Real Communication An Introduction

420 Part 4  Public Speaking

c Be clear about your assignment. Different instructors have different require-

ments for online speeches. Some may require you to assemble your own

audience and record the speech; others may expect you to stream to a live

audience via Skype or a similar program; still others may allow you to

record your speech by yourself and submit it. Always check on your instruc-

tor’s preferences.

c Be mindful of speaking rate and volume. These factors are particularly impor-

tant when recording presentations for online delivery since you won’t be

able to adjust as you go based on your audience’s nonverbal appearance of

NAME: Tonya Graves

OCCUPATION: Singer and Actress

When I went to college

to study communica-

tion in New York State

many years ago, I

never dreamed that I’d have a career as a singer

and actress in Central Europe. But on my first

night in Prague, I went to Agharta Jazz Club and

met the acclaimed Czech blues guitarist Luboš

Andršt. He invited me onstage to sing and I’ve

been singing and acting ever since.

Singing and acting involve many of the same

delivery skills that I used in my communica-

tion courses, particularly my introductory public

speaking course. I have to overcome anxiety

(also known as stage fright) sometimes in addi-

tion to building my confidence before a perfor-

mance. I tend do that by paying attention to my

breath and by imagining a receptive, engaged

audience. Finally, as with giving a speech, I

have to practice enough to feel confident and

prepared, but not so much that my performance

becomes mechanical or lifeless.

Blues, jazz, swing, funk, soul, dance, and

pop music—I love them all! My first album was

a lovely tossed salad of music. When I sing

this variety in a given performance, I need to

adjust my voice and facial expression to both

the style and the lyrics so that my passion for

the music comes across as appropriate and

also conveys the emotional message I’m trying

to send.

An effective performance depends on the

situation, too. If I’m in front of a live audience,

like in a jazz club, I’m very intent on establish-

ing immediacy with the audience by making eye

contact with real people (and, no, I don’t imagine

them naked! That’s terrible advice!). This helps

me feel more comfortable and also ensures that

the patrons feel connected to the performance.

On the other hand, when I’m in a recording stu-

dio, I imagine my audience and adjust my voice

intensity to make up for the lack of personal

contact. I imagine this is much like what today’s

students do when they prepare to give a speech

in an online course in which the “audience” is

an iPhone camera. My delivery is even more

complex when I create a music video, as in the

single “39 Reasons” (check it out on YouTube);

my orange dress and blue scarf were designed

to move and “float,” accenting my thirty-nine

reasons to sing the blues. Everything about my

performance—from how I dress to how I prepare

to how I deliver—is all part of delivering Tonya

Graves to the world!

real communicator