Art of Speaking 2 weekend (4 session) program

Handcrafted workshop on Art & intricate Techniques of public speaking. Facilitated by Akhshay Gandhi (Theatre Practitioner & TedX Speaker)

Areas of focus: 

Voice | Breath | Text Analysis & Composition | Speaking apparatus | Body-Mind connect | Communication Channels | Stage Presence | Performance Energy.

Designed for Business Executives, Leaders, Professionals, Actors, Teachers, Speakers, Managers, Trainers and Students.


Act of Speaking:

Act of Speaking has evolved into a complex phenomenon beyond sound based survival communication to exchange ideas, stories, knowledge and experiences. The phenomenon is an intricate working of various inter-related sub-systems (Respiratory, nervous, neurological, brains faculties, physical system etc), each plays a unique role in making the communication through speaking a rich experience.

In public speaking context, the complexity increases multiple folds, with environment, stress, more sensory information to process and other external factors affecting each internal component and their relationship.

Speaking becomes powerful when all these components work together fluidly and at enhanced states to create an impactful presence to sustain this intricate phenomenon.


A Note on workshop:

The workshop brings together some of the finest techniques, practical exercises and creative processes from theatre pedagogies, social science & Psycho-Neurological research. Sessions are facilitated with keen emphasis on going beyond understanding of Speaking process to embodying the inter-connected and multi-dimensional nature of communication. Driven by curiosity, exploration and guided discovery, facilitation encourages individual breakthroughs and collective enrichment. 

Techniques taught in workshop are drawn from two of the most advanced practices, Suzuki method & Viewpoints taught at best of the theatre schools, like Julliard, Yale, UCLA, NYU etc. Training brings exercises from various other sources, like Alexander technique, Adishakti research and lab, Lecoq, Script Analysis etc to help participants unlock their potential, free their voice, thoughts and engage fully.

What will we do?

1. Exercises to enhance various aspects of voice, like resonance, depth, openness etc.
2. Breathing techniques and their use for speaking process.
3. Cultivating mind's capacity to engage with in depth working of thoughts, ideas and subject matter.
4. Connecting body, breath, thought, voice and speaking.
5. Techniques to develop grasp on architecture of text and it's larger story.
6. Exercises to enhance stage presence.
7. Delving into deeper communication processes beyond the literal with aspects of communication like energy, connection, compositions etc.
8. Working on a well crafted speech from past to analyse author's mind.
9. Experiencing what makes an act of speaking influential.

Methodology:

The session constantly integrates three primary focuses for multi-dimensional learning: 

1. Awareness 2. Cultivation 3. Articulation

The facilitation is designed to heighten the awareness towards multiple capacities, which informs the speaking process, like voice, breath, thought flow, internal working of body-mind connection etc,, cultivating these capacities with practical and advanced techniques and integrate capacities and sensibilities to deliver an influential speech. 

Structure of the workshop:

The workshop is organized in three sections:

1. Voice: Working in detail with various factors which impacts one's voice and its elements like, tone, resonance, breath, muscular support and breath-voice connection. The sessions will offer techniques to work on these aspects as well as help participants unlock their potentials.

2. Text: Working with various aspects of handling text and preparations to deliver it effectively. Sessions will bring in techniques of analyzing the text, layering it with subtext, expressivity & imagination, thought break-ups and effective way of delivering an argument. Each participant will work on well composed text to practice these techniques.


3. Performance: Standing in space and delivering a speech incorporates various non-speaking elements, like presence, grounding, energy, connection, body composition etc to enhance the content. In this section, participants will work on exercises which will help them build performance-aspects and integrate Voice, Text & Performance.


About Akhshay Gandhi:

Akhshay Gandhi is a theatre artist & TedX Speaker, performing, teaching & collaborating with various companies, institutions & individuals. Alumni of Saratoga International Theatre Institute, New York and BITS-Pilani, he is recipient of prestigious Tata Scholar Grant and BITSAA 30u30 award. 

Founder & Artistic Director of Still Space Theatre, India and founding member of Square One Collective, New York his work and practice is dedicated towards contemporary performing arts and bringing stories of various communities to todays audience.

He has been conducting workshops for Artists, Professionals, Executives, Academicians, Leaders and Students by bringing Art & Techniques from some of the worlds most advanced theatre pedagogies & processes. His trainings are aimed at cultivating a deeper association with self, others & creativity.

His recent workshops include,
1. Art of Speaking: For powerful leadership communication at Still Space.
2. Gender Intelligence at Infosys Engineering services.
3. Theatre & Communication at IBM, Bangalore.
4. Collaborative Thinking at Mind Matrix Lab, Bangalore.
5. An Actors Craft at Still Space.