A few weeks ago, I took an amazing course called “Stand and Deliver“.  It’s a fabulous public speaking experience that helps you to develop and refine the skills to speak confidently, effectively, from the heart and from a relaxed and grounded place.  I had a really fun time and learned a lot.  I actually left feeling like the workshop was about more than just public speaking, it was about cultivating belief in yourself and using that belief to speak from an authentic and passionate place.  I felt empowered and inspired by the workshop.  Can you tell that , I loved it?  Ha!

So of course being a workshop on public speaking there were many opportunities to speak.  At one point we had to give a short three minute talk on something that we are passionate about.  I chose singing…. of course!  I wanted to share with you an excerpt of my talk, it’s called: “Seducing Yourself Into Song”.  I thought that this topic was a great opportunity to streamline my “spiel” and find a way to clearly articulate and share my ideas about singing, especially with those who think they can’t sing or are too afraid to sing.  I believe it’s everyone’s birth right to sing, be creative and expressive themselves with their voice.  Our voice is a positive and powerful tool that helps to reveal our vulnerabilities and truths.  When we sing or speak out there is no hiding, we are on display for everyone to see and hear.  Sadly, I’ve met too many people who have experienced some sort of trauma around singing, they’ve lost their voices and their power, more often than not to an elementary music teacher who said “just mouth the words dear”.  GAH, I say!  Gah!  If that’s your story, I’m so sorry.  Here’s what I want to share with you:

“Seducing Yourself Into song”

Hi I am Dawn Pemberton and singing is my passion. I believe that everyone can and should sing because it’s so great for your mental, physical and spiritual well being.

Using your fingers show me on a scale from 1 to 5 how you feel about singing. 5 meaning I enjoy singing, I do it daily in the shower, in the car, in a choir, or professionally and 1 meaning no thanks, I don’t like to sing, I can’t, it scares me, get me out of here…..

No matter where you are on the scale from 1-5.  I’d like to share with you a simple idea that will help shift and deepen your experience of singing.  It has to do with seduction.  What is seduction?  It is an invitation to be playful, curious, enticed, charmed, tempted, teased and lured.  I want you to seduce yourself into song.

Here’s what you do:

Choose a moment when you’re feeling calm and relaxed.  Perhaps you’re doing an easy task like taking a shower, washing the dishes, folding the laundry….. in that moment all you need to do is make a sound, it can be a small sound, a whimper, a sigh, a hum, a long tone, one word or you can try familiar song like “Mary Had a Little Lamb”.  I want you to be playful and just keep creating sound in whatever way you like.  Don’t immediately judge yourself, nothing is too outrageous.  Make purple.  What do I mean by that?  Do you remember the first time you discovered red and blue made purple.  Wasn’t that amazing!  How did you find out?  By playing with colour, of course.  How cool is that!?  So be playful and only pay attention to the sounds and words that grab your attention, that pique your curiousity, that you like and that make you feel something.  This may take a few minutes.  Once you’ve found that thing do it again, then do it again and do it again and again, and again…. and see where that takes you.  Find that one small thing that you enjoy and savour it.  This is when the invitation of seduction turns into something much much deeper, it turns into love.  All you’re doing is collecting the sounds that you love.  You’re layering “beauty upon beauty” and falling in love with your sound, your voice.

One sound at a time, one word at a time, one note at a time, one breath at a time….. you can slowly begin to experience the joy of and reap the benefits from singing by simply seducing yourself into song.
Thank You.