There Are 2 Readings on This Tape: 1 Slow and 1 Genki

Practice Instructions:

There are 2 readings on this tape: 1 slow and 1 genki.

Please listen to the slow reading ONE TIME to hear the pronunciation.

Then listen to the GENKI reading. Can you hear the difference? The slow reading is a good speech, but boring. The genki reading is a good speech and exciting. Why? Because when I was reading it, I was excited. To be a good speaker, you must be very very active. SO:

Please remember that this is NOT a speech contest. This is an ACTING Contest. Speaking is not reading a book, speaking is not talking to your friends, speaking is not just saying the words. You have to MAKE the audience believe you, and you have to MAKE the audience like you. You have to be a new and different person.

THEREFORE:

Study this speech.

Use a RED pen and listen to the speech 3 or 4 times. Listen for words and syllables that have strong accents. Mark those words and syllables:

RED is for accented syllables in SENTENCES.

Use a BLUE pen, and listen to the speech 3 or 4 times. Listen for pitch. How high is Damon’s voice? How low?

BLUE is for rising and falling PITCH

Use a GREEN pen, and listen to the speech 3 or 4 times. Listen to SPEED and BREATHING. When should you talk fast? Which phrases should be said slowly? Which words join together?

GREEN is for marking CONTINUOUS PHRASES, CONNECTED WORDS, and SPEED

SAMPLE:

If there were an International Communication channel, what would it be like? Please take a look at “Communication TV.”

Welcome to “Communication News.” First, sports.

We all remember Naoko Takahashi as the women’s Marathon gold medalist at the Sydney Olympics. Not only us Japanese but also people from all over the world were impressed by her incredible race. What’s the secret to Takahashi’s power?

Think about how active you can be, and listen to the genki tape many times. If you have a pronunciation question, you can listen to the slow tape to hear it more clearly, but try not to listen to the slow tape.
Okay, enough listening. Now it’s time to speak.

Pre-Practice Understanding

Read the speech word by word, and make sure you understand EVERY word and EVERY phrase and EVERY idea.

Practice 1: Read with the tape (2-4 times)

Go to a quiet room with a tape player. Do NOT use headphones. Read the paper with 3 colors while playing the tape. Read with the tape until you feel comfortable.

Practice 2: Record yourself reading with the tape (3-4 times)

Go to a quiet room with a Walkman (headphones) and a tape recorder. Play the tape on the Walkman, listen, and read along, while recording yourself. Play your recorded voice back to hear how you sound.

Practice 3: Record yourself speaking with the tape (3-4 times)

Go to a quiet room with a Walkman (headphones) and a tape recorder. Play the tape on the Walkman, listen, and try to speak without reading. Play the record back. How do you sound?

Practice 4: Record yourself reading without the tape (3-4 times)

Go to a quiet room with a tape recorder. Read the speech without listening to the tape. Record yourself. How do you sound?

Practice 5: Record yourself speaking (Many times)

Record yourself speaking without reading or listening. You should almost have the speech memorized by now. Practice all the time. Practice to your parents, practice to your friends, practice to your dog, practice to the ocean, to the sky, practice whenever and wherever.

Remember: don’t speak, ACT!

Speaking is only reading the words, but acting means adding feeling and emotion and drama to your voice. Acting is much harder than speaking, because you must show emotions sometimes on a day when you don’t feel like showing emotions. It is difficult, but fun.