Today we interview Luis Ruiz, a professional in public speaking, radio and drama, among other fields. Beyond romanticism, Luis is a great example of effort, insight and hard work. His professional career has been evolving, with new opportunities, some rocks and several criticisms, but he has always been very clear about his specialty, that which makes him unique and he continues his path in that direction.
Luis will be at ANDA next September 27th, 28th and 29th to give a three-day training on ‘how to speak in public’. Day and a half of pure and hard training, and day and a half of INDIVIDUAL practice. Don’t miss it!
1. Tell us a little about your background?
I studied radio in the 80’s in Madrid. I have worked for Antena3 Radio, Onda Zero in Lanzarote and in Madrid. I have played all the genres that radio encompasses, collaborator of morning magazine, radio formula, continuity announcer, recording, advertising and selling advertising, and also lending a hand in news. We just put the voice, we do not write information, that work is for journalists.
In Onda Cero we did a program called ‘A cuento de qué’, broadcasting to the whole country. From then on, I began to question my path. I wanted more. From there I approached the dubbing studios.
I decided to reinvent myself and study drama. I got several parts in advertising, feature films and national series. Then came the economic crisis and I had an economic break. I leave Madrid and choose Granada as my next home.
With the little savings, I start to think, I contact with the Andalusian entrepreneurship and they motivate me to undertake, helping me to set up a small company. From that talk came Gabinete Marconi.
2. What is Gabinete Marconi?
The first thing that was born was the public speaking service. I combined dramatic art with the voice of the radio. From there, other services came in, radio, art, narration, etc.
My ambition is to be able to bring communication to people who have an interest in communicating that curiosity. I don’t have a formula that will make you lose your stage fright in a few hours, but I do have a training to be able to interview you calmly, to talk to your children in a better way, to communicate your internal spaces or to speak in front of an audience, whoever and wherever it is.
After the pandemic, I have set up a radio program “Capsula Radio” which will be released soon. I am the producer and editor. We got sponsors, and two historical journalists from Toledo and Segovia are on board. We will narrate about the history, culture, sounds and more, of both cities.
3. How do you overcome stage fright in front of an audience?
There is no such thing as stage fright. In this case, panic is a condition of your being, a vertigo of the unknown. When we are afraid, we defend ourselves and that is the origin of panic. All this is overcome with education. At the end of the day, public speaking is nothing more than divulging.
As for nerves, there are people who self-motivate themselves before going anywhere in front of people. These are also eliminated, there are exercises that prepare you to intervene in front of an audience as the actor techniques.
The actor when he enters the stage has a warm-up of body and voice. You prepare yourself knowing what you are going to do, so there is no more crisis, you are ready to intervene. When you prepare yourself, you have 75% of the work already earned. The rest is nothing more than managing the audience. And as in everything, work, work, work, work, work and then more work, with that you overcome everything.
4. What advice would you give to those who suffer from stage fright?
Believe in yourself, listen to yourself out loud and ask yourself if you really like public speaking.
5. Do you recommend any book to get us into this world?
Christ versus Arizona’ by Camilo José Cela, is a novel written only with dots. There are no commas, no exclamation points. If you are trained in public speaking, phonetics and communication, you don’t need orthographic signs because you are able to provoke empathy and communicate it to the public.
Thank you very much Luis for this enriching and inspiring time.
See you next September 27th, 28th and 29th!