The 30 days | USA English Academy

Week one

Find your story and learn its bones

Day 1Choose. Read three short stories aloud. Pick the one you would tell a friend. It should take two to four minutes.
Day 2Why this one. Say out loud, in one sentence, why you chose it. If you cannot, choose again.
Day 3Five beats. Write the story as five short lines: who, the problem, the try, the turn, the end.
Day 4Tell it badly. Close the book. Tell the five beats to the wall in your own words. Mistakes are the point.
Day 5New words. Circle every word you cannot say easily. Look up each one. Say each ten times, slowly.
Day 6First recording. Record yourself telling the whole story on a phone. Do not listen yet.
Day 7Listen. Listen to the recording once. Write down one thing you like and one thing to fix.

Make the words yours

Day 8First line. Learn the first sentence by heart. Say it to five different objects in the room.
Day 9Last line. Learn the last sentence by heart. The judges remember how you finish.
Day 10Chunks. Cut the story into four parts. Learn part one today, walking as you speak.
Day 11Part two. Learn part two. Then tell parts one and two together.
Day 12Part three. Learn part three. Tell one to three without the page.
Day 13Part four. Learn part four. Tell the whole story without the page, twice.
Day 14Hard sounds. Find your three hardest sounds, often th, r, l, v or final s. Practice each in its sentence.

Voice, face and hands

Day 15Slow down. Tell the story at half speed. Most students speak too fast when they are nervous.
Day 16Pauses. Mark three places to stop for two full seconds. Count them in your head.
Day 17Loud and soft. Choose one line to whisper and one line to say strongly. Practice only those two.
Day 18Voices. Give each character a voice: higher, lower, faster or slower. Keep the narrator plain.
Day 19Eyes. Tell the story to three points in the room: left, center, right. Finish a sentence before you move.
Day 20Hands. Choose three gestures that show something in the story. Use only those three.
Day 21Stand. Feet apart, weight even, hands free. Tell the story standing, in the shoes you will wear.

Polish and perform

Day 22Timing. Time the story. If it is over the limit your teacher gave you, cut a sentence, do not speed up.
Day 23Mirror. Tell it to a mirror. Watch your face in the sad part and the happy part.
Day 24Audience of one. Tell it to one person. Ask only this: where did you stop listening?
Day 25Fix one thing. Fix the place they stopped listening. Tell it to them again tomorrow.
Day 26Second recording. Record it again. Play the first recording, then this one. Hear how far you have come.
Day 27Start and stop. Practice walking on, the bow or wai, your name, the title, and walking off.
Day 28Surprises. Tell the story with the television on, then after running in place. Nerves feel like both.
Day 29Dress rehearsal. Full performance, once, in your clothes, for whoever is home.
Day 30Rest. Tell it once in the morning, then stop. Sleep early. You are ready.