Presentation Tip 3: Vary Your Tone and Rhythm

From Wilder’s Presentations at: www.wilderpresentations.com

Think about the presenters you’ve enjoyed and what made them special. Others probably made you want to leave the room as soon as they started talking. What made the difference?

Could be looks, dress, body language, or voice tone. Tape yourself and listen to your voice. It sounds different by ear because you hear your own voice through your jawbone. How can you make your voice more engaging?

Tone

Your tone should be open, friendly, and variable. You don’t want to try to play a symphony on one note. That tone will put people to sleep. You don't want to sound like you know everything. That tone has a definite, very arrogant sound to it. There are no pauses between sentences, leaving no room for anything but the message from the speaker: "I am talking. You listen. I am right."

Likewise, you don't want to sound like you don't know what you are talking about. You will sound tentative when your voice tone goes up at the end of a sentence, making every statement sound like a question. In English your voice tone needs to go down at the end of your sentence.

A voice that is deep and sharp for the whole talk sends one message to your audience. A high-pitched soft voice sends a different message. Vary your voice tone.

Rhythm

You may have a nice rhythm to your voice but, like tone, if that rhythm never changes, your audience will be lulled into dreamland. Listen to swing music and let your voice dance a bit. Don’t speak slothfully and don’t speak so fast that your audience stops listening, unless you are talking about right-brain images and emotions. Left-brain information takes time to digest

Change your rhythm. Speed up and slow down. When you have a key point to make, make it and then be quiet for a moment. Silence is more powerful than shouting. Too many times a speaker makes a key point while talking on and on, and no one notices—not even the speaker.

As you listen to your tape, ask yourself, "Will the audience know by the tone of my voice that I just made one of the three key points of my talk?"

Your rhythm should include pauses. Count to two or three, then start another sentence. Don’t link all your sentences together, especially with "and" or "and, uh." End them. When you are telling a story, don't start every sentence with "and then..."

Don’t forget to follow these same principles in a meeting and on the phone—you're presenting then, too.