Why Vocal Variety Is Important When Public Speaking

By Linda Meckler

Have you ever given a speech? Were you shaking in your shoes? Have you ever attended a Toastmasters Meeting? If you have answered yes or no to any of the questions, read on.

I was at my weekly Toastmasters meeting this week. One of the new members gave her 4 th speech. I thought she gave a fairly good presentation considering the fact - English is her second language. I could actually see her translate each and every word while she spoke.

I know for a fact I could never have done that, especially in front of the room - speaking to an audience.

After her speech she was really upset with her voice. Vocal variety is the key to giving a speech your audience will enjoy listening to. It is a clear way not to put your audience to sleep.

Vocal variety is one of the hardest things to learn. I have listened to many professional speakers, and many have never grasped the process of vocal variety. I listened to her tell the rest of us, how upset she was with her voice. It had been on one even level and was not as loud as it could have been.

But vocal variation comes with:

(1) Practice.

(2) Gaining confidence in yourself.

(3) Know the subject you are speaking about.

(4) It definitely helps if you do not have the complications of having to translate each word spoken from one language into another.

Once this young woman grasps the English language better, and has more practice standing in front of an audience and speaking, she will definitely vary her speaking voice.

When she masters all of the above things, she will gain confidence in herself and she will amaze herself and the audience with her speaking ability. I truly admire the way she wants to improve herself and her English. It takes a lot of courage to stand in front of an audience when the language you are speaking does not flow easily off your tongue.

Another way to help vary your vocal variety while speaking is by reading a children's book to your children or pretend children if none are available. Really exaggerate the voices until you can actually hear your own voice change or make a child laugh or ask for you to keep reading.
Thank you for reading my article. Please feel free to read any of my numerous articles on various subjects.

Copyright Linda E. Meckler 2007

Linda is the author of her first published book, "Ghost Kids Trilogy. "Christy, 12 and her Brother Brad, 16 moves into an old house on top of a mountain and meet two Ghost Kids.

Then we have a mysterious, magical Blue Vase where Uncle Charlie the villain is trapped. He wants out of the Blue Vase and exchange he will tell Christy and Brad where Pirates' Treasure is Hidden.

Take a walk with Christy and Brad down a dark hall hunting for Pirates" Treasure. You will think were you there right there with them.

Love, Family Values and Charity burst off the pages. http://www.lmeckler.com

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How To Cure Fear Of Public Speaking - One Sure Fire Way To Get Up And Get Speaking

By Christopher J Barnett

Are you afraid of speaking in public?
It’s remarkable just how many people want to know how to cure fear of public speaking forever! While there are many suggested ways of the reducing the stress of the moment when you appear in front of your audience it’s my experience that there is only one sure-fire way to even begin to cure the fear of public speaking forever.

Why are you afraid?
Essentially most nervous speakers are worried that they are going to make a fool of themselves in front of an audience, they also believe that the audience are baying for their blood and just waiting for them to make a mistake.I’m an accomplished speaker with Toastmasters International, and in my experience I’ve found that nothing could be further from the truth.
Your audience simply want to be entertained… by YOU! They actually want you to do well, what they don’t want is to be bored and fidgety, they want to be utterly riveted by your speech.
Understand this first point and you are well on your way to knowing how to cure fear of public speaking forever.

Reduce the tension.

There are two moments in any speech that generally cause more stress than anything else:

1) Your opening line.
There’s a simple tactic to make absolutely sure this goes really well, but it’s not something I recommend for the main body of your speech. It’s simply this, learn your introduction off-by-heart, practice it until you can repeat it in your sleep.

2) Forgetting what to say next.
Every speaker has experienced this at some point. It’s usually caused by one simple error that’s just so easy to make. Inexperienced speakers will often try to learn their entire speech off-by-heart, it’s a BIG mistake! At some point you will forget your next line and the ensuing silence is devastating to your confidence. I suggest instead that you break the main body of your speech into three sections. Give each of these sections a summary title (use these titles as your speech notes) and then create a story to wrap around them. This tactic results in a fluid speech that makes you look really confident!

These simple tactics will arm you well in your overall strategy to find how to cure fear of public speaking forever.

There’s only one way!

In my experience as a Toastmaster I’ve found that there’s only one way to actually find out how to cure the fear of public speaking.

The tactics I’ve mentioned so far will help you reduce the effect of stressful moments but that isn’t actually going to cure fear of public speaking is it?

The answer is suprisingly simple…

Get up in front of an audience and speak… Your close family will do.

Then do it again… Maybe your friends and family this time.

You get the picture don’t you?

I can heartily recommend that you join a Toastmasters International affiliated speaking club. The whole purpose of these clubs is to help YOU to cure fear of public speaking forever by creating a mutually supportive environment in which you can practice.

So… you wanted to know how to cure fear of public speaking forever? The answer is simple, stand up, take a deep breath and make yourself heard, before you know it you’ll be doing it with ease!

Have fun, show up, be awesome!
Christopher Barnett,
September 2007.
Chris Barnett - Public Speaking...