How to Use Your Voice for Presentations
April 27, 2009 | In: Career, Computers, Relationship, Self Improvement
Giving a Good Presentation
Impress your bosses further by giving the best presentation they’ve ever seen. One of the keys to giving a great presentation is its delivery. Here are a few tipz on how to make your voice loud and clear – a perfect complement to a well-organized and well-thought-of presentation:
Be loud. Even if you are going to use a microphone, the volume of the speaker still needs to be well-modulated. The speaker has to learn not to depend on the microphone. Don’t speak too softly as the microphone tends to get it muffled. Don’t try to shout either. Just use the loudness of your voice effectively. Speak a little loudly when emphasizing a point. Speak a little softly to create a calming effect. Gauge the surroundings and the size of the audience to know how loud your voice should be. Pay attention to the reactions of your audience for this. If you speak softly, they will lean forward (or towards the speaker). If you speak too loud, they will wince or cringe or pull back to their seats.
Speak slowly. The rate of the speech (or the number of words spoken per minute) depends on the nature of the speech or the mood which the speaker is trying to create. Speak normally. This will provide the listeners to mentally digest the words and the thoughts you want to convey.
Use pauses effectively. Insert a pause in the part of your speech where you want to build tension, or if you want the listeners to think a bit. Just don’t overdo it so that they’ll think that you’ve forgotten the next line. Avoid using space fillers such as “uhmm.” These can only distract your listeners.
Add color to your voice by changing its pitch (or the highness of lowness of your voice). This is especially useful if you are trying to speak as different characters in an interesting anecdote. For example, you can use a higher pitch if you are mimicking a woman or child. You can also vary the pitch (like low and booming) to emphasize a point.
But all of this is naught if you are not confident to pull it off. And how do you do it? Practice, practice, practice!
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