HOW ACTING SKILLS CAN HELP YOU IN YOUR SPEECH DELIVERY


How Acting Skills Can Help You In Your Speech Delivery



I love the stage.

When I am on a stage, it feels as if I’m at the top of the world. There are so much energy. There is also this incredible adrenaline rush that I can’t explain.


I fell in love with the stage a long time ago. I was so much into the performing arts and theatre back then. It was one of the best times of my life. Although 4 years on stage was not much, it was enough to train me in conquering my fear in front of a large audience. The experiences on stage have thought me a lot about the art of performing. The acting skills I've acquired help me tremendously in what I love doing now; public speaking.

You must be asking, what do theatre and performing arts have anything to do with public speaking? How can acting skills help anyone in their speech presentation? Well, let me tell you how acting skills can help you in your speech delivery.

1) Acting skills help you to use your emotions in your speech delivery.

Please let me make this clear. I am not asking you to put an act in front of your audience while you are giving a speech. I strongly believe that a speaker must always be honest and sincere. I also think the use of emotions in a speech are essential. Have you ever listened to a speaker who speaks like a robot? You could hear the words coming out from the speaker’s mouth yet you could not feel a thing; no feeling and no connection at all.

Here is where acting skills can help you as a speaker. When I was involved in the theatre, the one thing that I learnt was how to get my feelings out. Every actor must be in touch with their feelings to say any dialogue according to the script. If you don’t, it will seem like you are just reading it out loud.

By using your acting skills, you can use your emotions in a speech. You can speak with feelings without much effort. You can sound more natural and very convincing.

2) Acting skills help you to use your facial expressions in your speech delivery.

Facial expressions are very important in speech presentations. If you want to believe in what the person is saying, you will always look at the person’s face, right? If a friend tells you he is happy but his face looks serious, do you think you will believe him?

Facial expressions tell your audience how you feel and that you are telling the truth. Therefore, a speaker must never take facial expressions for granted. Facial expressions create an understanding and connection between you and your audience.

Some people told me I have many facial expressions which are true. You can actually tell how I am feeling by just looking at my face. The skills I learned help me to show how I feel effortlessly when I speak. People can relate to me easily and get the message a lot faster.

Your acting skills will definitely help you in using your facial expressions in the right way for your speech delivery. Remember, facial expressions must be consistent with your feelings. As a speaker, being someone who has many facial expressions is a great advantage.

3) Acting skills help you to use your voice correctly in your speech delivery.

To me, theatre performance is somehow similar to a speech presentation. You need to know how to use your voice the right way in both situations. A speaker’s voice should be natural, forceful and pleasant. Your voice ought to represent your thought and your feelings.

In theatre, we learned how to use our voices and the importance of vocal variety. Sometimes we had to whisper, speak slowly and speak softly. Sometimes we had to scream, speak faster and say the lines with great force. And at times, we remained silent. It all depends on the script of course.

The same goes to speech presentations. As a speaker, you must have vocal variety. You can’t have the same tone from beginning until the end of your speech. You must never sound like RoboCop. Use your acting skills and use your voice effectively for your speech delivery.

4) Acting skills help you to tell stories in your speech delivery

Stories in speech make a lot of difference. Stories make your speech more interesting and memorable. Besides that, telling your speech help you to connect with your audience. So, where do acting skills comes in?

Obviously, acting skills can make you a great storyteller. Dialogues and conversations are what acting is all about. You will know how to tell a story. You will understand how stories are created; the plot, characters and the twist of the story.

When I was doing some plays, I had to read the dialogue from the script many times until I get it right. I learned how to read out loud a conversation with feelings and how to use the right voice. It was a useful experience and beneficial to me. No doubt about that.

The big picture…

If you ever thought of joining a drama class or doing a play, please do. If you have acting skills, use those skills in your speech presentation. Trust me; it will make a huge difference in your speech delivery.

Theatre and acting had thought me a lot about performing. My short yet meaningful experience on stage had made me comfortable in front of a large audience. I learned how to control and overcome my stage anxiety over the years. I learned how to stay focus when I was in front of the audience. I couldn’t afford to forget my lines in front of an audience, right? Other than that, theatre thought me discipline and hard work which I still practice until today.

Acting skills and public speaking skills are not very much apart. Both skills involved people. Both skills are about delivering and presenting. Both skills are needed to get message across to the audience. Above all, both skills are all about the freedom of expressions.

And by combining these two skills, you will deliver a speech with a massive impact that you can never imagine possible!




Written by: Intan Salwana Anis @2018 Public Speaking Is Cool. All Rights Reserved

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