In this post, I am sharing a marvelous exercise to keep your mouth ready for speaking.
As a professional speaker and member of Toastmasters for over 30 years, I experience my mouth not working after a period of not speaking. Sentences don’t flow. Filler sounds like, ah, er, and um slip in.
It’s sort of like the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz. It wasn’t that he was dumb and couldn’t communicate. It was that he hadn’t used his mouth in ages. His mouth needed to be “oiled.” Then he was able to speak. Only after “oiling” my mouth does it loosen up and produce coherent speech.
Steve Allen, who got his start in radio, found he often had to improvise. So he developed an exercise to aid in the development of ad-libbing. But before I share that, let me introduce you to Mr. Steve Allen.
MEET STEVE ALLEN
Paraphrasing from Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Allen
Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. In 1954, he served as the host of The Tonight Show, the first late-night television talk show.
After he hosted The Tonight Show, he went on to host numerous game and variety shows. Shows like his own Steve Allen Show and I’ve Got a Secret. He was a regular panel member on CBS’s What’s My Line? From 1977 until 1981, he wrote, produced, and hosted the award-winning public broadcasting show Meeting of Minds, a series of historical dramas presented in a talk format.
In 1996 Allen was presented with the Martin Gardner Lifetime Achievement Award from the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSICOP). He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a Hollywood theater named in his honor.
In addition to the many accomplishments mentioned above, Mr. Allen authored 50 books. One of them is titled, “How To Make A Speech.” In the chapter devoted to speech rehearsal, Mr. Allen explains that rehearsing falls into two categories – rehearsing your speech and rehearsing your MOUTH. The latter is the primary topic of this post.
Steve Allen’s Play-by-Play Mouth Exercise
What Mr. Allen did to oil his mouth and prepare it for speaking, was to verbally, out loud, describe his surroundings play-by-play. Sort of like a sports reporter giving details of a live sports event – play-by-play. He would practice it in his car and in his home – safe places where he could talk out loud without being perceived as one bean short of a burrito. Today, with our smartphones, we can get away with practicing the play-by-play exercise anywhere. Anyone hearing us would assume we are talking on the phone.
Anyway, quoting from his book, this is an example of his play-by-play description while driving his car:
“Here we are again, folks, as I continue my description of the things and people and places I see as I drive around good old Phoenix, Arizona. It’s lightly rainy out this morning, which is pretty unusual for this time of year and – come to think of it – for this part of the country, which is essentially desert, as you know. But in any event, I now see, as I pass the corner of Fourth and Jefferson, two elderly women about to cross the street, waiting for the light to change. One of them is walking a small poodle. At least, I think it’s a poodle, although I’m not sure it’s pure-blooded. On my right now, as I proceed along, I see a hardware store, a bakery shop, and a place that sells Indian turquoise jewelry…”
I think this practice is brilliant. After all, most of us are not delivering speeches to an audience all the time. The play-by-play exercise is a way to keep the mouth ready for speaking – well oiled – for when we do deliver a talk to a live audience.
My method of rehearsing a speech
I find that rehearsing a talk at least six times, out loud, gets my mouth ready for speaking. In addition, by saying the speech out loud, I can hear, FEEL, when a word or sentence can be said more succinctly. With a more visual description. With more vocal emphasis. I wrote a post about this type of rehearsal for a speech I delivered about the day of my mom’s death. You can read about it here.
Any professional speaker or performer will tell you that delivery without diligent practice beforehand is a recipe for disaster. I recall the insightful response speech coach James Malinchak gave to a question regarding how much he rehearses before a scheduled event. Mr. Malinchak said he practices his talks all the time. He doesn’t wait until scheduled to speak to rehearse. He practices ALL THE TIME. While cooking dinner. While mowing his lawn. While driving. While showering. No matter when he is called upon to speak, his mouth is oiled, and his content well-rehearsed for yet another flawless, powerful delivery.
Keep your mouth ready for speaking
You’ve got the recipe for powerful speaking here, folks. To recap how to prepare the mouth -and yourself – for speaking:
- Oil your mouth with a play-by-play exercise for eloquent ad-libbing.
- Practice your speech out loud at least six times to perfect its flow and content.
- Consider practicing your important presentations, or at least the critical components of them, often – even when you do not have a scheduled event.
As Idowu Koyenikanso wisely said, “Opportunity does not waste time with those who are unprepared.”
