Do you ever find that your voice wavers
when you’re delivering a speech or during professional presentations? Have you noticed that this problem is
particularly troublesome at the beginning of your public speaking presentation? Just like with any physical exercise, you
need to make sure that you’ve properly warmed up your voice before your public
or professional speaking event.
In an ideal situation, you will be able to
spend a few minutes immediately before your presentation engaged in some vocal
warm ups. Depending on your venue, you
should take time right before you take the floor to sing as loudly as possible
or recite poetry. If Lord Byron and
Wordsworth escape your mind at that moment, recite nursery rhymes. If you know that you will be unable to have a
few minutes to warm up immediately prior to your presentation, do so as close
to your time as possible. This may mean
that in the hotel room in the morning, or during a break in the proceedings, or
in your care on the way to the venue you’re belting out the tunes or reciting
the words of your favourite poet. Either
way, make sure that you’ve warmed up those vocal chords. Just as an athlete must warm up before the
big game or race, you as a speaker must warm up before your event.
Unfortunately, often you will not be able
to erupt in song during a board meeting or conference so that your voice is
ready to go for your presentation. In
those cases, you will need to be prepared to start your presentation on a solid
vocal grounding without the benefit of a warm up. Of course, you will have done as much talking
(or singing) prior to your presentation when you had the opportunity, even if
it was a few hours before your time.
When you take the floor, take a moment to
take a grounding deep breath – just don’t make it too overt. If you are in a training or workshop
session, and if it is part of your plan, you can then launch into an
introduction round where your participants briefly introduce themselves. As they do so, you are able to greet each
one, therein giving yourself a bit more time to get familiar with your role and
your voice. At the end of the
introduction session, you will most certainly feel comfortable, confident and
clear of the vocal wobbles.
In other situations where there will be no
introductions and you need to launch straight into your presentation, use your
first couple of sentences as introductions to yourself and to your topic. You will be more comfortable with saying your
name and the subject of your presentation then you would be simply launching directly
into the substance of your presentation.
You should use those first few sentences to develop a vocal grounding
and familiarity with the microphone and acoustics of the venue, and make any
necessary adjustments to your delivery.
Don’t forget to watch your audience for
cues about how you sound to them. If you’re
unsure, and think that the people in the back row can’t hear you, you’re better
off addressing your volume at the outset of your presentation. Your goal is to find the appropriate volume
for your audience, venue and the subject of your presentation. Aim to sound neither like the town crier nor
the audience whisperer. You will project
your knowledge of your subject through your confident, warmed-up voice, so get
singing!
Check out some other tips at: http://www.onlinecollegecourses.com/2012/07/15/25-online-tools-to-teach-yourself-public-speaking/
