Kate's Voice

The other day, I attended a presentation at a two-hour “All-hands” meeting.  There were 200 people in the room.  There were 800 others listening or watching via IPTV. Most of the presenters went over time, and their presentations were full of data and slides that were hard to read.  People were squirming in their chairs, fighting to stay awake.   However, one of the presenters spoke about the quarterly results, and suddenly, people were held in rapt attention.  It wasn’t the numbers, because they were not remarkable.  It wasn’t the setting, because that was plain.  It wasn’t’ the lighting because that was terrible.  Later, an audience member wrote,

“Don’t know if it’s P.C. to tell your VP that he was rocking today on the broadcast, although today was one of those days!  I held my team call after the IPTV and EVERYONE was extremely impressed.”

How do you hold interest when you have no help from your environment OR your topic?  Here are 9 techniques that will turn your presentation from boring to bravo!

1. Vary the pace: Keep your overall pace between 140-160 words per minute so that people can follow you, but speed up or slow down for interest.

2. Vary the cadence: Ending sentences consistently open or closed is boring.  Make definitive statements, but also ask questions and invite response.

3. Vary the pitch: Varying pitch creates interest in the ear of the listener.  If you have a low voice, raise it in pitch from time to time for emphasis.  If your voice is high, bring it down when you make a definitive statement.

4. Vary the duration of the sound: Some words create a mental picture that is slow (like that one) or quick (like that.)  Let your voice paint that picture by drawing out the slow pictures and clipping those words that represent speed.  Try this with the previous sentence. Read it out loud and elongate “drawing out the slow pictures” and clip “Clipping those words that represent speed.”  In what other ways can you vary the duration of the sound for interest?

5. Highlight contrasting ideas: Not all ideas are the same.  Consider this sentence: On the one hand, we are interested, and on the other, we are not.  What can you do to make those two ideas sound different from each other?

6. Stress words that add meaning: First you must be in touch with the meaning you are trying to convey.  Once you are, it’s easier to relay that meaning.  But in any event, make some of your words pop out so that they don’t all sound the same.

7. Create some mystery: A hushed tone or a long pause can add interest by creating a sense of mystery.  It’s also a great idea to keep asking intriguing questions that you answer as you speak.

8. Let there be silence: Don’t keep talking without pausing.  Give your audience time to take it in or they will stop listening.

9. Tell stories: Personal stories help people relate to you.  Your story reminds them of their own and they feel connected to you.  Company stories can also do that, especially when the obstacle is apparent.  Everyone wants to know how to solve problems.  We all have them!

10. ______________________There is a tenth way, but what is it?  If you have a technique for adding interest, let us know what it is.  Please comment below.

Final note: You have about twenty tricks in your bag of vocal color.  How you think about your topic is key to keeping your audience’s interest.  You will automatically create more interest if YOU are interested.  Then you may find that you naturally sound more engaged.  Play with these techniques and see what you can create.  And let me know how it goes!

Related posts:

5 Colors for Vibrant Vocal Variety

How to create a voice with Executive Presence

From Information to Imagination: Delivering a good story

The case for expressive speaking, even on earnings calls

Having executive presence means being able to speak clearly, with authority, to anyone, including those you want to influence, whether your superior or your constituency.  Much of this comes from experience.  You feel more comfortable each time you are in a situation that challenges you to speak with authority to an authority figure. You feel stronger each time you get a good response from an audience.  But can you create a voice that sounds like a leader?

What is a leadership voice? Three characteristics of leadership are strength, confidence, and clarity.  Your voice reflects how you feel and think. It is the voice of the mind.  If you feel strong, confident and clear, you have more ability to sound that way.  But there are certainly things you can do to cultivate these characteristics in your voice.

Strength:
Physical
In an article called “Executive Presence,” communication experts, Jan and Neal Larsen Palmer, talk about the way leaders act and speak. They suggest a physical presence that says “leadership” and recommend that you “Command and expand the space around you.”  To do this, practice sitting or standing “tall,” with your chest lifted and abdomen free to breathe deeply.  When standing, keep yourself grounded on both feet, but with your weight slightly forward on the balls of your feet.  When seated, sit on the edge of your chair with both feet on the ground as if you are ready to get up out of the chair.  Let your arms be open rather than clinging to your body.

The sound of strength
Stress key words. Speak loudly and with energy, but avoid yelling. Let your passion show up in your sound by incorporating your breath into your voice. Here’s how:  Take your breath in deeply.  As you speak, “excite” the sound by using more air in your voice. The sound you are looking for is not a breathy voice, but, rather, an energetic sound.

Confidence:
What you say:
Make statements. Mix up your inflection so that you sound inquisitive and open, but end completed ideas with a downward cadence.  Avoid using filler words like “and,” “so,” or “but” to begin sentences.  Avoid hedging with “I guess,” “I believe,”” kind of” or “sort of. “  Smile and use humor.  Tell personal stories.  Be transparent and authentic.

How you say it:
Use expression to color your words.  Pitch your voice using mask resonance to amplify it and create an appealing tone.   Vary the intensity, duration, and volume to keep listeners engaged.

Clarity:
What you say:
Know your subject and be very clear about the intention driving your communication.  Why are you speaking and to whom?  What is your motivation., your purpose?  Use structures to organize thoughts and ideas.  Tell stories rather than just recite facts and figures, but use supporting data when necessary. And Daniel Pink  suggests that you “speak human,”  rather than use “businessese.”

How you say it:
Use pauses to allow others to fully digest your content.  Keep your pace at 140-150 words per minute.  Contrast ideas with new color at the beginning of a new idea, and when comparing statements or concepts.

Finally
Make a commitment. Get a commitment.  Ask for the close.  Give a good close. Give a call to action. Look them in the eye. Be present.

In the King and I, Anna sings a song with her children about whistling a happy tune, pretending to be confident when she feels afraid. The last line is “ Make believe you’re brave and the trick will take you far.  You may be as brave as you make believe you are.”  I say, sound like a leader, feel like a leader, be a leader.  What do you think?

Want to learn more?

How to look authoritative from Olivia Mitchell’s blog, Speaking about Presenting

Leadership critical to transforming business speaking, from the blog, Great Speaking Coach

These aren’t soft skills, from Bert Decker’s blog on communications