Voice Work for Social Settings

This is our first podcast episode in our new format, where Lindsay and I discuss a question from YOU, our listeners. The question we talked about in this episode is:

It’s strange- when performing I find speech easier and more controlled but in social settings I often find myself stumbling over my words or find it difficult to make my words clear. However if I try and use the techniques I use to speak clearly on stage in social settings I find it comes across as wrong for the situation. How can I combat this without over-effort?

This is such a great question and definitely resonated with us. Communicating in social situations can be tricky-- it can be hard to be ourselves sometimes! 

We talk through where this issue has come up for us, and some ideas for what to do when you're finding it hard to articulate yourself in social situations. Themes that come up are: 

• Rather than focusing your attention so much inward on how you're talking as you're talking, bring your attention back out into your environment. How can you get more curious about your environment and who you're talking to? How can that shift of attention help re-ground you into the present moment? 
• The usefulness of thinking about breathing to people as you speak. 
• When you feel you're over-efforting, ask yourself, how can I do less? As you start to do less, you may begin to see more, feel more relaxed, and breathe more easily. 
• The difference between technique and working really hard. 

We'd be curious to hear what you think about our responses, and if you have some thoughts on your own on this question! Feel free to email us at bespoke.comcontact@gmail.com.