Business7 have posted a nice wee article on what I do, concerning my training for lawyers in court.
If you are interested in coming along to my seminar, on the Thursday the 3rd of March, visit: http://www.rfpg.org/cpd:booking
Attention all court practitioners!
These two books are gold dust. Read them now to understand what to say and do in the courtroom.
‘The Articulate Advocate” by Brian K. Johnson & Marsha Hunter
“Theater Tips and Strategies for Jury Trials” by David Ball, Ph. D.
For those of you who want to feel more confident vocally why not come along and join in with other like minded people. If you feel that people struggle to hear you, or you think you speak in a monotone or if you would just like to improve the speaking skills that you already possess, this might be the course for you
Check out the details at The Legal Services Agency in Renfrew St. Glasgow. The workshop runs for 3 hours from 10-1pm on Wednesday 23rd March 2011
www.lsa.org.uk/
The impression you create matters. The law courts wield authority and power. You are part of that and should reflect that by your manner and voice and, of course, your dress.
How you look matters from the moment you appear in your professional capacity. At all times, remember that you are your client’s advocate. You need to reassure your client and the court that you are up to the job. You should appear well-groomed and business-like. We assume that someone who appears well-groomed cares for him- or herself and is therefore well-equipped to represent someone else.
It is my experience that if you present a confident external appearance, this translates internally as well. Your appearance shouldn’t distract you or the court. I’ve often seen women advocates fiddling with stray locks of hair or pushing a side fringe out of the way. Often they don’t realise they are doing it. We all have ‘shadow movements’ that slip out when we are stressed and they all betray anxiety, which is not a state of mind which matches the responsibility of the job. Keeping your hair neat and tidy reduces the possibility of nervous fiddling.
The phrase ‘power dressing’ comes to mind here as well. Many women feel more confident wearing high heels. But have they thought about what that does to the body? High heels make them raise their heels and push their weight forward so that their balance is affected. The whole body is thrown out of alignment. That’s not all. The abdominal contents spill forward due to the forward tilting of the pelvis, giving that pouch which many mistake as a fat belly. When that happens the internal organs are compressed. You can also experience neck, shoulder and back pain, even headaches and jaw pain as all muscles are interconnected.
Much of an advocate’s job is speaking. It’s a hard concept to understand, but how you stand can affect the voice so, as a trainer in presentation skills, my first job with any client is to look at posture. Think of young children and how they stand. They are well aligned and balanced with both feet firmly placed on the ground. Nature designed this for a purpose and wearing ‘killer heels’ spoils the perfection of this natural stance. If you look at that list of problems due to high heels, it doesn’t take much to see that a tight neck is going to affect the vocal chords, producing a higher, tighter voice and jaw pain could impede clear speech.
If you want to persuade the court that you are well placed to win your case, how might it ‘read’ to everyone present if you are leaning forward? Might it be thought that you were seeking approval? Might you look insecure? The change to your centre of balance might just be a few degrees but that will be enough to change how you come over.
Apart from anything else, I would find it hard to concentrate on my argument if my bunions were throbbing! Not to mention the untold damage you are doing to your body over the years.
Keep the ‘killer’ for your cross-examination, not for your shoes!
I know that the first thing I notice about anyone is what he or she is wearing and I bet that ‘s true for most of you! With that in mind I spent a fascinating day with Lorraine Weselby a style consultant. I was a bit worried about what to wear obviously so decided to wear my usual black ensemble. The first thing Lorraine said was “Black’s not your colour!” It turns out that very few people are flattered by wearing black. Since working with Lorraine I still wear black, as I can’t afford to throw out my entire wardrobe, but I soften it by wearing a pink scarf or pink shirt which adds warmth to my face and is more flattering. I also feel brighter which is no bad thing.
I also think as one get’s older, it doesn’t hurt to get a fresh and professional eye to tell you whether the look you were happy with 25 years ago is still working! I know that my shape and colouring has changed too and I probably have’t factored that in when shopping for new clothes. That’s why you should go to a professional.
With over 26 years in the fashion industry she has a wealth of knowledge and experience. Having previously designed garments for both men and women she has a keen eye for both cut and textures of fabrics. She also knows that good tailoring and the correct tone and colour are imperative to achieving the perfect garment. Her clients range from career minded people to celebrities on the red carpet.
Lorraine and I both know that before you even say a single word, your audience will have made decisions about you based on your appearance!
Wearing the right colour pallet is very important and knowing how to put together your colours for your most powerful or even softer look is essential.
Dressing for your own scale and body lines in the right textures can make the difference between looking expensive or cheap – professional or casual.
Having your own personal style file and colour pallet can save you both time and money! For more information why don’t you check out Lorraine’s website – www.weselby.co.uk
Why look your worst when you could look your best!
What is the first thing we do if we are alone at home and think we hear a stranger downstairs? We hold our breath. It just seems to be a natural response to a threat.
Unfortunately holding one’s breath seems to be something that nervous presenters also do, before or during the talk. When they become anxious, they are likely to over-breathe by taking shallow breaths from the upper part of their lungs.
Apart from adding to the symptoms of ‘Flight or Fight’, there will a lack of breath to give your voice any power, energy or volume. If you feel that people struggle to hear you or if you are aware that you are straining your voice, or fading away at the end of a sentence, then it is likely that you are breathing from the chest area rather than the diaphragm.
How do you know if you are over-breathing? Put one hand on your chest and one on your abdomen. If you breathe more from the chest you will be aware that your chest will rise as you breathe in, often accompanied by an unnecessary rising of the shoulders. If you are breathing lower down, your abdomen will rise as you take in a breath. Ideally you want the abdomen to rise more than the chest, for healthier efficient breathing.
Breathing from the upper chest means that you have to work harder and can lead to over-breathing. The breath will be quicker and shallower. Some people I have trained experience the following symptoms due to this over-breathing: dizziness, tightness in the chest, faintness, increased heart rate and increasing feelings of panic. The only way to prevent these feelings taking over is to develop awareness of how we are breathing – is it strained and unsteady? Is it shallow or fast? Am I adding to this problem by holding tension in my body? You need to check your posture, allow the muscles to relax to encourage the breath to go deeper into the body, allow the ribcage to expand, the diaphragm to flatten and the abdomen to fill.
You might like to try this exercise. It’s one that performers world wide use. The slower you do it, the more effective it is.
• Hug yourself with arms criss-crossed and reaching for the shoulder blades, but tenderly not with a rough grip. Keep the shoulders released in this hold: neither tense nor bunch them. Keep your feet apart beneath the hips and parallel with one another.
• Bend the knees gradually and, still hugging yourself, flop over from the waist. Breathe in deeply. You should feel the back open.
• Still in this position take several unrushed breaths. Let the arms drop down and slowly come up through the spine. Once again, do not place the shoulders but let them find their natural position.
• As you come up be aware not to hoist yourself into place by lifting the upper chest. If this happens, place your hand there to still it.
• Stand centred and open your arms out in a welcoming embrace. Feel the energy flow through the arms out in a welcoming embrace. In this position, drop the shoulders. Then allow the arms to return to your side. The upper chest should feel very open and there should be a sensation of breath going into the back.
With all exercises they work more effectively, the more you try them out. By practising breathing awareness, you will be able to reverse the effects of flight or fight, and bring you into a more balanced and relaxed state.
Unlike the other physiological effects of anxiety, breathing is under your conscious control and research shows that if you can keep your breathing under control, the worst of the physical symptoms that affect performers, are kept at bay.
Where do I start with my first blog? Well, that’s an easy one – Presentation Nerves. Whenever I ask a group on a Presentation Skills training day, what they need most help with, the first reply will be “Anxiety” and the rest of the group will let out a collective groan of agreement.
In this first blog, I don’t want to talk about the physical symptoms of anxiety and what to do about them, I’d like to look at the mental symptoms which can include:
• Feelings of panic and hysteria
• Out of body feeling
• Memory loss
• Thoughts of failure
• Dread
You can see that these are not helpful symptoms. When we want to look and feel at our most relaxed, our mind is letting us down. I’ve been an actor for over 30 years and I still experience some of these mental symptoms but I have learned to harness them to a greater or lesser degree. How do I do it?
I make myself take a peek at my audience as they are arriving at the theatre to remind myself that they have chosen to come and see the production, that they are not out to ‘get me’ but that in fact they are going to give me the benefit of the doubt and are on my side. They are my friends and are willing me to give them a good performance.
I also try to view any feelings of performance anxiety in a positive light. I use it to give power and energy to my performance. In fact I worry more if I don’t feel anxious. Stepping out in front of an audience is taking a risk and deserves some adrenalin. I need some of the anxiety to give an edge to the performance and to lift it. I am about to do something out of the ordinary and my body is recognising that.
Why don’t you stop using negative words like, fear, terror and anxiety and see what happens if you replace them with eagerness, excitement and challenge.
This will change your internal conversation. Instead of saying to yourself “This is going to go badly” you might want to replace that with – “I’ve really prepared thoroughly for this and I can’t wait to do my presentation”. You can boost your self-confidence just by changing how you talk to yourself. Try it and see.
