My first Dramatic monologue experience.

     Dramatic monologues are very different from a regular monologue or speech. In a regular monologue, you just stand in front of an audience and say whatever you have to say. You don't add any emotion or tone change. Your voice is the same throughout. That is not the case when it comes to Dramatic monologues. In this type, you can be sad, happy, angry or whatever you want be. You can add gestures or walk around the room. You can fall on the floor or you can jump around. It doesn't matter as long as you are emphasizing your monologue. It isn't exactly comfortable to all of the things that I mentioned in front of an audience. It teaches you to step out of your comfort zone and get creative. In a dramatic monologue, you make the character come to life, just like in acting. You make the charaters problems seem real and you have to use emotions to add the effect. There is a lot of steps when it comes to a dramatic monologue.

I have never preformed a dramatic monologue before. The first time doing anything can be kind of weird and it might not always turn out the way you had hoped it would. That's ok cause it's a first time. I haven't preformed my monologue yet but in terms of where I am now I feel pretty good. I feel like I need to add more anger to my monologue because mine is about a girl who is an actor but her father never comes to see any of her productions at school because he wants her to go to Law school to become a lawyer. There is a lot of anger building up in this scene so I feel like I need to put more emphasis on the anger in her voice. There are not many gestures to work with in this monologue because she is sitting at a table in her house while yelling at her dad, but I can always make some up since we don't have to do everything the monologue tells us to do. I can change it up if needed.  When I practice, I feel that my voice is loud enough or stern enough to make it sound like real anger, but I'm getting there.

Some students preformed their final draft of the monologue and others simply did trials runs. As I was watching their performances, I noticed their was a lot of emotion. More emotion than I expected. Their were sound effects in some, and other we gesturing in all kinds of ways. One thing I really noticed was their voices increased a tremendous amount from the first monologue we did. I saw improvement from their first trial run of the dramatic monologue to their fifth or sixth one. Practice makes perfect when it comes to anything.

In conclusion, there are a lot of important aspects when it comes to public speaking, and on top of that dramatic monologues. I hope my final draft will be what I hope it turns out to be. I want to eat loud and clear. I want to embrace the anger inside of me, which is the thing that I am struggling the most with right now. I want to improve on my gestures, that is if I can come up with any. The words can only take you so far, but it's the acting that brings it all together.

Monologue #2 about my character

This monologue takes place in the Brookes home, who is the main character. The backstory of the monologue is that Brooke is an actor who has preformed in many productions at her school. Her father has never shown up to any of her productions and she is upset with him. He wanted her go to Law School like he did but she refuses to because she wants to be an actor. She finally expresses her feelings to her dad during a board game. There is not much room for blocking because they are sitting at a table and Brooke is ranting to her dad. There isn't much movement going on in the scene.

Final Draft Mono.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=dQH_4smnPpA

Dramatic Mono

Reflection of my "Who Am I" mono

       The "Who Am I" monologues were presented in completely different ways. We are all different so there can never be one that is the same. It's not easy to go up in front of an audience and describe who you really are to them, but practice makes perfect. It's impossible to get your monologue perfect on the first try. You have one, two, three, or maybe four takes before getting to your final result. Sometimes you don't enjoy your final result as much as you wanted to but that's okay. There are many factors you have to think about than just saying your speech, which in my opinion threw me off the most, but slowly improved my public speaking.

As I was watching my monologue, I was feeling all kinds of things. I noticed mistakes made but I guess that's typical for a new public speaker. I realized that my voice definitely could have been louder. I was too quiet but to be a great public speaker you need to have a loud and clear voice. I felt my annunciation and clarity with words was good by my pacing could have been better. I would start off the sentence with a nice slow pace and as I reached toward the end of a sentence I would mumble off. I should finish each sentence nice and clear. I also felt that my monologue could use a little more enthusiastic and spirit. I was too serious while presenting and could have loosened up a little bit. My posture was good, there wasn't too much swaying back and forth. There are many things I still need to work on.

I felt the memorization part is what got people the most nervous. When you have the paper right in front of you, you feel more confident in your presentation. When you don't have it, you worry you will forget the words even though you know that you know it by heart. While I was presenting, I was overthinking each line making sure I got it perfect, which unfortunately tripped me up a couple of times. Not having the paper in front of you also improves your eye contact which I felt I was good at. Feeling the pressure of memorizing it caused me to increase my speed and not pace my lines well enough. Or my next monologue I would definitely work on my pacing and memorization. I will try to speak with the loudest voice I have an properly annunciate every word without speeding up. There are the important things I need to work on.

In conclusion, my first monologue didn't go as bad as I thought it would, but there are definitely a lot of factors I need to practice and improve on. Making mistakes the first time is always important because there is no other way to learn and get better. I feel that watching ourselves perform can be sometimes stressful because we don't like the sound of our voice and we like we look silly, but it is what shows us what we are doing wrong and how to improve.

The Fascinating Art of Public Speaking

     Many people would call public speaking an art form. Knowing how to stand up in front of an audience and to properly deliver your speech does not come easily. It takes time and practice. There are many aspects than need to be polished  before delivering your speech. It's not as easy as just going up and talking. Some have the natural ability to communicate with an audience, and others don't but that's ok because you don't have to have a natural talent to be good at it. You just have to put your effort into it and work your hardest. Here are some of my ideas that can turn good public speakers into great public speakers.
Body posture. It's incredibly important because it leads to other factors. If your body posture is slanted or your facing the ground the majority of the time, your voice will be directed to the ground. That's never good because your audience will have trouble hearing you. This is something I need to work on also. A good way to keep your posture straighter would be to firmly plant your feet to the ground. This will make you look taller and more confident. Going back to the part about your audience hearing your clearly. This is one of the most important factors because making sure that the audience can hear you clearly is a crucial part of public speaking. Make you that every word that comes out of your mouth is properly annunciated. Clarity is extremely important as well. To have clarity, you need to have proper pacing. Going too fast or too slow can throw your clarity and annunciation out a window.
The next idea is different from the rest. It doesn't involve pacing or annunciation of volume. It has to do with catching your audience's attention. We are all human, meaning we get bored easily and tend to drone off to things we find boring or uninteresting. A good way to keep your audience up and awake is to add a little humor here and there. If you add to many jokes, you might steer away from your main idea or point. Also asking the audience some questions is a good way to catch their attention. Make points that can connect with other people so they feel as if you understand them and they understand you. Try to refrain from cristism and/or judgment towards someone or something. Doing something in that sense can make certain people love you and others despise you. You don't want both extremes, you want a neutral crowd.
As you can see there are many factors when it comes to speaking in front of an audience. It's not a skill that can be mastered overnight. It is definitely a tricky experience than many people are uncomfortable with. Public speaking is not an easy task for anyone no matter what age. Everyone gets nervous but learning to overcome that fear and become more confident in front of an audience is the point of learning how to public speak.

Who am I Monolouge

Who are you? This is a question that many people find difficult to answer. It takes time to figure out your likes and dislikes, your personality, and what your passions are.
If I could describe myself I would say I'm an adventurous type of person. I like taking risks and having fun. I like to try new things and step out of my comfort zone. It's not the easiest thing to do but I learned overcoming your fears leads to success. As a student I would say I lean towards being the quiet type in a classroom, but I'm not afraid to speak my mind if needed. I am a hard worker and I always try to succeed. I know I get this quality from my parents. They tell me stories about how they moved from India to America without much to live with and how they used hard work to get them where they are now. I use stories like that to inspire me everyday.
When it comes to after school activities, I would say I'm pretty well rounded. I know that teamwork and sportsmanship are the most important qualities for a team to play well. Once I start something, I try my hardest not to quit whether it's sports or academics, and I'm been mostly successful with that. Having a passion for whatever you do is the most important part and I know that I have that quality. It's the small details that make up your personality, and who you are.

Jumping into my world

Who are you? That's a question that takes time to answer and others simply don't know the answer. Do we really know who we are? Do we know all of our characteristics? Do we see ourselves differently from the way the world around us sees us? These are all questions that go through the
head of the person being asked this question. I myself haven't discovered everything about my personality, my interests, my likes and dislikes, but I do have some things I can share with you. If I could describe myself in any way I would say I'm the type of person who's adventuruous, and a risk taker. I enjoy the thrill of taking risks and stepping outside my comfort zone. Even while enjoying all of that, I can also be the type of person who isn't the most talkative. I keep ideas even my head even if I want to express them. That's okay because everything you think about doesn't have to be said out loud. I think a lot before I say something which I wouldn't call my strong suit, but sometimes it's good. These are just some basic descriptors of who I am.

As you become older you start to realize your talents, personality traits, and someone what you want to be. As you get older these thought become clearer and clearer. I am a sophomore in high school.
High school can changes your entire point of view. You see things differently than you did before in middle school. You get experienced to more things, and people. You also discover some hidden talents you had. As a student, I would say I'm a focused and responsible student who  also enjoys having fun and relaxing. In a classroom, as I said before not the most talkative but I'm not afraid to ask questions if needed. Once I get comfortable in certain situations, I'm not afraid to speak my mind.

When it comes to after school activities I would say I'm pretty well rounded. I participate in karate, fencing, and tennis. The musical side of my activities consists of flute, piano, and vocals. Some of these activities I have spent years and years involved with them. I not the kind of person who quits if things are difficult in the beginning, or I'm having a tough time understanding how to play the sport/instrument. I keep at it until I've mastered the technique. Practicing is the most important part of
mastering anything you try to do. Sometimes practicing can be the most boring thing you ever do, but it's worth it eventually. Another factor of sports is teamwork. You need to be willing to cooperate with your team and know how to work together. To do that you need to have an understanding personality, not just on the field but with your friends and family also. When it comes to friends and family, they might not be the easiest people to handle but you always support them and have their back, and they have your back as well. I feel like building trust is the way I go when I comes to making friends or being on a sports team. Even with your family building their trust is the most important thing you can do, and that is what I do.

Finding out who you are takes time and effort. When you start to go in depth about finding out who you are, you realize that your a completely different person, or maybe your the same person you thought you were before. Either way doesn't matter, as long as you discover yourself and your personality. We all have different characteristics that make us unique and those are the most important ones.