Many an older, experienced speaker will refer to the title of this post as the holy grail of public speaking.
I find it hard to disagree. A voice alone is not enough. It is simply an instrument that can be, in the wrong hands, monitone and boring.
Pitch
Changing the pitch of our voice allows us to demonstate emotion and feeling. Imagine for a second a real life scenario – maybe recounting an event that happened to you to friends in the pub. I am sure that depending on whether the event is pleasant, unpleasant, funny or exciting that the pitch of your voice will reflect this.
Basically, you are behaving naturally.
In public speaking there is a great temptation to neutralise our behaviour and stay safe but it conspires against us.
Our audience wants to engage, believe and share an experience. Use the pitch of your voice to give it to them.
Pause
Silence is a weapon and an ally. Use it to your advantage.
Throw away the nervous things and mannerisms like er, ahm, to be honest with you, you know what I mean etc etc and replace them with a pause. It fills the gap perfectly and allows the audience to catch you up because they will be digesting your speech slower than you are delivering it.
The pause helps them to relax.
When you make a strong point or you are about to change tack PAUSE, look them in the eye and let them know YOU are in command.
It will help with your breathing and your whole air of confidence.
PACE
Now here is a topic that everyone falls foul of sometimes, however experienced they may be!
You should vary your pace to engage the audience but in a natural way. sometimes real slow, sometimes faster, whatever suits the part of the speech to emphasise your point.
Important: When you begin start off SLOWLY and allow the audience to tune into your voice, your accent, your demeanor. As the New York taxi driver once said to me about Donald Trump “He don’t listen too good, you know!” Not everyone is a good listener so help them. and get them on side.
If you start off like a train – quickly – you have nowhere to go and you will get into trouble. It’s a bit like a singer starting off in a key that is too high. It cannot work when it matters.
When we get nervous we all start to speak more quickly, to rush, especially if we feel the room is not working for some reason. all speakers suffer from this at some time whether amateur or professional.
If you feel it happening, create a pause, take a sip of water and slow down and regroup.
You will feel so much better for it.
Remember the audience is your friend. The majority want you to succeed so use pitch, pause, pace to your advantage.
Knock em’ dead!