[nabs-l] Public Speaking

Sun Jun 22 01:27:42 UTC 2014

Thanks Lizzy and Rahul! Rahul, I agree that certain gestures and
visual expressions don't seem to come as naturally to us as to sighted
people. In my undergrad work, I took vocal (singing) lessons as part
of a music minor. The faculty gave me some constructive criticism
about my facial expressions and appearance while singing. this was not
done in a disrespectful way at all, but definitely blunt and honest.
They told me that I looked "bland" as I was singing and that I did not
have any facial expressions to bring life to the music. I was glad
they pointed this out to me because I then began to be more conscious
of how I appeared during performances, whereas previously I had
focused only on how I sounded. My voice instructor gave me some
helpful tips. She told me to think about the words that I was singing
as if I were telling a story to someone and to think about what
feelings those words would evoke and let that come out naturally
through my expressions. She didn't give me specific instructions, such
as telling me to smile at a certain point or look sad at a certain
point, but rather encouraged me to let my emotions become more engaged
with what I was singing about and express myself accordingly. Many
years ago, someone told me that facial expressions come natural for
blind and sighted alike, and I think perhaps many gestures do as well.
I personally think that the key is getting yourself relaxed enough and
focused on what you are talking about and emotionally/mentally
connected with the subject matter so that those facial expressions and
gestures will occur naturally. Now this probably differs in singing
and speaking... For example, it is easy to become emotionally engaged
when singing a song about heartbreak or about love or about a happy
event. But when you are giving a speech to your Economics class, well
maybe not so easy, lol. But I think some of the same principles can
perhaps be transferred. I think this sort of goes along with what
Lizzy said about being knowledgeable and comfortable with the subject
matter at hand. My theory is that when that occurs, the gestures and
facial expressions will come naturally. Again I am speaking more based
on theory than from practical experience here, but I do know that
these things helped me with my facial expressions and gestures while
singing, and I do plan to use some of these same ideas in my speeches,
though it will be an entirely different situation. So I hope there is
something that I just said that makes at least a little sense and is
helpful (smile). I would love to hear others' thoughts and opinions on
the matter of facial expressions and gestures while speaking publicly
as a blind person, as I am sure there are a lot of differing points of
view on that aspect.

Shickeytha

On 6/21/14, Rahul Bajaj via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> This is turning out to be an intriguing discussion!
> I have really enjoyed reading all the great suggestions that others
> have given so far.
> Although I'd like to believe that I'm not that bad at public speaking,
> I have been told a couple of times that I should use hand gestures to
> convey my points more strongly.
> I have never done this because, as I am sure you all would agree, this
> isn't something that comes to us naturally.
> As a result, I just stand still while giving my speeches and don't use
> any gestures; this is something that weighs heavily against me in
> public speaking competitions.
> Can anyone share any effective strategies that they have employed to
> circumvent this problem?
> Someone spoke about practicing this with a sighted person. That's a
> good suggestion, and I'll definitely keep that in mind.
> Does anyone have any other suggestions?
>
> Best,
> Rahul
>
> On 22/06/2014, lizzy via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> Hi Shickeytha,
>> You've gotten some great tips thus far.  Here are a few more
>> tricks to add to the list.
>> First, let me just say that my tips for a blind public speaker do
>> not differ greatly from those I would give to a sighted speaker.
>> - Always look at your audience to keep their attention.  You
>> mentioned sighted people looking down at notes or a teleprompter,
>> I personally dislike when people do this (especially when reading
>> from a powerpoint located behind the presenter) because it is
>> pretty distracting to the audience.  No matter how you choose to
>> read your notes, you will always have the advantage of being able
>> to look at your audience while speaking to them (which is a plus
>> if you ask me).
>> - If you do decide to use braille, one tip you could use is not
>> necessarily memorizing your speech ahead of time, but knowing
>> your stance on a topic and perhaps just writing that subject down
>> (or even shortening the word to just a few letters), and
>> explaining your view to the class.  Since no one else is reading
>> your notes, they can literally say anything as long as you
>> remember what the letters/words mean.  There are benefits and
>> drawbacks to memorizing your speech ahead of time, let me know if
>> you'd like for me to elaborate.
>> - Be sure to not only speak clearly, but also use inflection.  I
>> can't stress this enough, speaking in a monotone voice is a sure
>> way to get people to fall asleep or think about things totally
>> unrelated to your presentation.
>> - Know your audience and your subject matter.  You speak to
>> college students in a different manner than you would third
>> graders which differs from how you would speak to parents.
>> Likewise, you'd talk about genocide with an expression that
>> contrasts the one you'd have when talking about something
>> positive.  Be sure to maintain appropriate tone of voice,
>> posture, movement etc.  You'll know your audience is engaged when
>> they react appropriately to something you've said.  For example,
>> when you tell an anecdote, they respond with ooos and ahs, awws,
>> laughs/chuckles- whatever's appropriate.  If you hear a lot of
>> movement (stretching, looking for a clock, checking phones,
>> etc.), or excessive coughing (when it's not flu season), you know
>> you've lost your audience and it's time to take a more upbeat
>> approach.
>> - Finally, and this is the most important tip of all in my
>> opinion.  Be yourself.  If you're not a funny person, don't force
>> it.  If you're not comfortable moving around, just maintain good
>> posture in one area.  As Joe said, these things need to look
>> natural, so do whatever you feel most comfortable with.  If you
>> would like to learn about gestures, movement etc.  then by all
>> means, do so! It makes for a great presentation, but don't force
>> anything.
>> Please let me know if you'd like for me to elaborate on specific
>> topics! I would be more than happy to do so.
>> Hope this helps,
>> Lizzy
>>
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