Sounding good

By Nedra Wickremasinghe

A person's success in the public arena can, to a certain extent, be attributed to the quality of voice he or she possesses. It is important for people in public life, like politicians, religious leaders, business leaders and actors to have a good voice.

A good voice, no doubt, enhances your professional image. It helps to get the attention of the audience-but a bad voice is a complete turn-off and the rest of the image that you worked so hard on may go unnoticed.

Your voice creates an impression on other people, and can reveal your personality. It can also indicate the mood of the moment, for others can gauge from your tone whether you are annoyed, excited or depressed.

Research has revealed that your voice and how you speak (the pitch, expressiveness and clarity) amounts to 38 per cent of the impression you make on people, (seven per cent consists of what you are saying and the balance 55 per cent is made up on how you look and behave). This does not mean that you can get away by speaking unintelligently just because you look good and sound good. After all in business, at work and in politics, what you say matters and you must know what you are talking about.

But to succeed in your business or in public life there is more to it than knowing your subject - it is the ability to sell the message. It is only when you are able to sell your ideas that - you can succeed in your mission. For this, a good voice is an added advantage. It is a well known fact that famous personalities such as Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and our very own SWRD Bandaranaike, who won fame as a great speaker in his Oxford days, could hold a crowd spell- bound. 

In modern times, Tony Blair, Nelson Mandela and Bill Clinton have a crowd-pleasing charisma which complements their equally well-toned, energetic and convincing voices. It only goes to prove that their voices are an integral part of their suave personality.

But if you are unhappy with the way you sound-don't for a minute think that you are condemned for life with a poor voice. 

There are speech therapists to help you to improve your voice. But, before you enlist their help, get some friends and family members to assess your speech on richness, clarity or even confidence. Then record your voice and do short speeches and pretend interviews and keep trying to sound better.

Little green, lots of imagination

By Ruwanthi Herat Gunaratne

A colourful wall to brighten up your garden

The Landscapists Association of Sri Lanka (LASL) at their recent exhibition took pride displaying small gardens. And it seemed miraculous as to what one can achieve in a limited space. "What is most important is to visualize exactly what kind of look you'd like to achieve," says Aravinda Fernando - the owner of 'Dramatic - The Art of the Unexpected', a landscaping firm. "Once you've decided that, everything starts panning out in front of you."

Aravinda and his wife Harshini have been working in this field for over one and a half years on a professional basis. Look for your assets first, they advise. For example, a large tree or even an old tree stump could be the centre of your landscape. Then you've simply got to let your imagination go. 

Once you've decided on that centre point, try to work out a plan in your mind's eye as to how you'd like the finished product to look. Using plants of the same family enhances the natural effect since the plants almost seem to blend into each other. 

If your small garden is in a shady area, don't despair. It may be impossible to grow grass but who needs grass? It requires a lot of maintenance. Pebbles are 'in' at the moment. One can pick up river pebbles from vendors down Pamankada way at around Rs. 140 per 'thachchiya'. And a pebbled garden is so easy to maintain. 

Artistic corner with pebbles and plants

"This is what I refer to as stonescaping," says Aravinda. "I have a stonescaped garden myself and all I need do is water the plants daily and pick up the fallen leaves - if there are any."

It is important especially if you have a very small garden not to overcrowd it, says Ms. Dushyanthi Baptist, the Asst. Secretary of the LASL. "You can try other techniques, like filling your centre spaces with river sand. That's a Japanese art form where, once you strew sand in the garden, and moisten it. After that, you draw a design on it, using a rake (preferably out of wood). This is somewhat similar to what our monks do in temple. You can draw designs like a river bed and arrange your plants accordingly - it gives quite a unique effect especially to small gardens."

Another modern reality in these days of limited space is that the builders usually place the sewerage pit right in the middle of the already small garden. "I like to create cesspit sculptures," joked Aravinda. "Once you have something like that in the middle of the garden, it ruins all your hard work. So I advise covering the area with pebbles and then using flat pots to create a small picture on that slab of concrete - it covers up the pit and gives the garden an artistic touch."

What is the answer to dark areas? Lighting plays a vital role in small gardens so change the colour of the backdrop, advises Aravinda. Instead of that mundane white or green garden wall, try a burst of colour in the form of a bright yellow, a gulf blue or even a pinkish salsa to enhance and project the beauty of your garden.

Bonsai anyone? Definitely yes. But what about the hard work that goes into preparing such a plant? Aravinda and his wife have a different perception of this Japanese art form. "Plants can only grow on the space that you've already provided for them. We've taken slightly grown plants and simply potted them. The plant never grows any taller but just spreads out its branches a bit more. After that it's a simple case of pruning.

Most people like to finish off their gardens with a water feature. So that would mean that you'd need to get a contractor down to laying out your pond, right? Think again. "Simply dig a hole in proportion to the size of your garden and line it with thick black polythene to make it watertight. The size and shape should blend in with the rest of your garden. Once the polythene is laid out, place rocks or paving stones or even soil dug out from the hole to keep the polythene in place," said Ira Jansz, President of the LASL.

The ultimate factor is that - even a little burst of green can do wonders for your soul, so don't sit back waiting for acres and acres: that little piece of garden is potential paradise!

Do:

Use your plats to soften and enclose or to frame and focus attention on views that lie beyond your boundary

Run out design lines and axes from centre of doorways and windows. Make a definite choice between harmony and drama

(Landscapists Asso-ciation of Sri Lanka)

Try to avoid ponds without fish - stagnant water increases the potential of mosquitoes and we definitely do not need any more of those.

Don't:

Expect too much. Plants take time to grow.

Keep taller plants in front of small ones