Meet Teri!
You may recognise the amazing Teri from the screen and stage… She is a professional actress and has performed for theatre and television, recently being seen in Bridgerton and Call the Midwife, and gracing the stages of theatres like Theatre Royal Haymarket, National Theatre, Soho Theatre, Manchester Opera House and more!
When Teri was a child she found it hard to communicate and concentrate at school. When drama was introduced to her, she found it easier to express herself, which helped her to build her confidence. This experience was one of the reasons Teri founded Speak Up, an organisation running drama workshops to boost the confidence and wellbeing of people of all ages (with a particular focus on young people). The workshops are fun, playful and safe, creating spaces in which children and adults alike can take steps to building their confidence together.
Since 2020, Teri has been running confidence building workshops for women in the Routes Community, and the results have been amazing! 2020 mentee Mutiat recently commented,
“By the time you listen to Teri a few times your confidence will boost whether you want it or not!”
Since more adults in the UK are scared of public speaking than of dying (!) we thought it was only fair to share some of Teri’s Top Tips with you too…
Top Tips for Finding Public Speaking Confidence
1. Warm up before you start, even if it’s just a quick stretch of your body and face
Would you expect an athlete or a gymnast to go into a performance without warming up? No! Your body, face and voice need to be prepared in order to do their job properly.
2. Slow down and breathe — let the audience process your words
The audience doesn’t have a pause or rewind button! They only have one chance to hear what you are saying, so take your time, especially around important words or phrases. It will always sound faster to an audience than it does to you.
3. Start and finish well — the audience will remember the first and last thing you say
Start and finish with confidence and energy. We can all be tempted to trail off at the end, or run off the stage in relief, but the final impression is the most important one! Leave the audience wanting more by finishing as strongly as you began.
4. And finally, your audience want you to be good — take the pressure off yourself!
In centuries gone by, lots of eyes staring at one person would probably have meant they were about to be eaten by a pack of angry wolves... But not anymore! The eyes in your audience want you to do well and are looking for the best in you! Remembering this can help to take the pressure off and calm the part of your nervous system that goes into “fight or flight” mode.
Next time you have some public speaking to do (whether online or in real life) make sure to give these top tips a try, and let us know how you get on!
You can find out more about Teri and her organisation ‘Speak Up’ here.
You can find out more about Routes’ creative work, including details of our workshops, events and performances here.
