When you’re
presenting, the words you say are important – and so is your voice. Your voice
(and all your body language) should match your words, help you convey
confidence and content to the audience and engage their attention. Here are 3
tips for effectively using your voice when presenting
Speak loudly enough to be heard
How loud depends on the environment. If you're in-person
and it's a large room, you might need to use a microphone. Learn how to use it
well and a microphone will allow you to speak naturally so the people in the
back of the room can hear you easily.
Your voice really matters when
presenting over the phone
Your voice
is particularly important if you're doing a teleconference or a webinar where
people can't see you. They have no other body language to see or hear, other
than your voice,
If you’re on
a phone, you probably need to speak a little louder than you would normally,
especially if it's a speaker phone that's a foot away from you on the desk, or
if you're talking on a cell phone, where the connection might not be
great.
Also over
the phone, you need more energy than when presenting in person. Stand up, use a
wireless headset so you can walk around or keep a mirror on your desk so you
can see if you’re smiling.
Avoid “uptalk”
“Uptalk” is
when you end every sentence with a question mark so everything sounds like a
question. For example, you might say, "My name is Gilda? [voice goes up in
scale] and my idea about the project is this?"
Instead of
using declarative sentence ending in a period, you end every sentence with a
question mark and it makes you sound like you're not sure of anything.
I had a
coaching client who had this issue. I
had never met her in person, but I listened in on one of her teleconferences where
she was presenting to a key client. She
was a very smart woman with a lot of experience, but everything she said
sounded like a question - so she sounded
unsure about everything.
At the end
of it, I said to her, "Do you realize that you end every sentence with a
question mark?" She had no idea until I gave her that feedback. Then we recorded the next teleconference so
she could hear for herself.
Once she
realized it, we were able to work on it so she could replace each question mark
with a period instead. For example, “I
have three recommendations?” became “I have three recommendations.” Period. "Here’s what I suggest you do.” Period,
or exclamation point, or colon, or comma, or semicolon, or quotation, or
anything other than a question mark. Save that question mark for when you're
actually asking a question.
Removing up
talk will automatically make you sound more serious, smarter, and more
confident.
Following
these 3 tips will help you communicate your message clearly and confidently
while capturing and keeping your audience’s attention.