Public Speaking: Using Your Voice, Pt. 1

The most important thing to focus on when speaking to an audience is how you use your voice.  It’s easy to get nervous, and that anxiety can cause you to breathe erratically (or not at all).  It’s very common for new speakers to run out of breath, often caused by speaking too fast.  Controlling your breathing and your speed of delivery are the first things we’ll focus on today.

You’ve developed an interesting topic, people are interested in hearing what you have to say, but the message may be lost because your audience is having a hard time understanding what you’re saying, because you may be speaking to fast, or breathlessly.  Your words run over the top of each other.

So, the first thing to think about is enunciation.  Practice with an audio recorder or with a test audience, and let them interrupt you when your pace starts to get out of control.  Practice and knowing your material is a key solution to this particular issue.  Examine the structure of your words, break down the syllables – not to the point of sounding stilted, but to help you slow down.

Something else that can impact your enunciation is constantly looking down at your notes.  This can cause your speech to sound muffled, so remember to keep your head up and directed at your audience.

Another thing to be aware of is how you pronounce words.  If your audience is there to hear what you have to say, it’s likely that many of them already have a familiarity with the topic.  Be sure you know the correct pronunciation of the words in your discussion, the proper meaning of any acronyms, etc.  Keep in mind that if you travel to different parts of the country, the way some words are pronounced may change.  Ask somebody in the American south how to say the word ‘pecan’ and then ask someone from the northern regions to say it – you may find it sounds like very different words!

The last thing I wanted to look at this week is the pause.  Knowing when and how to properly pause can add emphasis to the points you’re making.  There are different kinds of pausing, depending on the type of punctuation – a period, comma, question mark, or exclamation mark.  Focusing on proper pausing can also help with breathing and slow down your delivery.  When preparing your material, make marks where a pause may be helpful or required. 

Another key area where pausing is critical is when you move from one main point in your outline to the next.  Pausing between points gives the audience a chance to adjust and change direction with you.  If you don’t have time to pause between main points, you probably have too many main points!

Other ways to pause might be for emphasis – an extended pause can focus the audience attention.  Sometimes you have to pause because of things out of your control, such as a disturbance in the room.  And of course, if you’re asking a question, a pause sends the message that you’re waiting for feedback or a response.

So, we’ve covered a few things to get you started with public speaking.  We’ll pick this up next time with a few more things to work on!