Have you ever sat through a boring presentation?
Of course we have.
A boring presentation, specifically one that uses a monotone voice tells us two terrible things: the speaker isn't excited about their message and the speaker doesn't care about his audience. Ouch!
But before we a too quick to cast judgment on others, have we ever been guilty of a boring presentation?
I know I have been.
As public speakers we must utilize inflection. Inflection utilizes several components: volume, rate, pause, pitch, and timbre (tone variation - think Bob Dylan -vs- Johnny Cash). The hardest of these elements to utilize is pitch. There are three reasons why pitch is so hard to use: 1. fear often constricts our throats and makes it really hard to change the frequency of our voice, 2. we often mistake and substitute volume for pitch, and 3. we are often ignorant of our voice quality and pay it little mind.
Three ways to add pitch to our presentations:
1. Loosen up our throats. A big ol' yawn before going on stage is an easy way to open up our throats. It doesn't hurt to loosen up like we would before an athletic event - roll our shoulders, roll our heads, jump up and down, etc. Anything to stay loose can serve our throats.
2. Intentionality. We are unlikely to use pitch if we don't plan to use it.
BIG SECRET HERE: find an interval in pitch (like twinkle, twinkle little star - do to sol in the eight note major scale) and start speaking on that higher note. We will be surprised at how starting on a higher note will raise our awareness and use of pitch immediately!
3. Accept your voice and use inflection to make it sound even better. If we don't like our voice we are more likely to ignore what we can do to make improvements. I used to cringe at listening to my voice on a recording, but every time I use inflection and start speaking at a higher pitch I am happy with the improvements I am making to my voice quality.
The more we can utilize pitch in our formal and informal communications the more people will enjoy listening to what we have to say. And don't we want to be heard?
Pitch also serves as an excitement meter for ourselves and those listening to us. Flat tone? Unexcited. Whooping and hollering? Somebody is excited about something.
Of course we have.
A boring presentation, specifically one that uses a monotone voice tells us two terrible things: the speaker isn't excited about their message and the speaker doesn't care about his audience. Ouch!
But before we a too quick to cast judgment on others, have we ever been guilty of a boring presentation?
I know I have been.
As public speakers we must utilize inflection. Inflection utilizes several components: volume, rate, pause, pitch, and timbre (tone variation - think Bob Dylan -vs- Johnny Cash). The hardest of these elements to utilize is pitch. There are three reasons why pitch is so hard to use: 1. fear often constricts our throats and makes it really hard to change the frequency of our voice, 2. we often mistake and substitute volume for pitch, and 3. we are often ignorant of our voice quality and pay it little mind.
Three ways to add pitch to our presentations:
1. Loosen up our throats. A big ol' yawn before going on stage is an easy way to open up our throats. It doesn't hurt to loosen up like we would before an athletic event - roll our shoulders, roll our heads, jump up and down, etc. Anything to stay loose can serve our throats.
2. Intentionality. We are unlikely to use pitch if we don't plan to use it.
BIG SECRET HERE: find an interval in pitch (like twinkle, twinkle little star - do to sol in the eight note major scale) and start speaking on that higher note. We will be surprised at how starting on a higher note will raise our awareness and use of pitch immediately!
3. Accept your voice and use inflection to make it sound even better. If we don't like our voice we are more likely to ignore what we can do to make improvements. I used to cringe at listening to my voice on a recording, but every time I use inflection and start speaking at a higher pitch I am happy with the improvements I am making to my voice quality.
The more we can utilize pitch in our formal and informal communications the more people will enjoy listening to what we have to say. And don't we want to be heard?
Pitch also serves as an excitement meter for ourselves and those listening to us. Flat tone? Unexcited. Whooping and hollering? Somebody is excited about something.
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