An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Authenticity of message: own what you are saying. It might sound very basic but knowing how your message should affect your audience…what you want to inspire, and believing in it yourself will make all the difference.
At some point in our lives, many of us will have to give a talk to a large group of people. What does it take to be a highly effective public speaker? How can you improve your public speaking skills? How can you overcome a fear of speaking in public? What does it take to give a very interesting and engaging public talk? In this interview series called “5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker” we are talking to successful and effective public speakers to share insights and stories from their experience. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Aimée DeShayes.
Trained at Carnegie Mellon University, Aimée has 20 years of experience as an accent and dialect coach. With clients from around the globe, she specializes in helping them address American audiences with clarity and ease.
Aimée has worked closely with presidents, vice presidents, and CEOs of numerous Fortune 500 companies, such as Hewlett-Packard, Proctor & Gamble, and Microsoft. For more information on Aimée and Distinct Diction, please log on to https://www.distinctdiction.com/.
For information on Aimée DeShayes the acting coach, please log on to http://aimeedeshayes.com/.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
Thank you for having me! I spent my youth in central Florida with my French father and Long Island, NY with my mother and stepfather. This afforded me an early appreciation of dialects and accents — when I was in Long Island I was told I sounded southern and in the south, like I was from up north. Not sure how my father’s French accent fit in! Ha! But, it was fascinating from an early age to see how the influences that blended together to create my speech was received differently depending on my “audience” so to speak.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
When I was attending Carnegie Mellon University as an actor in their prestigious BFA program — the course on Speech was actually my most challenging class! Here I was, American born and failing to achieve the “General American Dialect.” The goal was to be able to turn off any regionalism to achieve a kind of anonymity, if the role called for it. Because I was struggling — this caused me to focus my attentions onto the mechanics of speech: tongue placement, lip shape, release of jaw tension (still a challenge!) and vocal placement all became an interesting puzzle to me — a mystery I needed to solve. I still use this kind of deduction and awareness in my work with clients to this day. Every person’s speech patterns and habits are unique to them.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
When I lived in NYC — an acting coach I worked with realized my skillset as an American Accent Coach — and I ended up working with a super model on her dialect for a major motion picture. That was certainly a surprising treat!
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
One of my favorite things about my work is the connection I form with my clients, and the laughter we inevitably share. However, because the work is so personal and sometimes vulnerable — those laughs are just for us — sorry! None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way.
Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
Absolutely! Three women come to mind. My professors at CMU: Natalie Baker Shirer, Janet Madelle Feindel and my tutor during my education there, Polly Harrison. Natalie taught me the mechanics of speech and regionalisms (an enormous library of information!) while Madelle nurtured tonality and musicality of a healthy voice. Polly then took the scholastic tools that the professors had given and broke them down into language and actions that helped me access them. These three women built the foundation that I still stand upon today.
You have been blessed with great success in a career path that can be challenging and intimidating. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?
If you happen to find yourself on the path of America Accent and Dialect work — stay curious and open! Supporting people on their journey is incredibly rewarding and unique. And beware the idea of “losing” an accent. With this work, it is not about “losing” anything — but rather gaining new sounds and skills to use when addressing American audiences.
What drives you to get up everyday and give your talks? What is the main empowering message that you aim to share with the world?
Communication is our gateway to community. Our language shares our perspective — the heart of what we are saying as well as our history leading to this moment — it shapes our lives. For me to assist someone on this journey, is a gift.
You have such impressive work. What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? Where do you see yourself heading from here?
Again, unfortunately my lips are sealed (ironic given the nature of my work!) but: imagine a boxing ring. And in that ring will be whatever presentation or speech or conference that will help to shape a company’s future — the future of its employees and the future of its customers. What happens in that ring is what is exciting and thrilling. And I am the trainer in the corner, supporting from behind the scenes. The promise of the unknown and the support I will provide is always thrilling to me.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
The quote that lifts me up when I am feeling overwhelmed is a poem by Nayyirah Waheed: “All the women in me are tired.” I love her poems, and this brief but powerful one normalizes my feelings and reminds me of the many hats I proudly wear (even when they are exhausting).
Ok, thank you for all that. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker?” Please share a story or example for each.
1. Authenticity of self
2. Breath
3. Pace
4. Focus and release
5. Authenticity of message
1. Authenticity of self: This can mean many things, but in relation to my work of American accent and Dialect work: Your authentic voice — coming from you, not some idea of perfection is what your audience will connect to. You have done your prep work leading up to the occasion and on the day of, remember: You are enough. You are exactly where you need to be.
2. Breath: YOU GOTTA BREATHE! Sometimes people will unconsciously hold their breath, or feel like they have to hurry onto their next idea while not allowing themselves to fully or effectively inhale. There are exercises to build lung capacity, or to create space within a speech to take a break and catch your breath — your audience will probably appreciate the brief pause as well! You can also start to feel the warning signs of unsupported speech and this is when old speech habits tend to take over from your conscientious preparation.
3. Pace: Slow down. Have you ever heard the expression “Tongue tied”? Although it is actually a physical condition — most people use it when describing a jumble of sounds while speaking. And when you have put in the work of speaking with distinction, slowing your pace slightly allows your tongue to execute precisely and for your audience to stay with you: you want them listening to what you are saying RIGHT NOW rather than figuring out what has already passed.
4. Focus and release: Before the occasion — prepare with focus…and then, release. If you do the prep work and the “work outs” leading up to the main event — then you must focus on your message alone and trust your preparation.
5. Authenticity of message: own what you are saying. It might sound very basic but knowing how your message should affect your audience…what you want to inspire, and believing in it yourself will make all the difference.
As you know, many people are terrified of speaking in public. Can you give some of your advice about how to overcome this fear?
Start small and keep going. You will learn which tools best support you when it is time to speak in public by actually doing it. Try it out in the safest space possible, maybe somewhere with low stakes (not your intended audience but peers or your support team). Take note of what specifically happens to you when the “fear” overtakes. Does it hit your breathing first? Or does it manifest in tension in the body or clammy hands? Identifying how it affects your body can help you to nurture and support with various tools and exercises which will also help to quiet the mind as well by engaging a new sense of focus and disrupting the destructive thoughts.
You are a person of huge influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
There is no “proper” way to communicate — when we embrace that understandability can come in all forms, we will take another important step towards inclusivity.
Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!
Maya Rudolph. Hands down!
Are you on social media? How can our readers follow you online?
The best way to get in touch with me is through my website www.DistinctDiction.com
This was so informative, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me!
Aimée DeShayes Of Distinct Diction On The 5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
