There are certain specific distinctions to practice on a public speaking plat-form and in front of a camera (if taped) at all times. They are the backbone of the public speaker's work. These simple rules are there to help the speaker perform with confidence and strength and applies to all public speaking per-formance including acting. Acting is distinct as it demands the characters in-volved to resolve internal and external conflicts through a necessary clashing of wills and through the dramatic confrontation of emotional points of view. A well balanced dramatic scene places leverage on both sides equally. There are always two camps in public life. The audience has a passive role and the speaker an active one. This is an essential dynamic. Audience and speaker communicate well with each other to the degree that they both un-derstand and respect this dynamic. They are not to be confused or inter-changed. Only the speaker/actor is active. Audiences appreciate remaining passive and they become active only by permission like in a workshop situa-tion or when given permission to ask questions. This implies a thorough and clear understanding of this basic dynamic. Credibility and clear communication, which includes a strong desire to be seen and heard, are the speaker's first responsibilities and basic skills. It in-cludes presence, handling of stage, body posture, gestures, coordination, voice patterns, eye focus and direction, hints of behavior and overall inten-tionality. Basic credibility is always given a particular emphasis as it very of-ten determines, from the get-go, the outcome of a presentation. We all carry a "built-in" credibility in public. We'll investigate these "already affects" we have on an audience, often without our knowledge. Knowledge does not transfer from one person to an audience because we do not communicate through "mind reading." Credibility has very much to do with who we are. What we believe about ourselves (conscious and subconscious.) Gaining that knowledge is invalu-able. The way we carry ourselves speaks volumes and is filtered through the performance, speech or presentation. Credibility touches personal style and will be investigated in depth. Direction and destination is also his/her arena of control and expertise. put it simply: "if we don't understand a speaker, it's not the public's problem." Making it our first and foremost intention to be seen and heard clearly through specific actions is often the most effective remedy to nervousness or tension. Everything one does in the public arena has purpose and matters down to the smallest gesture. Consequently all actions matter. They reveal our inten-tions conscious and unconscious. Willed and unwilled. Subtext has to do with the things we do but do not say, conscious and unconscious. The basic speaker's atmosphere before anything happens is always easy, sensitive to audience, open and communicative to name a few. Acknowl-edgment breeds loyalty and commands attention. Only purpose gives sense to our actions. "Actions are the messengers of our wishes." and the fun in public speaking comes from the performance of actions, not simply talking. One creates depth by actually "probing" and test-ing ideas via actions (not attitudes or mental postures.) There are internal ac-tions and external actions. They all have physical ramifications. "Real" often means whatever is going on inside I allow outside and whatever is outside has its specific source inside. The two being connected, we often interrupt that free-flowing communication between inside and outside. We try to ma-nipulate and rob ourselves of our spontaneity. Actions have to be (1) executed, taken all the way or the speaker should give the reason(s) why an action was (2) aborted, (3) interrupted or (4) changed to serve another purpose. An action has to be executed 100% com-mittedly or we should be clear as to why it is not carried out 100%. No execution of actions half way. Starting and not finishing without a reason. Speakers are "found out" that way and the POSITIVE impact diminished. When in doubt stand still and do nothing. Lack of purpose is as destructive to a presentation as is tension. (please note that tension is very often a lack of action) Self-consciousness has to do with not trusting how we feel and conse-quently not taking charge of how we feel (see POV point of view.) It can be devastating. Self-consciousness has to do with tension which stems from not being in action about our purpose or not giving direction and power to our in-tentions. "I get more nervous when my eye is off the ball." Creating a sense of space and place is also the speaker's responsibility. Making visual and tactual contact with room, distances, volumes, shapes, light, objects, furniture, ourselves, others...etc. Presentations, scores of actions, and everything in a public performance has a forward, revealing quality. Speakers reveal, they do not hide. Any at-tempt to hide disrupts and ultimately breaks communication. Always making sure our energy is free to intend in the direction of our choices. In other words providing more energy than we think we need. Choice and actions is where we discharge our energy. The more clear the choice the easier it becomes to commit, the more the two will interact and feed each other. Beware of apology, self-pity, journalizing, dramatizing, mocking, demean-ing and explaining as means of communication. It usually spells disas-ter. Same goes with any form of attack on the audience or overt/covert anger. These are traps and/or very poor choices. Sometimes a speaker simply does not realize that his performances contain these forms of expres-sion. He/she should become aware of the devastating affect it has on an au-dience. The only exceptions naturally are when the speaker who apologizes, explains or views himself as a victim or comments on his behavior as a way to illustrate, entertain or make a point. A speaker always dominates or controls the scene or stage and the audi-ence. He/she does so through skill, actions, technique (which is the execution actions) and his/her ability to believe in what he/she is doing. A speaker-audience relationship is a dynamic which has to be understood and re-spected. It is the speaker who's in control and commands attention not the other way around. Avoid "catering" to an audience, try to draw them in artificially...They will turn their backs on you. Avoiding playing the mood or attitude of the content of our presentation. "If you play the mood it' ll spell backward: DOOM. "An at-titude is always the result or copy of something. It is second rate choice unless we "intended" the attitude as a choice for entertaining reasons. When a speaker makes a mistake he/she draws no attention to it and simply "moves on." We cover that aspect of the technique specifically via mocks and pairing. When a speaker gets tense, shy, uncomfortable, anxious and so on, he/she simply hides it by (1)committing to his/her actions (2)doing nothing or, if I wanted to quote a teacher I had, change his profession. It's a humorous way of reminding ourselves that if we get tense or nervous it's not the public's fault and there are ways to remedy it quickly and without too much fuss. I be-lieve there are solutions to every problem if there's a will to find them.

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