Your voice is a powerful tool. But if you’re like most people, you spend all of your time thinking about WHAT you’re going to say and none on HOW you’ll deliver your message. The result? Something we call the “corporate monotone voice” – a sound so dull it can put entire audiences to sleep! Keep reading to learn how to speak clearly and loudly to increase your influence.
It’s time to stop thinking that a great speech is only about content. The truth is, your voice can inspire, reprimand, make people pay attention, show people you mean business, make people laugh and convey a host of emotions. In other words, powerful vocal techniques can take a speaker from dull to dynamic!
Whether you want to improve your voice for conference calls, business meetings, or keynote speaking engagements, the following vocal delivery tips will transform HOW you connect with others.
How to Speak Clearly and Loudly: Top 7 Vocal Delivery Techniques
1. Have Fun with Your Emotional Vocal Tone
We’ve all had the displeasure of listening to a presenter who seems as if they are reading their entire speech off of cue cards. The delivery is flat and uninspired.
It’s not just actors that must become a master at playing with their emotional tone; presenters and business leaders must as well. You are essentially telling the audience a story. While you may not start and end with “once upon a time” and “they all lived happily ever after,” you are indeed taking your audience on a journey. Use your voice to take them through the emotions of that journey.
2. Share Your Passion Through Your Voice
You’ve heard that passion, like laughter, is contagious. Well, this isn’t just a theory, there have been studies conducted on how it is we seem to be able to make others feel excited when we share our own passion.
Think about some of the most charismatic leaders and how they use(d) their voices to make us feel something. Think about people like Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and Oprah Winfrey. Think about how they can (or did) have us hanging on every word. And with each word we felt our own passion rising.
Take a moment to STOP and think about how YOU feel about what you are saying…if you don’t know how you feel about your topic or message, chances are your audience won’t know how to feel either.
3. Play with Your Vocal Range
Imagine if suddenly your favorite local restaurant began serving only one dish. That was it, their entire menu was just the lasagna or just the meatloaf and mashed potatoes You couldn’t get anything else. Chances are you’d stop going there. Why? Because you, like most people, like a variety.
People like variety when it comes to other senses besides taste, sound included. You want to serve up a variety of sounds to your audience, so have some fun and play with how to speak clearly and loudly.
Play with your vocal tone. Allow your voice to go up at certain points of your speech and go down. Play with volume, speed and be sure to add in pauses.
4. Record Your Voice and Listen
A lot of people don’t like the sound of their own voice. If that’s you, you may not feel comfortable recording and listening to yourself. But it’s one of the most important things you can do to recognize where your voice could use some help.
Here’s a trick though: to be objective with your recording, allow a day or two to pass in between when you record and when you listen. So record part of your presentation or you saying the pledge of allegiance, whatever, then wait a day or two before you listen.
5. Don’t Try and Sound Professional
Guess what happens when you try and sound “professional?” You come off sounding dull and robotic. Remember, your goal is not to convince others you are professional. They already know your business accomplishments. What your audience really wants is to be inspired. So, share your passion and tell a story! If it helps, pretend you are sitting around the dinner table with your family or friends and speak how you would speak to them.
6. Warm Up Your Voice
You wouldn’t go for a run, play a game of basketball, or lift a bunch of weights without first warming up. The same preparation is necessary for your throat and vocal cords. Take a few minutes before your meeting or presentation to warm up properly. A quick search on Youtube will turn up a plethora of great vocal warm up exercises.
7. Take Singing Lessons
Did you know that a lot of actors, news anchors and public speakers take singing lessons? And some of them can’t even sing! But LEARNING to sing, even if you aren’t a Lady Gaga, is a great way to get more control over your breathing and vocal intonation.
Your voice truly is a remarkable tool and if you haven’t been leveraging its full power, it’s time you did. Start by using these 7 effective vocal delivery techniques and if you need even more help harnessing the power of your voice? Contact us. We’ll work with you on how to speak clearly and loudly to influence and inspire.
Continued Learning & Success!
LaQuita Cleare and Team CCA
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