The Power of Your Voice and Tips to Make the Most Out of It

Your voice plays a crucial role in engaging and captivating your audience. No matter how good your choice of words is, your voice will still be the main factor in leaving a lasting impression on your audience.

Here are some tips to maximize the use of your voice.

1. Tone

Speaking in a regular, monotonous tone, without any variations in the tone, will bore any audience in just minutes. When preparing for a speech, identify which words and phrases could use a little spice by changing the tone.

Doing this naturally may take some time, but it can be one of the most effective tricks for delivering speeches.

2. Volume

Like intonation, the volume of the voice can make or break a presentation. Having one volume for the whole duration of a speech could cause the audience to become bored.

Draw the audience's attention by lowering your voice during some parts; surprise the audience by using a voice louder than normal at other times.

When speaking with a softer voice, make sure that the audience can still hear the speech at all times.

3. Clarity 

The main goal of speaking is to convey a point. By presenting points in a clear and concise manner using the simplest words possible, the audience will better understand the topic at hand.

4. Emphasis

One sentence could have different meanings or implications just based on how words are emphasized. Consider the following:

“I loved that movie.”(Emphasis on the speaker)

“I loved that movie.” (Emphasis on loving the movie)

“I loved that movie.” (Pointing to a specific movie)

“I loved that movie.” (Referring to the movie and not another medium)

Notice how the variations in the emphasized word could change the whole meaning of the sentence?

5. Pauses

Usually, presenters who speak fast are considered great, all because of the rate they can convey information. However, speaking fast may hinder your audience's understanding of the speech.

By pausing, listeners are given a chance to absorb important information that has been conveyed. Pausing can also make the audience anticipate what the speaker will say next, or just serve as breathing room for the speaker.

Aside from harnessing the power of your voice, there are other tips that, when combined with your speech, can make for a killer presentation:

• Hand gestures: Using your hands to emphasize points or to differentiate A from B can be very effective. 

• Energy! Being energetic does not always equal being loud. Being energetic can be used to have varying tone, emphasis, and volume 

• Transition words: By using transition words, any speech can become easily understandable.

• Eye contact: Look at the audience while speaking. This, combined with the power of your voice, will make for a top-notch speech.