One of the most important aspects of communication is the tone of voice used. This can encompass the volume at which you speak and the pace and pitch of the voice. Pace and pitch can communicate excitement, caution, or other emotions. For example, a higher pitch communicates excitement and happiness, a lower pitch communicates sadness. Pregnant pauses are also an effective way of highlighting a point and grabbing the audience’s attention. In fact, knowing how to use pregnant pauses effectively is perhaps even more important than the words chosen because of the impact they can have on the listeners.
Variety is the Key
When assessing your tone of voice and looking for ways to improve it while speaking, remember variety is the key. Mixing it up and varying all the different factors play a vital role in your communication. That is, the pace at which you speak, the pitch of your voice, and effectively using pregnant pauses. Imagine listening to someone who talks in monotone. It gets boring very quickly. If you want to keep your audience’s attention, you should vary your volume. Talk softly at times and loud at others. In fact, when you want to emphasize a point, sometimes speaking softly with a pregnant pause as a contrast can be a more effective way of driving home your point and making more of an impact on your listener.
The pace or speed at which you talk also plays an important role in your public speaking. An unfortunate side effect of nervousness can be that the speaker will speak at a very fast pace to try to get the presentation finished quickly. However, this is very uncomfortable to listen to and ineffective for communicating anything of substance, as the audience will miss the main points in the presentation. If you are feeling nervous, take a pregnant pause instead, and let them wait expectantly for your next point. This allows you a moment to gather your wits and refocus without the audience having any idea that you are nervous.
Getting Feedback
Unfortunately, many people do not have an honest picture of the level of emotion they actually communicate. You may think you are a passionate, high-energy speaker, but the only way to know for sure is to test it out. If you are nervous to speak in front of friends and family and to receive their feedback, then try recording yourself. A simple audio recording is a great way to assess the different variables of your voice intonation without your appearance or body language distracting you. In this current age of technology, it is relatively inexpensive to record into a computer with a simple microphone and to play it back. Do not be afraid to practice the same presentation multiple times until you feel you have found the best mix of variables in your voice for the greatest impact.
Once you are confident in your own ability, test your presentation or workshop on some people you know. They will give you honest feedback and you will probably be surprised and encouraged at people’s willingness to encourage you and give some constructive criticism. In the long run, it will help you improve and deliver the best possible presentations. The end results will be greater profit both to your listener and to your business.
