Nadezhda Panteleeva
1 time ago
Alina Zagitova Why we love figure skating – there is always a reason to discuss something. The recently opened national team skating sessions struck a chord with many not only because of the athletes’ programs, but also with the comments of the presenters Maxim Trankov and Alina Zagitova. Some are delighted, others seethe with indignation. Alina especially got it. There were indeed a lot of absurdities in her remarks, but is it worth blaming the athlete for “illiteracy” and how can she learn to easily and naturally keep her word in public?
“Curtains of secrecy”, “gratitude”, “ask a question” and “tell your emotions/feelings/plans” plus several incorrectly pronounced names of skaters – strict critics did not forgive Zagitova for a single mistake. You can laugh and say, “It’s okay to make mistakes,” which is what the Olympic champion did. But it makes more sense to understand why this happens.
“I believe that Alina’s main difficulty in public speaking is purely psychological,” says the founder of the public speaking course. “A culture of speech” Alexander Epstein. – I don’t see any problems with her vocal apparatus or serious “defects of fiction” – I think she is studying with a teacher. In theater universities, in the department of stage speech, the student simply talks about himself, and the teacher notes: a clenched lower jaw, swallowing of endings, irregular hissing, whistling – this is how the potential of the voice is assessed. I call exercises for its development “speech fitness.” In the case of Alina, the problem lies in the imperfection of logical structures, when it is not possible to formulate a thought or build a plot. And it’s unlikely that it’s just a matter of lack of vocabulary – if a person is internally liberated, he will convey the idea in simple expressions.
Advice from the series “you need to work on yourself more” is more likely to harm the athlete. Oratory is not figure skating. You can endlessly hone your speaking technique, learn all the tongue twisters, but once you find yourself in front of the camera, you will strain yourself again. Alina is afraid of being assessed, afraid of saying the wrong thing. There is a feeling that she has not internally assumed the role of leader. And it turns out, like in the movies: “And your mustache has come unglued.”
Alina plays out her own reservations with humor. She would like the same ease of conversation
I am convinced that anyone can talk. Only one in this case, D’Artagnan, will immediately win over the audience. And the other, Aramis, reveals himself softly, unobtrusively, but thanks to his charisma, he also holds attention. To remove the pressure, it is better to talk in front of the camera about what is clear and close to you. Alina is an expert in figure skating, so let her discuss the sheepskin coat and axel with the athletes. Because when she moves on to other topics, there is often a slippage.
Judging by how sharply Zagitova reacts to criticism, it is clear that she is not indifferent to the topic. But she doesn’t seem to know what to do about it. We need a mentor who would help to reveal the creative component, praise for successes and gently point out shortcomings. Perhaps the help of a psychologist would be useful. And it’s very strange that television editors don’t help Alina understand the task – how directors work with actors on the set.
A professional presenter knows how to ask questions and reacts quickly to answers, including empathy. But if he has not sorted himself out, his internal tremor does not go away, and he does not hear his interlocutor. One gets the feeling that during the broadcast questions are asked simply out of fear, to fill the pause. The brain doesn’t have time to figure out what to say, but the nerves press: don’t be silent! Strange speech structures appear, endless “umm” and filler words. By the way, try, for example, meowing instead of these words – you will get rid of them very quickly.
Many athletes become TV presenters. They know how to work through what I can’t and get what they want. But there is a downside to their success: these people are focused on winning and are extremely sensitive to failure. So Alina, making mistakes, becomes even more constrained. She needs to internally allow herself to not be ideal – and then everything will start to work out on air.
Zhirinovsky is a virtuoso orator: he’s the one who doesn’t put his words into his pocket
Native language lesson
Simple rules and exercises will help you develop the skill of spontaneous speech and feel like a professional speaker.
Enrich your vocabulary. Read more, but not cheap pulp novels, but time-tested classics. It is advisable to discuss what you read with someone and retell it in the form of an essay. Improve articulation. The most effective way is to recite poetry. Take your time, pronounce the words clearly, with emphasis and pauses. Record yourself with a voice recorder or camera. This will help you notice both advantages and disadvantages in your speech. Get rid of hackneyed phrases. Explain words using synonyms. For example, replace all verbs found in a short text with other verbs that match the meaning. To begin with, you can keep a dictionary at hand. Develop out-of-the-box thinking. Choose a subject and for five minutes tell about it everything that comes to mind. Or speak a coherent story using five words (nouns, adjectives, verbs). Learn to express a thought. Retelling the text will help with this. It is important not to memorize it, but to retell it. Use blanks. “No improvisation comes to me as well as the one I prepared for three days,” Mark Twain joked. A funny story, a paradoxical fact, an anecdote or a quote on the topic will help defuse the situation and fill the forced pause. You shouldn’t read jokes from a page, but you can write a quote on a card and use it during your speech.
Photo source: Personal archive, Vladimir Velengurin/KP, Maksim Konstantinov/Global Look Press
2023-10-04 05:00:20
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