When it comes to developing a better delivery when speaking in public, the way you use your voice is an integral part of making sure your audience receives you with pleasure. It is vitally important for all speakers to speak with style and finesse without appearing insincere or arrogant. Your voice is unique to you and during public presentations there are a variety of nuances that you need to control and/or take advantage of.
Our voices consist of five characteristics. The pitch of your voice refers to the high and low sounds we make. When you’re nervous, the pitch of our voice almost always rises a bit as our vocal chords tense with the anxiety we feel. This is a main reason to try to relax as much as possible. Second, the volume at which we speak indicates our intensity and can be used to dramatic effect at appropriate moments. Third, the speed at which we speak can and should be controlled. Often, in an attempt to complete a thought, we rush through it as our minds work faster than our lips. I have heard speakers running at such a pace that our hearing abilities can barely keep up. But if you speak too slowly, it can become monotonous and boring, so keep your pace between these two extremes. Fourth, what makes each person’s voice unique is known as quality and there’s not much you can do about the quality of your voice, but even the most unique voices you’ve heard in movies or on TV they can still be harnessed for effective results. delivery. And finally, articulation is the characteristic of speaking clearly and enunciating correctly. The English language has many examples of words that are commonly mispronounced. These can be very distracting to an audience if they are pondering what you have said for a while and then miss what you are saying next. So it’s important that you “speak with style” as I say.
1. Be precise – use the right words to convey your ideas. This may require you to expand your vocabulary and learn words beyond the basic level.
2. Be mindful of clarity as you speak: Overly sophisticated language can sound learned and professional, but if your audience has difficulty understanding, your message will be lost in translation.
3. Be Appropriate: In addition to not going overboard with profanity and excessive use of jargon, be sure to avoid any use of profanity or vulgar jargon. And if you choose to be humorous, be careful about using anything that could be misconstrued as ethnic bashing, religious intolerance, or sexual insensitivity.
4. Balance – You often have a limited amount of time to speak, so it’s important to pace yourself, not just for time, but for balance in making your main points. Your material is important in its entirety, so you should speak in a balanced way with not too much and not too little as you cover your information.
Generally speaking, you can improve your public speaking vocalization by applying certain practices. Breathing is very important. In addition to staying alive, you must learn to breathe properly while you speak. There are times when your anxiety will force you to talk for a while and you will be out of breath. Remember to take pauses to breathe; it will make your delivery more interesting to listen to. And for excellent air intake, learn to breathe from your diaphragm instead of just your throat. The increased oxygen intake will keep you more alert and your delivery sharper. Then work on your pronunciation. If you are not sure how to say certain words, check them with someone who knows, so that what you are saying is clearly understood.
My final point is one that many speakers need to work on: avoid upward inflections at the ends of sentences. What does this mean? Often when you are nervous or unfamiliar with public speaking, you will end a sentence on a rising tone. This is very annoying to hear and may question your understanding of what you are talking about. Work on this point and sound confident when you speak. It takes practice, but as with anything, practice produces better results.
