouth ‘mask’ area for more impact as Real Talking Tips Episode 38 kicks off a new 4-part mini-series focused on speech Voice Placement. This first episode in the series focuses on uniting the breath, resonance, and emotion in your natural speaking voice. The air flow or intake of breath should begin in the bottom half of the body, move up through the stomach area, into the lower-ribs and spine area, so the dome-shaped diaphragm muscles can push the air up and out through the mouth. Breathing properly aids in connecting emotions to the spoken words. The mask area also needs resonance. So we’ll warm up the resonators, too. You can refer back to the 2nd episode of Real Talking Tips and my Elaine Clark 5-minute voice and diction app, for additional resonance information and practice tips. Use these Voice Placement tips to add more strength, beauty, and emotion, to your natural ‘mask’ voice. Practice along with the Real Talking Tips podcast and the , my Elaine Clark app - , and my best selling books, and .

Take the Word Emphasis challenge! Practice 11 dynamic speaking techniques from episodes 27-36. Real Talking Tips episode 37, reviews the Word Emphasis Chart gestures and demonstrates how each movement draws focus to specific words, phrases, sentences and speech. Communication Coach, Elaine A. Clark, shows how to apply those speech techniques to voice-overs, podcasts, sales calls, Live Talks, Presentations, and Virtual Web Meetings. So, shake your hands out and get ready to use the Word Emphasis Chart movements and symbols so you, too, can get 'Wired for Sound.'

This is my absolute favorite Word Emphasis technique! What makes the Up-Down-Split the Difference speech movements and gestures so important? This Real Talking Tips 10th Word Emphasis technique musically separates important information, making it easier for the listener to receive, define, and comprehend each spoken element. These three elements can be single words, phrases, or full sentences. Using 3 distinct musical speech placements supports the written 'Rule-Of-Three' that uses an odd number to achieve humor, tempo effectiveness, the element of surprise, and audience satisfaction. While some of the other Word Emphasis techniques should be used sparingly, this Up-Down-Middle Word Emphasis placement technique should be used a lot! For more information about this technique, visit my RealTalkingTips.com website:

Real Talking Tips Episode 35 is the 9th of 11 Word Emphasis lessons. The HOOK uses a simple finger movement on an individual word. This hook-like 'S' movement slows down the focus word, adds clarity and musicality to that word in order to attract listener attention. An attention grabbing Hook is typically used at the beginning of a talk or speech to quickly switch focus to a new discussion topic, business, product, or person. As a clarifier, the Hook word emphasis movement provides an auditory twist to important Who, When and Where words in the beginning, middle, or end of a sentence. To view more information about the and this Real Talking Tips podcast, go to .

Join me, Elaine A. Clark, in this Real Talking Tips episode, where we’re going to dust off some basic English class lessons and apply that knowledge to speech and movement. You may recall that the Noun,Verb, and Subject of the Noun comprise the three main parts of a sentence. Your English teacher may have also referred to it as the Statement / Action / Connecting Statement. In this 8th of 11 Word Emphasis mini-series, we're going to honor these three grammatical elements by adding a 'Wave' to our speaking voice to define and separate Who, What, Why, When, Where, and How phrases. You can also read and see it in action on my website:

As a speaker, when you need to change direction and attitude quickly, the 'Dip-Down' is your Word Emphasis choice. This dip-down technique uses opposing gestures, movements, voice pitch, tempo, and attitude to create a story arc. It's an effective speaking tip to prevent the message from becoming flat-lined, boring, and monotonous. The purpose of the dip-down is to speak so opposing information from the past "before moment" is clearly defined and understood. Then, when the voice and attitude quickly shifts in the opposite direction in the second part of the dip-down, the speaker takes the listener to the outcome and result of the "current moment" information, message, and attitude. Practice adding Dip-Downs in this 7th of 11 Real Talking Tips Word Emphasis lessons. Each element of the Word Emphasis Chart adds variety and attitude to words and phrases! In the last six episodes, we added a Dot, Arrow Up, Caret Up (^), Arrow Down, Caret Down (v), Wiggle, Stretch, and Parethetical. Practice along with this Real Talking Tips podcast and the ElaineClarkVO.com/podcast blog and video, my Elaine Clark app - '' and my best selling Elaine A. Clark books, '' and ''. Please subscribe and add a comment. I love hearing from you!