262. Own the Room: How Voice, Breath, and Body Work Together
How to tap the full power of your voice.
Being present in communication isn’t just mental. It’s about the physical energy you bring into a space — particularly, says Patsy Rodenburg, the presence of your voice.
“The physical presence of the human being is the most important thing we have,” says Rodenburg. As a world-renowned expert in voice, speech, and presentation, she has helped everyone from stage actors to prime ministers hone their speaking and awaken the power and presence of their voice. “The vast majority of people are born with amazing voices, and somewhere along the line, they lose them. My job is to return people to their full power in their body, in their breath, in their voice, in their ability to speak in an exciting way.”
In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Rodenburg joins host Matt Abrahams to discuss embodied communication. From breathing techniques and managing tension to intentionally inhabiting space, Rodenburg’s insights reveal how to communicate with greater power, presence, and the potency of your voice.
To listen to the extended Deep Thinks version of this episode, please visit FasterSmarter.io/premium.
Episode Reference Links:
- Patsy Rodenburg
- Patsy’s Books: Presence / Power Presentation
- Ep.137 When Words Aren't Enough: How to Excel at Nonverbal Communication
Connect:
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- Email Questions & Feedback >>> hello@fastersmarter.io
- Episode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart Website
- Newsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.io
- Think Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube
- Matt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn
Chapters:
- (00:00) - Introduction
- (02:56) - Foundational Voice Principles
- (05:58) - Activating Breath Through The Body
- (08:19) - Why Most Voices Just Need Use
- (11:49) - Defining Presence
- (16:02) - Using Space To Communicate
- (19:24) - The Final Three Questions
- (23:50) - Conclusion
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Matt Abrahams: To fully be present and in
the moment, you must awaken your voice.
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My name is Matt Abrahams and I
teach strategic communication at
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Stanford Graduate School of Business.
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Welcome to Think Fast
Talk Smart, the podcast.
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Today I am delighted to
speak with Patsy Rodenburg.
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Patsy is a world renowned expert in
voice, speech, and presentation, with
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over 45 years of experience coaching
across creative and corporate industries.
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She's the former head of voice at the
UK Royal National Theater and a Director
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for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
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She has transformed how actors,
prime ministers, CEOs, and
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global leaders communicate.
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She's written many books including
Presence and Power Presentation.
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Welcome, Patsy.
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I've been excited for our
conversation for quite a while now.
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Thanks for being here.
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Patsy Rodenburg: I'm so delighted.
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And Matt, I think you're doing something
so important about communication because
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I think it's what the world needs now.
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Matt Abrahams: Thank you so much.
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Shall we get started?
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Patsy Rodenburg: Yes, please.
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Matt Abrahams: Excellent.
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You have worked with a number
of famous people to help them
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with their presence and voice.
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I'd like to start with voice.
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What are some of the foundational vocal
principles you provide when you coach?
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Patsy Rodenburg: My work is about
embodiment and it's about a craft that is
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returning people to their natural selves.
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The good news is the vast majority of
people are born with amazing voices, and
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somewhere along the line they lose them.
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And my job is to return people to
their full power in their body,
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in their breath systems, in their
voices, in their ability to speak
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and use language in an exciting way.
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Matt Abrahams: Beyond the
embodiment piece, are there
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principles you help people with
around breathing or articulation?
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Can you walk us through
some of those exercises?
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Patsy Rodenburg: So the first thing I
would do is I would look at somebody's
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body and I would look at the tensions
in the body, starting with the feet.
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The body is like a connected journey.
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We have to connect to our whole body to
find our voice, so the feet, the front
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of the feet, the knees not being locked.
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If you lock your knees, that
tension goes all the way through
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the body into the throat.
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A lot of people with very
tight voices, if you look down,
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they're locking their knees.
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The next thing that's incredibly
important in the body is that the pelvic
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area is on top of the hips, but most
people today, when they stand, they're
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either pushing their hips forward,
locking their knees, and all that builds
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into the body and up into the throat.
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The important thing about the
pelvic area is that that is
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where we have to breathe from.
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It's a very low breath down there.
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We also have to breathe
quickly to think quickly.
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If we think without
breath, it becomes a gavel.
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So if you put your hand on your lower
abdominal area and just feel that, you
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should feel the breath goes down and that
takes a bit of time and it calms you.
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We get frightened when we speak
because we forget to breathe.
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So if I move up through the body,
the spine has to be up, not braced.
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Not pulling your shoulders
back, not slumped.
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If we brace or slump, we reduce our
breath and the energy gets stuck in the
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throat, which is when those wonderful
ideas you have, they come out on a
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monotone, not because your are boring,
because your voice is held and tight.
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And the two last things,
are shoulders being free.
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If you are getting nervous, if you
feel your voice is getting thinner,
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the first thing you can do is just to
think to yourself release my shoulders,
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release my jaw, because until the
body's in place you can't breathe.
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And we are looking to see
no upper chest tension.
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You can put your hand on your upper
chest and if you breathe in, which
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most people do when they're nervous,
the chest lifts, it shouldn't lift.
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Because as it lifts, I dunno if you
can feel the back of the rib cage
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tighten means that you are not breathing
because the lungs are at the back.
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Matt Abrahams: So it's balance of body
and rooting yourself into the ground.
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Patsy Rodenburg: Yes, and
looking out at the world.
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And of course we know who we're going
to listen to long before they speak.
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We know through their body.
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And if you are centered, you
come on or you walk into a space
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with authority, with clarity.
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So the next thing I would do is open
the voice with the breath underneath it.
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And you can feel this if you
are sitting beside a desk.
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If you push your hands against the table,
remember your feet on the floor, the front
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of the feet on the floor, and you breathe,
you will feel the breath go down more.
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Matt Abrahams: Wow.
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That's a great activity.
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I'm doing that as I speak
and I see what you're saying.
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It is fascinating to me that body
leads to breathe which leads to voice.
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And by connecting those together, you
can improve and open up your voice to
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do the things that we want it to do.
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I often will say, your voice
is like a wind instrument.
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The more air you put through
it, the more you can do with it.
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The limited voice work that I do, I
recommend to my students and the people
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I coach, that reading out loud can be a
tool to help because it mimics speaking
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out loud, but it gives you a little bit
more cognitive bandwidth to pay attention
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to breath, because I don't have to
think of the words, I'm reading them.
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Patsy Rodenburg: Read
out loud, absolutely.
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Here's another trick though.
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So if you stand with your book, maybe,
you're reading out loud, and you're
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holding the book up so that you're
not looking down, which is not useful.
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And if you hold the book with one
hand and stand against a wall and
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gently push with your other arm,
which engages the breath just like it
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did when you were pushing the table.
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You'll feel the breath.
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Now, take a breath and read out sending
your voice to a point just above eye
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line, and then the voice not only
leaves you, but it grows in strength.
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Most voices I meet, there's
nothing wrong with them.
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They can be improved, Matt, but
they're just rusty and dusty.
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They're not used, you know?
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Matt Abrahams: I often tell people, in
my mind I'm amazingly eloquent, but when
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I open up my mouth, I'm not as lucky.
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You said several things there
that really stand out to me.
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The voices you meet.
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I love that idea that we are our voice
and we meet the person, but the voice
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they bring, and I like this idea of being
generous enough to let your voice out.
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Your voice is a gift and
you're giving it to the world.
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I want to get very tactical
and practical here.
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Many people I know feel that their
voice is quiet, they speak quiet.
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You said something that made me
wonder, you said visualize your
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voice going out over your eye line.
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I imagine, like an athlete warms
up, that there are some things we
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can do to help warm up our voice.
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I often marvel that people think
they can go from silence to vocal
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brilliance without warming up.
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Do you have a favorite warmup
activity or two that you could share
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that we could practice perhaps?
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Patsy Rodenburg: I'd
get somebody standing.
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Of course, you stand, you
feel, you stretch a bit.
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You let the shoulders go.
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You might flop over to one side and
breathe, the, the rib cage starts working.
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The rib cage gets very
rusty, very quickly.
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Do both sides so that we just get that.
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Very gentle, silent breaths.
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So if you breathe quietly,
you'll be amazed how wonderful
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it feels in the throat.
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It's open.
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And the other one, which is
great, is to give yourself a hug.
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Just flop over a bit from the waist with
your arms up against your chest, and in
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that position, breathe in and out and
you will open the back of the rib cage.
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I have to say most people today don't
even think that the back of the rib cage
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is important, but we know it organically.
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So that if you get those muscles
working and then first thing
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in the morning, you have to get
the breath underneath the voice.
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So here's an image.
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I mean, you are an athlete, you know
these things, to throw the voice.
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So if you can throw a ball, if you just
breathe in, there's a suspension and you
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throw the ball on the breath, just like
you did when you were pushing against
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the wall, you're feeling the breath.
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If you can do that and hum to a
point, so you are just warming up
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the support of the breath, humming,
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very light, and you can
play all over the play.
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Ma, ma, ma ma, ma ma. You can play with
your voice and you are trying to get a
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buzz on the lips, which is the physical
sign that your voice is coming forward.
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Most people today, their voice
is stuck back down the throat.
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So they're mumbling down there.
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And if the voice is stuck down the
throat, you can't speak clearly
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because the speech muscles can't
feel the energy of the voice.
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Keep the breath, keep the idea
of it leaving you, and then maybe
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on an, Ooh, that's a lovely way
of getting the voice forward.
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Ooh, just bringing your lips.
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And literally, if you did that for a few
minutes and then you spoke a bit of text
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out aloud or if you are having a difficult
conversation, practice it out loud.
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Walk around the house with
purpose, with your presence.
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Walk around, looking around.
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Look outside a window, breathe,
and practice what you have to say.
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Practice out loud.
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Matt Abrahams: Thank you so much.
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I have heard of vocal warmups where
you buzz your lips and puff out air,
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but I have never heard of working
with the body, stretching the body.
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I like just leaning to the side,
opening up the ribs, leaning
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forward, hugging yourself.
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Very useful and I like that idea
of visualizing, pulling the voice
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forward so we're not mumbling.
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Patsy Rodenburg: What I'm doing now is I'm
just imagining the voice projected out.
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It's not pushed, it's just you
let it out and within a few days
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you will feel the difference.
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This is the simple stuff
that people forget.
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They want to get onto the speech.
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Speech is the last thing in the chain.
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So once you've warmed up your body
and your breath and your voice, you
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can start moving your mouth about a
bit, but these muscles will tune up
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very quickly as long as they've got
the voice and the breath behind them.
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Matt Abrahams: Yet again, you
are emphasizing the connection
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of body, breath, and voice.
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I'd like to transition to talk
about physical presence, something
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I know is very important to you.
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What advice do you have for anyone
wishing to improve their physical
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presence in how they communicate?
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Patsy Rodenburg: I think the physical
presence of the human being is
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the most important thing we have.
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We don't do anything well in life unless
we put our full presence on it, but
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it's, if you talk to anthropologists,
what made us so powerful on the
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planet is that we could build teams.
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A team doesn't exist until everyone
is present, and presence is having
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an energy connecting to the world
around you, and we all have it.
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It's the survival thing that we do.
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But presence is an outward focus, not
on yourself, but to something else.
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And it's what we do when
we walk in the countryside.
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We become present because we look
at a tree, or a bird in a tree.
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That's what art is supposed to do.
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It's supposed to bring
us back to our presence.
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We go to the theater.
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The actor has to be present, the
ensemble is present, and they help
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bring us back, as Shakespeare says, to
be or not to be, that is the question.
00:11:05.976 --> 00:11:06.876
That is the question.
00:11:07.416 --> 00:11:10.611
And so I believe we're
all born fully present.
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Most of us, very few people on
the planet haven't got presence,
00:11:13.851 --> 00:11:15.201
so we have to refind it.
00:11:15.741 --> 00:11:19.311
I started this in the seventies and I
created something called the three circles
00:11:19.311 --> 00:11:23.241
of energy because I found people were
saying, oh, that actor has it and that
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one doesn't have it, which is rubbish.
00:11:24.801 --> 00:11:25.521
We all have it.
00:11:26.031 --> 00:11:29.931
So what I talk about in presence
is if we understand where we take
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our presence away from ourselves.
00:11:31.821 --> 00:11:33.141
And that's first circle.
00:11:33.351 --> 00:11:36.166
First circle people you will
often see it in their body.
00:11:36.166 --> 00:11:37.906
They're pulling their presence away.
00:11:38.326 --> 00:11:42.856
They're looking down, they're, shallow
breaths, so they're going into a
00:11:42.856 --> 00:11:45.316
little shell and the voice follows.
00:11:45.316 --> 00:11:48.886
So I'm going to do a voice of first
circle when everything falls back.
00:11:49.336 --> 00:11:52.426
So instead of the voice
going out, is falling back.
00:11:52.666 --> 00:11:55.306
We can work in all sorts of
ways on presence, but I would
00:11:55.306 --> 00:11:58.096
ask people to do exactly what
I've talked about in the voice.
00:11:58.366 --> 00:12:03.906
And look out to the world and make
sure that they're not in first
00:12:03.906 --> 00:12:07.476
circle, which is that pulling
back, I used to call it denial.
00:12:07.716 --> 00:12:10.656
I used to call second
circle a state of readiness.
00:12:10.836 --> 00:12:14.196
So any athlete I'd work with, I
can get them immediately present
00:12:14.196 --> 00:12:16.416
because they know that they have
to be present to win the game.
00:12:16.721 --> 00:12:21.371
Third circle is when people are bluffing
and they push out and you'll see third
00:12:21.371 --> 00:12:24.641
person energy pushing out their chest.
00:12:24.641 --> 00:12:28.151
They're too loud, that you meet at
a party and they're looking beyond
00:12:28.151 --> 00:12:29.861
you, that they're not with you.
00:12:29.921 --> 00:12:33.761
So the most powerful thing we can
do in communication is stay present
00:12:33.761 --> 00:12:35.561
with somebody, present with a group.
00:12:35.621 --> 00:12:39.911
And when it works and people become
present with us, we have an exchange.
00:12:40.241 --> 00:12:43.391
You can't ever say anything
important to somebody unless you
00:12:43.391 --> 00:12:44.711
are present and they're present.
00:12:45.001 --> 00:12:51.091
So we practice every day being
present and you can by just sitting,
00:12:51.091 --> 00:12:56.131
breathing to a point, and looking at
something across the room, or imagine
00:12:56.131 --> 00:12:59.131
doing something that you do very well
and you'll realize you're present.
00:12:59.131 --> 00:13:00.841
If you drive very well, you are present.
00:13:00.901 --> 00:13:02.551
If you, crafts people are present.
00:13:02.701 --> 00:13:05.581
You don't make a great table without
putting your presence into it.
00:13:05.791 --> 00:13:11.751
And we can physically say to ourselves,
look, I've just pulled back on my heels.
00:13:11.871 --> 00:13:13.641
My shoulders are rounded.
00:13:13.791 --> 00:13:18.261
My sternum has collapsed, my head, and
my breath is very shallow, and I've
00:13:18.261 --> 00:13:20.511
just absented myself from the world.
00:13:20.901 --> 00:13:24.441
Matt Abrahams: I like this notion of
the circles and that the happy medium is
00:13:24.441 --> 00:13:27.431
in between the pulling and the pushing.
00:13:27.521 --> 00:13:29.826
It seems to me that it
starts with awareness.
00:13:29.856 --> 00:13:32.736
You have to have that awareness
of where are you in that moment,
00:13:33.126 --> 00:13:36.726
and certainly different emotions,
different situations might cause you
00:13:36.726 --> 00:13:39.996
to start in one place, but once you
have that awareness, you can move.
00:13:39.996 --> 00:13:43.386
And it sounds to me that we can check
in with our bodies, that there are
00:13:43.386 --> 00:13:47.736
physical tells of where we are to
bring us more to that neutral place.
00:13:47.916 --> 00:13:49.956
Patsy Rodenburg: It's about
generosity and curiosity.
00:13:49.956 --> 00:13:53.116
If you are curious and you're
generous, you are generally present.
00:13:53.286 --> 00:13:55.476
Now, the thing that you've
said that's so important.
00:13:55.976 --> 00:13:59.816
Is that the physicality that we're
talking about that stops the breath and
00:13:59.816 --> 00:14:06.056
the voice, either pulling away in first
circle or pushing out in third, that
00:14:06.056 --> 00:14:09.146
stops us being aware of our presence.
00:14:09.476 --> 00:14:10.976
It cuts us off from the world.
00:14:11.401 --> 00:14:13.321
Matt Abrahams: When you and I
very first chatted, and it was a
00:14:13.321 --> 00:14:17.101
lovely first chat we had, you said
something that really stuck with me.
00:14:17.101 --> 00:14:21.091
You told me your thoughts on how
important leveraging the space
00:14:21.151 --> 00:14:24.001
around us is for our communication.
00:14:24.241 --> 00:14:27.391
Most of us think of communication
as getting what I have in my head
00:14:27.391 --> 00:14:31.141
into your head, but the space in
which we do it and how we leverage
00:14:31.141 --> 00:14:33.031
that space can be really important.
00:14:33.031 --> 00:14:35.581
Can you share some insights on
why we should pay attention to
00:14:35.581 --> 00:14:37.201
our communication environment?
00:14:37.981 --> 00:14:41.191
Patsy Rodenburg: Because, A, we're
talking about our physical energy,
00:14:41.191 --> 00:14:43.021
which is a physical energy around us.
00:14:43.666 --> 00:14:47.906
We have a problem in our design
is that we haven't got 360 sight,
00:14:47.926 --> 00:14:50.326
so we do have to feel around us.
00:14:50.596 --> 00:14:53.476
So when you are speaking to
people, you have to be aware
00:14:53.476 --> 00:14:55.216
of their space and your space.
00:14:55.516 --> 00:14:59.686
Now, that could also be making
sure that you sit in a place
00:14:59.686 --> 00:15:00.736
where everyone can see you.
00:15:00.736 --> 00:15:04.816
It's a simple stagecraft, but you
have to have the sense that there's
00:15:04.816 --> 00:15:09.451
space and breath around you and
everyone for them to feel safe enough.
00:15:09.601 --> 00:15:14.221
We talk about a safe space, whether
any space is safe, but the leader who
00:15:14.221 --> 00:15:18.811
allows everyone their space, and that
we can all see each other and recognize
00:15:18.811 --> 00:15:24.071
each other is a very good leader and has
a chance to make people feel at ease.
00:15:24.441 --> 00:15:26.071
It's the physical space around us.
00:15:26.071 --> 00:15:29.611
And then we get into stagecraft when,
what is the best place to stand?
00:15:29.911 --> 00:15:33.511
What is the best place that, you see
people giving keynotes and they're
00:15:33.511 --> 00:15:38.731
standing, and actually, you know, if
there's 500 people, 50 can't see them
00:15:38.821 --> 00:15:40.321
because they're not in the right place.
00:15:40.561 --> 00:15:44.131
Now, that doesn't mean to say you can't
walk around, but you've got to establish
00:15:44.131 --> 00:15:50.026
things and you have to establish a
safety, in a way, within your space.
00:15:50.206 --> 00:15:51.286
Where am I sitting?
00:15:51.346 --> 00:15:52.756
Am I looking down at you?
00:15:53.026 --> 00:15:54.016
Am I doing this?
00:15:54.016 --> 00:15:56.866
You know, I, I say to teachers,
do you know that most of
00:15:56.986 --> 00:15:58.156
the students can't see you?
00:15:58.486 --> 00:15:59.806
And you're wondering why they're bored?
00:16:00.076 --> 00:16:01.336
So those are the sorts of things.
00:16:01.336 --> 00:16:04.336
So it's our physical presence,
which does have space.
00:16:04.546 --> 00:16:08.161
And when somebody enters it without
permission, it can be scary.
00:16:08.221 --> 00:16:11.641
And when we're in second circle
with our space and we're seeing
00:16:11.641 --> 00:16:13.651
each other, we have equality.
00:16:13.771 --> 00:16:17.731
First circle people by pulling back,
they're not necessarily inferior,
00:16:17.731 --> 00:16:19.561
but they're signaling inferiority.
00:16:19.651 --> 00:16:22.921
Third circle people, they're
pushing their space and they're
00:16:22.921 --> 00:16:24.721
taking up too much space.
00:16:25.141 --> 00:16:27.331
They're signaling superiority.
00:16:27.451 --> 00:16:30.661
So we have to have a regard
for each other's space,
00:16:30.871 --> 00:16:32.221
because then we can be equal.
00:16:32.626 --> 00:16:36.286
Matt Abrahams: Thinking about how
space and our use of space helps
00:16:36.286 --> 00:16:37.966
communicate things is really important.
00:16:38.146 --> 00:16:41.266
I have a very particular, uh,
instance that came to mind.
00:16:41.266 --> 00:16:44.896
I was coaching a very senior leader of
a company everybody has heard of, and
00:16:44.896 --> 00:16:48.556
he was up on stage presenting, and he
had something very serious to say they
00:16:48.556 --> 00:16:50.386
were going to do a reduction in force.
00:16:50.386 --> 00:16:51.856
People were going to lose their jobs.
00:16:52.006 --> 00:16:54.976
And totally spontaneously, this
was not rehearsed 'cause I worked
00:16:54.976 --> 00:16:58.731
with him on his content, he stepped
off the stage and walked into the
00:16:58.731 --> 00:17:00.291
audience to deliver the message.
00:17:00.441 --> 00:17:03.681
And while the message was not
pleasing, people were not happy to
00:17:03.681 --> 00:17:05.901
hear the news, it felt different.
00:17:06.051 --> 00:17:10.101
There was a connection that happened in
that moment when he walked off the stage.
00:17:10.161 --> 00:17:12.351
It was not inauthentic or disingenuine.
00:17:12.351 --> 00:17:16.431
I think he really felt that in that
moment, where you put yourself says a lot.
00:17:16.821 --> 00:17:19.606
Patsy Rodenburg: Well, that's a
wonderful example of him realizing
00:17:19.606 --> 00:17:21.741
that he had to meet them closer.
00:17:22.186 --> 00:17:24.466
Matt Abrahams: We have to think
about it and, and we need to avoid
00:17:24.466 --> 00:17:28.246
the lecterns and podiums that cause
us to be back from the audience.
00:17:28.516 --> 00:17:31.216
Patsy Rodenburg: Which takes, causes
us into third circle and masked.
00:17:31.216 --> 00:17:32.476
We, we become masked.
00:17:33.976 --> 00:17:35.986
Matt Abrahams: Patsy, before
we end, I like to ask three
00:17:35.986 --> 00:17:37.636
questions of everybody I interview.
00:17:37.636 --> 00:17:41.176
One I create just for you and the
others are similar across everybody.
00:17:41.176 --> 00:17:41.926
Are you up for that?
00:17:42.016 --> 00:17:42.316
Patsy Rodenburg: Yep.
00:17:42.821 --> 00:17:47.581
Matt Abrahams: So across your varied
experiences, I am sure you have worked
00:17:47.581 --> 00:17:51.031
with many people who have anxiety
around whatever they're doing, a doctor
00:17:51.031 --> 00:17:54.151
giving bad news, uh, somebody giving
a keynote, that's really important.
00:17:54.391 --> 00:17:57.361
Actors getting out on stage and
taking risks that they haven't.
00:17:57.931 --> 00:18:02.311
Do you have two or three things
that you can quickly share that help
00:18:02.311 --> 00:18:07.021
people feel more confident in their
communication in those circumstances?
00:18:07.411 --> 00:18:09.241
Patsy Rodenburg: Number
one, we've talked about it.
00:18:09.751 --> 00:18:10.696
Try to stand up.
00:18:11.386 --> 00:18:12.466
Feel the floor.
00:18:12.556 --> 00:18:18.616
Release your shoulders, and before you go
into the space, breathe deeply and slowly.
00:18:19.276 --> 00:18:20.296
Keep that going.
00:18:20.596 --> 00:18:24.406
Feel the suspension of the breath,
which is I breathe in just that
00:18:24.406 --> 00:18:26.086
moment before you throw a ball.
00:18:26.596 --> 00:18:32.266
And this sounds counterintuitive,
as you go into any space, look
00:18:32.266 --> 00:18:36.176
at people in the eyes, and the
more you look the calmer you get.
00:18:36.741 --> 00:18:42.891
You look at people, you breathe, you take
your time, you don't rush to begin with.
00:18:43.041 --> 00:18:47.121
The rushing will kick off even more
adrenaline, and you'll get more panicked.
00:18:47.601 --> 00:18:52.341
If you have a chance before you go into
a space, or even if you are in a space,
00:18:52.341 --> 00:18:56.961
you can reset by thinking, I'll just stop
for a moment and take another breath.
00:18:57.171 --> 00:18:59.421
I, I promise you, I, it will help.
00:18:59.421 --> 00:19:02.961
I can't get rid of the nerves, but
the nerves don't become debilitating.
00:19:03.331 --> 00:19:05.821
Matt Abrahams: And I think the anxiety
and nervousness can actually help you.
00:19:05.821 --> 00:19:09.271
It gives you energy and focus, but
I like this idea of the physicality
00:19:09.271 --> 00:19:12.281
of the deep breath and then the
connecting through eye contact, while
00:19:12.301 --> 00:19:14.971
I agree, sounds counterintuitive,
for me, it works really well.
00:19:14.971 --> 00:19:18.151
Because I realize these are normal
people who just want to be and get
00:19:18.151 --> 00:19:19.421
some value from what I have to say.
00:19:19.846 --> 00:19:23.281
Patsy Rodenburg: And then I
will also say, worry about the
00:19:23.281 --> 00:19:24.931
audience rather than yourself.
00:19:25.126 --> 00:19:28.966
A relief that you can worry
about them understanding you
00:19:29.236 --> 00:19:30.136
and they'll give it back.
00:19:30.136 --> 00:19:34.066
The more generous you are in life in
these ways, the more you get back.
00:19:34.456 --> 00:19:36.796
Matt Abrahams: Thank you for that
generous answer and for giving us
00:19:36.796 --> 00:19:38.656
very specific actionable ideas.
00:19:38.776 --> 00:19:42.766
Question number two, and you have worked
with so many, I'll be very curious, who
00:19:42.766 --> 00:19:45.526
is a communicator that you admire and why?
00:19:46.051 --> 00:19:47.551
Patsy Rodenburg: Michelle
Obama comes to mind.
00:19:47.881 --> 00:19:48.901
She takes her time.
00:19:48.901 --> 00:19:49.711
She's listening.
00:19:49.711 --> 00:19:53.581
She's with you, she's with
the audience, and she's not
00:19:53.581 --> 00:19:56.011
frightened of being disliked.
00:19:56.161 --> 00:19:59.671
One of the most off-putting things is
people wanting to be liked all the time.
00:20:00.376 --> 00:20:01.906
Matt Abrahams: Final
question for you, Patsy.
00:20:02.026 --> 00:20:07.936
What are the first three ingredients that
go into a successful communication recipe?
00:20:08.266 --> 00:20:10.216
Patsy Rodenburg: Prepare an embodied way.
00:20:10.546 --> 00:20:15.196
Practice it, knowing that it
won't be verbatim, practice.
00:20:15.766 --> 00:20:20.596
And again, it's the curiosity and the
generosity that you bring into the space.
00:20:20.971 --> 00:20:23.011
Matt Abrahams: How wonderful of a recipe.
00:20:23.101 --> 00:20:27.361
It's about preparing,
practicing, being present with
00:20:27.361 --> 00:20:29.311
your generosity and curiosity.
00:20:29.431 --> 00:20:31.681
A great recipe and great advice.
00:20:31.771 --> 00:20:33.601
And Patsy, thank you so much.
00:20:33.661 --> 00:20:39.631
You have done an amazing job of being very
generous and helping us, not only awaken
00:20:39.631 --> 00:20:44.401
our voices and our presence, but awaken
our minds to new ways of communicating
00:20:44.461 --> 00:20:45.991
and really connecting with others.
00:20:46.291 --> 00:20:46.861
Thank you.
00:20:47.406 --> 00:20:48.086
Patsy Rodenburg: Absolutely, my pleasure.
00:20:50.851 --> 00:20:53.011
Matt Abrahams: Thank you for
joining us for another episode of
00:20:53.011 --> 00:20:55.651
Think Fast Talk Smart, the podcast.
00:20:55.951 --> 00:20:58.411
To learn more about nonverbal
presence, please listen to
00:20:58.411 --> 00:21:00.811
episode 137 with Dana Carney.
00:21:01.411 --> 00:21:06.631
This episode was produced by Katherine
Reed, Ryan Campos, and me, Matt Abrahams.
00:21:06.931 --> 00:21:08.611
Our music is from Floyd Wonder.
00:21:08.911 --> 00:21:11.101
With special thanks to
Podium Podcast Company.
00:21:11.881 --> 00:21:15.241
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