Denise Woods - The Power of Voice

Avoir c'est here : https://harpercollins.com/audio/powerofvoice (At the time of this writing, they're using Shopify's CDN!)

Self-test. Record Cicely's dream by Chrles W. Chesnutt :

Cicely climbed the low fence between the garden and the cornfield, and started down one of the long rows leading directly away from the house. Old Needham was a good ploughman, and straight as an arrow ran the furrow between the rows of corn, until it vanished in the distant perspective. The peas were planted beside alternate hills of corn, the cornstalks serving as supports for the climbing pea-vines. The vines nearest the house had been picked more or less clear of the long green pods, and Cicely walked down the row for a quarter of a mile, to where the peas were more plentiful. And as she walked she thought of her dream of the night before.

She had dreamed a beautiful dream. The fact that it was a beautiful dream, a delightful dream, her memory retained very vividly. She was troubled because she could not remember just what her dream had been about. Of one other fact she was certain, that in her dream she had found something, and that her happiness had been bound up with the thing she had found. As she walked down the corn-row she ran over in her mind the various things with which she had always associated happiness. Had she found a gold ring? No, it was not a gold ring--of that she felt sure. Was it a soft, curly plume for her hat? She had seen town people with them, and had indulged in day-dreams on the subject; but it was not a feather. Was it a bright-colored silk dress? No; as much as she had always wanted one, it was not a silk dress. For an instant, in a dream, she had tasted some great and novel happiness, and when she awoke it was dashed from her lips, and she could not even enjoy the memory of it, except in a vague, indefinite, and tantalizing way.

Did you know?

e is the only real vowel. The others are actually diphthongs!

Recommended practice : 

1. The Sea, by Barry Cornwall
2. Hymn Before Sunrise, in the Vale of Chamouni by Coleridge
3. Sympathy by Paul L. Dunbar
4. Caged Bird by Maya Angelou

Daily practice :

• Are you adjusting the safety pin while writing with a pen?
• He sinned when he sent the gem.
• Hold the tin over the heads of ten men.
• Where's the garbage bin, Ben?
• Please don't give gin to that gentle gentleman.

Did you know?

Denise Woods is descended from the Gullah – a distinctive group of Black Americans from S. Carolina who speak a creole similar to Sierra Leone Krio

Other exercises (thanks Trina for pre-plagiarizing:) :

• I saw Susie sitting in a shoeshine shop. Where she sits she shines, and where she shines she sits.
• Silly Sally swiftly shooed seven silly sheep. The seven silly sheep Silly Sally shooed shilly-shallied south.
• Six silly sisters sitting sadly sawing six silk sacks
• Six socks sit in a sink soaking in soap suds
• He thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts.
• Denise sees the fleece, Denise sees the fleas. At least Denise could sneeze, and feed and freeze the fleas.
• A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk, but the stump thunk the skunk stunk.

Speeches :

How to make a lasting impact on your audience? Set an intention before you speak, bearing in mind the arc of your story, practising.

1. Use a short intention phrase with a powerful action verb to describe how you want to impact your audience (Eg. I want to empower my aud. to use their voices for social change by...)
2. Remember the arc of your story : exposition - rising action - climax - falling action - resolution - conclusion. Intention phrase is at the core - gives gravitas.
3. Practise speech out loud; imagine audience; find out if there'll be a podium.

Our lives end the day we become silent about things that matter - MLK

Remember, it's about : Relaxation, Breath, Articulation, Phrasing, Vocal Variety, Inflexion.