Microphones, let's talk about those. And most of the time when you're speaking, you'll probably be wearing a lapel mic. Or you might have a headset mic. And those are really easy to work with, because you can forget all about them. But what about if you get handed one of these? Well, it's really important that you know how to use it.

Because even if you say, I'll never use one of these, I have many times seen speakers being handed them because the other technology isn't working. Now the biggest crime for speakers is not holding it close enough to the mouth. You don't need to eat this thing. You know, what we want to do is actually be able to lip read, believe it or not want to see your expression in your face. So you must keep it down low enough so that we can do that. However, most people hold it too low and expect it to pick up their voice so it ends up down here, and we actually can't hear you at all.

So it needs to be fairly close to the mouth, pretty much level with the chin. Let me see. From the side how it looks, I tend to hold it at a really easy angle, not quite 45 degrees, but certainly not upright either, because the side of the microphone isn't as sensitive as the top. So you want the top of the microphone to be pointing towards your mouth. And then there's a little bit of air, you know, between you and the microphone. And the reason for that is that it can make a popping sound.

If we put it too close to the mouth. If it goes into the air stream like this, then you might find that you're making some really horrible noises. If that's the case, just put it just below the stream to avoid that sound. And then it's really important that it moves with you fine when I'm standing here like this, but if I want to move my head and I don't move the microphone, then again, the sound goes away, too. So if you've broken your arm, you have to be as if you're in a cast and turn entirely with your heads. With the microphone at the same time, all of the time.

If you're not used to this practice at home, just grab a hairbrush just like when you're a teenager and you're thinking, say practice this and get used to the muscle of it, and try not to tense up the shoulder, just relax. And then once you've got it in the right place, you can forget all about it and we will be able to hear you clearly.