From Self-Doubt to Self-Confidence (FSS240516)

Do you feel anxious and struggle to find the right words when speaking in public? If so, this course is for you.

It is often thought that confidence is innate and that it comes naturally to some people. There is also a myth that feeling confident is always about being successful and positive, but the reality is that self-doubt can creep in from time to time and shake our self-confidence. To deal with that, we need to develop confidence from the core, and this kind of confidence is built through training to perform in high-stress situations. Core confidence is about developing a strong self-belief out of resilience towards failure which enables us to bounce back. Whether you are in an interview, doing a presentation, going to meet a client, or simply talking to a group of people in a social gathering, you will be able to overcome self-doubt and move towards self-confidence from the core through some simple techniques and exercises used by opera singers.

In this short course, you will be applying vocal techniques so that you can speak audibly, show authority through body posture, occupy space, and breathe comfortably to deal with stress. You will develop your oral presentation skills (pitches, meetings, interviews) to make an impact in your professional and personal lives.

Before you come to the course, we encourage you to write a small script and either print it out or bring it handwritten on a sheet of paper. We will practise performing this script together using the techniques above so that you can be ready to perform with your newly acquired self-confidence! We also ask you to wear loose comfortable clothes without a belt so that you can breathe deeply without issues.

Day and time: Thursday 17:00-18:30

Length of course: 4 weeks from 16.05.24 to 13.06.24. No lesson on 30.5.24.

Course location: Finnbrit

About the trainer

Born in India, Mandira Halder has been passionate about music and rhythm since the age of two and speaks many languages. Besides singing, she is also a trained classical pianist and plays the descant recorder. She also sings old jazz, pop, and soul music. Mandira has recently sung solo and trio opera arias with other singers of the Institut Stimmkunst, Zürich, Switzerland in St. Andrews, Scotland under the baton of conductor Gillian Craig, artistic director of the Heisenberg Ensemble at the Laidlaw Music Centre of the University of St. Andrews. Mandira also has a PhD in Teacher Multilingualism from the University of Geneva in Switzerland.

In Finland, Mandira is involved in research on anti-racism and social justice in basic education for children from minority communities at the Helsinki Inequality Initiative research group, University of Helsinki. She uses music to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion for singers of colour in the western opera world. Her upcoming project is a lied recital of Finnish and Swedish art songs at the mayor’s residence in Helsinki for the opening ceremony of the European Conference on Qualitative Enquiry.

DISCLAIMER This is not a course to learn about singing, but there is evidence-based research on how simple singing techniques can help with breathing effectively and adopting a healthy posture to facilitate speech articulation and pronunciation through diction. So, do not be afraid to sing. Also, this is not a course in English, but the language of the course is in English, and some work will definitely be done on vowels and consonants in English to improve your diction.

CODE OF CONDUCT This is a safe space to practise building your confidence, and no one is judged for singing or any performance scenes during the course. Also, if an exercise makes you uncomfortable, do not push yourself to do it, but you can observe others and takes notes to try it out later at home at your own pace.