Blog Moved to www.clearday.ca

I’ve now moved my blog.
If you’re interested in following my writing, check me out on LinkedIn or www.clearday.ca.

Cheers!

Claire

 

 

Nail your next emcee gig

To be a great emcee you need to employ all of the presentation skills you’ve learned over the years: projection of your voice, poise, and body language that suits the content of your script and mood of the event. But you also need to remember that you’re not the star of the show. Your job is to serve as host, set the mood, highlight the other speakers or performers, and keep the program rolling along.

Here are just a few quick tips to help you prepare for your next emcee role:

• Find out as much as you can about the event and what the client wants: Whether you’re emceeing a wedding reception, an awards ceremony, a press conference or a corporate event, you need to understand the expectations of the person who requested your services. What atmosphere do they hope you’ll help foster? What is the purpose of the event? Who will be in attendance? Will the client be giving you a detailed script or simply an order of service/event overview? Gather as much information as you can before you start your preparation.
• If it’s a scripted event, try to get the script as far ahead of time as possible. Go through it and make clarifications with the client. Find out how to pronounce unfamiliar names or terms, and write them out phonetically on your script. Read it aloud, and adjust the wording (if permitted) in subtle ways so that it sounds natural to you.
• Share something about yourself. Depending on the expectations of the client, add in a short personal story or comments that are relevant to the event content. It may help break the ice and endear the audience to you (e.g. “I remember when I first saw road cycling…watching the Tour de France on television with my mom and admiring the athletes’ endurance and strength. Well, we are fortunate to have a former Tour de France athlete with us today…join me in welcoming John Smith!”).
• If time allows, find a way to acknowledge the previous speaker or performance. Summarize one or two key points from their presentation or share your admiration for a special move they’ve made.  Take notes while you’re listening or watching, so it’s easy to summarize or comment.
• Try to find creative ways to link the speeches or performances. You can do this by pointing out common themes in the content they’ve shared, or, if you’re able, develop clever segues that smoothly move from one portion of the agenda to the next.
• Watch the clock. If things are running late, cut unnecessary chatter in between agenda items. Sometimes the proceedings move much more quickly than expected. Be sure to arrive with a backup plan (that you’ve cleared with the client) to fill in the time (e.g. a quick interview with someone, a short break in the program, a musical interlude, etc).

This is by no means a comprehensive list of emcee tips, but a basic start. Just like any other skill, emceeing takes practice. If you make a misstep, cut yourself some slack. Every event has its bumps and surprises. With experience and time, you’ll find yourself better able to enjoy the event itself. After all, emcees often have the best seat in the house.

Are you breathing? Tips for fast talkers

Have you been described as a fast-talker? As you speak, do you feel your face flush, your shoulders rise, your anxiety build?

Sometimes what we call ‘fast-talking’ is simply the result of a person not stopping and breathing frequently enough. Think of speech in grammatical terms. Breathing is the necessary punctuation. In speech, well-placed pauses for breaths are the exclamation marks, commas, periods, and question marks that help organize thought, communicate specific meaning, and indicate tone or emphasis. A written story without punctuation might confuse and irritate a reader. That’s exactly what un-punctuated, breathless speaking can do to a listener!

Here are some tips to insert breathing (as punctuation) in your speech:

• Consciously pause to take a breath before answering a question (this will give you a moment to consider your response and indicate thoughtfulness).
• Stop to breathe between ideas.
• Before a speech/presentation, stand tall and practice inhaling and exhaling deeply to get into a good rhythm prior to launching into your introduction. Singers understand that breathing is essential to strong vocal projection and performance. They practice breathing techniques to optimize tone, volume and power. They also emphasize good posture. Practicing confident posture and breathing should be a natural part of public speaking rehearsal and warm up. Watch Amy Cuddy’s TED Talk to learn more about how body language affects our confidence and performance, as well as others’ perception of us: http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are?language=en.
• Do a quick breathing check at your next meeting. Right after you say something, verify whether your shoulders are raised or tight. If they are, that could be an indication that you are not breathing enough, or too shallowly. Drop your shoulders, sit up, and try to push your breaths down into your belly (versus chest breathing).
• Watch your audience. Are they staring at you with furrowed brows, appearing confused or anxious? If so, pause, breathe and continue with a slower pace. In more intimate meetings, you could ask them a question and leave space for their response.

It may take time and practice to consistently breathe more deeply and calmly when you speak, but it’s an investment that will pay off. There is a connection between clear thinking and breathing (your brain needs oxygen!), so learning to breathe properly while you speak should positively affect more than just the way you sound, it should help promote sound on-the-spot thinking. That alone is worth the effort.

Speaking at a funeral: It’s all about sincerity and prep.

Recently, a client asked for advice on how to prepare to speak at the funeral of a close friend. His question got me reflecting on all the times I’ve attended ‘celebrations of life,’ funerals, and memorial services, and how apparently difficult it is to speak publicly on those occasions. Based on my observations, here are the few tips I offered the client:

• Start your preparation by deciding what it is that you want to get across about the life of your friend. Write down some general adjectives or qualities you would use to describe them (e.g. Vivacious, goofy, generous…whatever is appropriate).
• Then think of stories that illustrate those qualities.
• Make it general enough (so other people can relate), but also personal (so that the stories carry the emotional weight they should).
• Write it all down, and read it through several times. You never know how the emotion of this kind of moment/occasion will affect you. Have the paper up at the pulpit/podium with you. Ignore every piece advice you’ve ever heard about not reading your speech. Feel free to read your speech, if that seems best. At one funeral I attended, the individual delivering the eulogy had prepared a beautiful speech but had to stop halfway through because his emotion overwhelmed him. After a moment break, he opened up his written speech and read the rest. It was just as moving and meaningful as it would have been had he spoken without notes.
• Cry if you need to. People will wait, and cry with you.

Most of all, as you prepare your funeral address, be honest and sincere. It is a great honour to be able to pay public tribute to a friend.

 

 

What makes you a capital W Writer?

From time to time I peruse writers’ chat pages and Facebook groups to read about what’s causing the latest buzz in the indie writing world. A few months ago, I happened upon a seemingly innocuous comment about what makes a person a writer. The poster indicated that a writer is simply, “someone who writes.”

I suppose that definition is technically correct, but the people on the chat page were not interested in literal definitions. Most of the posters were wondering, as I often do, what turns a person from “someone who writes” into a capital W Writer? Can you become a Writer, and pursue other professional interests? Are you a Writer, even if you produce poor writing? (I realize that my capitalization of writer is also technically incorrect, but I’m doing my best to differentiate between the “act of” and “the role or title”.)

I suppose the same question can be asked of anyone who engages in any artistic pursuit. What turns someone who writes poetry into Poet, someone who dances into Dancer, someone who runs into Runner, or someone who paints into Painter? When and how do you earn the title? Is it a function of levels of dedication? Talent? Success?

What do you think?

Make your best better: Seek feedback.

 

If there’s one thing I learned as an athlete, it’s that feedback is your friend. Yes, I realize that sounds trite and tacky, but I mean it. Without feedback, we often plateau, falter or fail.

I’ve been a member of a local professional writer’s group for close to two years. Prior to joining I wrote in virtual isolation and became comfortable doing so. The first time I attended one of the writing group’s sessions I pulled out what I thought was my most polished piece of work. With diplomacy, the group tore it apart, pointing out a number of its weaknesses. I might have returned home that night in a state of despair. Instead I felt a sense of relief and hopefulness. I was reminded that, with guidance and feedback, my best can get better.

Have you sought feedback on your writing lately? 

Is writer’s block a fact or luxury?

I don’t believe you have to bow to writer’s block.

As I reflect on the process of writing “The Games”, I admit that there were a few occasions when I sat for long periods staring at a blank page, trying to finish off one chapter or another, unsure of what to write.  Each time this happened, I felt like screaming. It was horrible to watch the unmoving, flashing cursor. A total waste of time. Each time I knew I had to snap out of my frozen funk before the precious minutes set aside for writing ticked away. I realized that succumbing to this paralysis was a luxury I could not afford. Within a few hours my kids would return from school and I would have to shut off my computer for the day. 

The synchronized swimming equivalent of staring at a blank screen would be to stand on the edge of the pool and never dive in. 

I had to dive in.

As un-artsy and uninspired as this sounds, sometimes I just had to muscle through.

Here are some ideas and tips on how to put the click back into your keyboard…so to speak:

• Find inspiration…and fast. The experiences of nostalgia or strong emotions often drive me to write. I find ways to access these sources of inspiration, such as looking at old photos, reading a poignant poem, a brief walk in the woods, revisiting a favourite chapter of a novel, listening to music that moves me, etc. What inspires you? Find ways to tap into that source.

• Change locations. Maybe you just need to pick up and move yourself. Try a different room in the house. The indie coffee shop down the street. A favourite art gallery. A private carrel at the local library. See if a new venue offers you renewed creativity.

• Work on something else. Sometimes the best thing to do is to simply turn the page. When I got stuck trying to finish up a particular paragraph, sometimes I would flip back to an earlier section and work on edits, or flip forward and begin the next chapter.

Perhaps the sensation of writer’s block is just a signal that the writer needs to change his/her approach?

 

Everyone has an opinion. Here’s mine: Dear fellow authors, ignore the ratings and read the comments.

Voicing opinions is a human imperative. That’s one of the reasons why there are close to 150 million Twitter users; that’s why there are close to 200 million blogs. That’s why there are so many websites where we can rate products and professionals. We want to have our say.

Clearly, I am an active participant in this culture of opinion pandering. In particular, I have gone onto various book sites to rate and review novels I’ve read.  It’s easy and somehow satisfying. Sometimes I think, megalomaniacally, that I might even be helping to guide and advise future readers.

Perhaps.

But, as a new author I now see all this from a new perspective. I have gone to goodreads.com and amazon.com to see what people thought of my novel and this is what I’ve learned: thoughtful reviews, including the negative ones, can be helpful and informative to me as a writer, while lone ratings, without commentary are not.

When I was a synchronized swimmer, at the end of a performance the judges would raise their scorecards and voila, I was ranked and rated. As a performer, these scores were not particularly helpful on their own. I did not know what parts the judges enjoyed, or the sections and technical elements in which I fell short. An 8.5 meant very little without the qualitative data to back it up. I wasn’t learning or growing as an artist-athlete. It was only after the events ended, when I had the opportunity to speak with the judges and hear their thoughts, feedback and opinions, no matter how difficult they were to hear, that I saw the bigger picture.

So, as an author I’ve concluded that I will pay close attention to those who take the time to comment (thoughtfully) and do my best to ignore the rest.

How do you view these rating sites?

How do you give thanks? By Barbara Edwards

How do you give thanks? By Barbara Edwards.

Great blog entry about the power of giving and the art of showing gratitude.

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop

Recently, best-selling author and all-around nice guy, Martin Crosbie, sent an email asking me to participate in a blog hop and answer some questions about my novel-in-progress. If you click on Martin’s name below you’ll see where he tagged me (but be sure to come back to this site to learn about my new work!).

Martin Crosbie

Here’s the low-down on how this works:  I answer a bunch of questions about my work in progress and then I tag up to five other authors (I chose 2 of my favourites instead). Hopefully, the chain will continue to grow for some time.

What is the working title of your book?

“The Way We Fall.”  This, of course, is a working title, and may change at some point.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

While I was writing “The Games” I was distracted by bursts of ideas on what other books I could write (everything from a business book about building an effective team to a collection of short stories about winter athletes to a book about finding community in suburbia). Call it A.D.D.. Call it creative inspiration. Whatever it was, I had to resist it at every step of the way and focus on the task at hand. One of the concepts that seemed to take hold and not obey my instructions to leave me alone, was the idea of writing a novel that is a quasi-follow-up to “The Games.” While my debut novel followed seven characters and chronicled the potentially destructive power of sport, this one will focus on one primary character, Grace, and illustrate how sport can be a saving grace in a broken life.

“The Games” is now all wrapped up and published, so “The Way We Fall” is underway.

What genre does your book fall under?

Literary fiction.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

For “The Games” I picture Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Sam and Ralph Fiennes in the role of Ellis. For “The Way We Fall” I envision Michelle Williams as Grace, and Natalie Portman as her twin sister, Abby. (That would be awesome.)

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I’m hoping that a publisher will pick this up, but I’m open to self-publishing.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

It’s in the works. I hope to finish it before the end of 2013. “The Games” took four years, but underwent several significant overhauls over that period. I have a clearer idea of where “The Way We Fall” is headed, and a tighter outline, so I’m hopeful this will be a shorter writing process.

In brief, what is the book about?

“The Way We Fall” is the story of Grace, an Olympic diver-turned-businesswoman, and her tumultuous relationship with her twin, Abby, a talented runner-turned-runaway. Grace travels to cottage country to find her wayward and mentally unstable sibling, and in the week and journey home that ensues, struggles to not lose herself.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?

As I mentioned in an earlier response, I wanted to show the positive side of athletic pursuits and how deep involvement in sport can keep some individuals on the straight and narrow, even when family history, psychological struggles and genetics push against them.  I also wanted to explore mind power–how extreme mental focus can help individuals rise above the din, and how untreated mental illness can pull individuals down. I felt that juxtaposing these ideas in twin sisters would create an interesting tension-filled tale.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

There’s been a positive response to “The Games” and many readers have asked to hear more about Sam, so I’ve included him in this book, as the love interest of one of the twins.

And, as promised, here are the authors I chose to tag. Next Wednesday you can click on their blog links to read their posts.

Andrew McAllister

Deborah Serravalle