On the first day of the lesson, I felt some excitement while searching for the location of the class as I have never explored NIE before. It was not easy to find the place despite searching for the location the day before as the room number could not be seen from the outermost doors of Nanyang Playhouse. The door seems locked too until I met Prof Jasper who opened the door with a heavy push. I was surprised to see that the room was, in fact, a rehearsal room and felt momentarily lost as there was no neatly assembled tables and chairs that I am used to using daily.
Students begin streaming in one by one after finally locating the room and we were given the instruction to get barefoot and sit in a circle. I was surprised that it could be such a casual lesson and it’s an interesting experience. Prof Jasper introduced himself and ask that we should all introduce ourselves. As I usually keep to myself, I take a long time to warm up and speak to people. Hence, I was worried that there would be some embarrassing penalty games that usually follows ice-breaking activities. To my relief, there was no such thing. Instead, we played some rather unique games like trust fall, Captain on the Deck and so on.
Prof Jasper then proceeds to inform us that the games are for building trust among us so that the class can be a safe environment. I assume that it will also mean that he wants us to feel comfortable in class and at the same time make it easier for us to build up the confidence to talk with one another. After some games, we were told to get our writing materials and Prof Jasper begins to teach us about protecting our voice.
Ciccarelli. S (2015, January). Protect voice picture.
The tips about protecting the voice were something fresh and interesting, as I always thought that the core preparation for a presentation resides only with the content of the presentation. While listening to the tips, I remembered the different sensation in my throat whenever I had spicy food, or took dairy products, or drank chocolate. It’s actually quite amazing when all the little pieces of stuff that always bothered me to a certain degree linked up together in my mind and finally made sense as to why I felt bothered.
I thought the information given was good and instantly applicable, up from eating and drinking properly and down to breathing properly. In fact, even with the breathing exercise alone already I felt much better! The breathing techniques could become a basis to calm my mind down whenever I find myself facing situations that induce anxiety and nervousness, and further amplifying my ability to present myself to others which is a great boost to my confidence.
Chakraborty, D. (2017, October). Pineapple juice photo.
Besides the tips that are given, I managed to find out that pineapple juice and the act of swallowing can be used as a replacement to clear the throat without hurting the throat. Pineapple juice is more commonly found and contains multiple benefits like moisturizing the mouth and oesophagus and boosting the immunity system with vitamin C (Eng, Rawshaw, Clacla, & Dougie, 2013, July) Seems to me that it’s a good replacement for starfruit juice which I could not find anywhere at Northspine!
Since I like to consume chocolate products, I also looked more into diuretics and found having coffee will not affect us much! Our body can adapt to a constant but limited intake of coffee each day, thus producing more mucus on a regular basis to counter the effects of drying out the throat (Scearce, 2016, p. 73). Additionally, I finally found out why I’m having heartburn and sore throat sensations in the morning and what I can do to prevent facing such situations, which is to eat fruits that are high in water content like cantaloupe and watermelons in the night when I’m feeling thirsty.
Finally, I looked for YouTube videos of John Gielguld in Hamlet, Richard Burton in Under Milk Wood, Dame Maggie Smith in an interview and Dame Judi Dench in Shakespeare, Twelfth Night (Styrian, 2015; Metrisch, 2010; BFI, 2017; Pao, 2013) Common to all of them was the fact that they will not risk mispronouncing each word even if they speak fast, which convinced me that only through proper pronunciation can each word be infused with emotions. The speakers wield their voice like a weapon, rising and falling in an almost melodious manner and listeners will thus be held spellbound as they follow each word. It’s such a difference from the Singlish which favour speed and efficiency over accuracy, and probably why Singaporeans sounds harsh to foreigners.
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