Public speaking is challenging and not for the faint hearted, so I am sharing tips on how to improve your speaking skills both in the workplace and in public. Early in my career I joined Toastmasters International, a non-profit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills through a worldwide network of local clubs that can be easily found on the internet. One of the many booklets available to Toastmaster’s International members is titled, “Your Speaking Voice” and it provides and variety of speaking tips here https://toastmasterscdn.azureedge.net/medias/files/department-documents/education-documents/199-your-speaking-voice.pdf
How women communicate at work is important as gender inequity is not going to fix itself. Oh, how I wish I had a dime for every time a male peer has tried to “mansplain” a problem to their female counterparts because they didn’t like her tone, or her message was simply unpopular. Since language is a learned social behavior, how is it so many of the talented women in an organization suffer from not being heard?
What Is Linguistic Style?
Everything that is said must be said in a certain way – in a certain tone of voice, at a certain rate of speed, and with a certain degree of loudness. Whereas often we consciously consider what to say before speaking, we rarely think about how to say it, unless the situation is obviously loaded – for example, a job interview or a tricky performance review. Linguistic style refers to a person’s characteristic speaking pattern. It includes such features as directness or indirectness, pacing and pausing, word choice, and the use of such elements as jokes, figures of speech, stories, questions, and apologies. In other words, linguistic style is a set of culturally learned signals by which we not only communicate what we mean but also interpret others’ meaning and evaluate one another as people. How do you use your Voice?
Do you whisper or boom?
Some people speak too loudly while others can barely be heard. Your voice loudness or volume should be appropriate in strength and intensity and should be varied to add emphasis and impact when you speak. Inaudibility is different from speaking softly with vocal support. A whisper is air without sound. A fading voice is first cousin to a whisper. If you want to communicate with your audience, you must project your voice appropriately. If others are asking you to lower your voice when speaking it’s time to evaluate your delivery.
Are you monotonous or melodious?
When speaking, does your voice convey life, color, and melody, or do your sentences come out flat, wooden, and without variety? Do people find your vocal range pleasant? Good speakers vary their speech to express emotion and conviction. The highness or lowness in the sound of your voice is known as pitch. If your voice is squeaky, guttural, shrill, or flat, then you should work on your pitch. The desired speaking pitch sounds low, clear, full, and varied.
Is your voice a rain cloud or rainbow?
The essence of your speaking sound is your voice quality. It expresses emotional color. Your voice coloring is what you use to convey your feelings, and these feelings should be positive when you address an audience. Your thoughts are a form of energy that you transmit to others. If your voice is full, clear, mellow, and enthusiastic, you can create acceptance. On the other hand, if your voice quality is nasal, breathy, harsh, or lifeless, you need to improve your speaking quality. Think in terms of friendliness, confidence, and a desire to communicate…the emotions you portray in your voice can arouse similar emotions in others.
Do you have mumblitis?
Indistinctness is an especially annoying speech habit. When you speak, you must be understood. If you mouth your words or swallow, suppress, or mumble them, people will soon tire of trying to follow your thoughts. Talking through a half-opened mouth is the same as speaking with a book in front of your mouth.
How well do you articulate?
Articulation refers to how distinctly you formulate your words when you speak. It includes both how you pronounce individual words and how clearly you create speech sounds. Pronunciation uses correct sounds in the sequence of a word. Mispronunciation, on the other hand, is the failure to produce the correct sounds: for example, asked – axed, going to – gunna. Clear articulation requires three conditions: The sounds must be accurately formed; be sufficiently supported by the breath; and be completely articulated.
Do you trudge like a turtle or race like a rabbit?
As I walked into Floor & Décor over the weekend to research what to put into my future retirement home at Lake Las Vegas I asked a nearby salesperson the difference between laminate, vinyl and ceramic flooring. After he raced through his answer, I had to inform him that I had just had a large lunch/dinner and that he needed to slow “way down” in his explanations. The rate at which we speak is closely associated with our personality. Consequently, rate is difficult to change because it relates to how you think and behave. Yet you should avoid speaking either too slow or too fast. A slow speaker may not realize how listeners must struggle to pay attention. People think at a much faster rate than the flow of speech, and overly slow speech encourages listeners to daydream. Talking too fast creates similar problems in that when information is spewed forth rapidly, listeners become frustrated and “tune out.” Fast speakers may also shorten sounds, fail to vary intensity, volume, and pitch. By varying your speaking rate, you can also reflect changes in emotions and mood, as well as emphasize critical points.
Do you agitate or orchestrate?
People speak in musical notes. A good speaker may use as many as 25 different notes to convey variety and meaning. A one-note speaker is tedious to an audience and promotes inattention and boredom. Vocal variety is the way you use your voice to create interest, excitement, and emotional involvement. It is accomplished by varying your pitch, volume, and timing. Inflections comprise another important characteristic of speaking. An inflection is a raised pitch – high note used to add emphasis to a word that can change the meaning or implication of a sentence. For example: I was born in Australia…..implying: You on the other hand, were born somewhere else. Or……I was born in Australia…..implying: Not outside of Australia.
Extending and controlling your pitch.
Most speakers and especially women talk on too high a pitch. A thin, high-pitched tone lacks authority and appeal and is often harsh and unpleasant. Cultivate deeper tones. Be careful not to develop too low a pitch, which results in rumbling, indistinct, ponderous speech. If your natural pitch needs to be lowered or raised, work on it by consciously pitching your voice lower or higher in all conversations. Speaking with careful enunciation in a relatively soft tone will help you to establish the change.
Talk with time, not against it.
If you are a high-energy person, you probably will not be able to permanently slow down your rate of speech. But you can learn to vary your rate. People live according to patterns or rhythms, usually structured around a work week or routine activities. Language is also rhythmic. It contains regular beats and pauses. Your language rhythm is an expression of your life’s rhythm. If you speak slow, vary your rate to increase speed. A slow speaker reads about 120 words per minute, while a fast speaker reads closer to 190 words per minute. You can improve your rate by practicing reading out loud.
Rehearsing speeches
If you are speaking publicly or presenting to a group in a work meeting find a place where you can be alone to rehearse your communications turning your voice loose without inhibitions or interruptions. Vary the pitch, volume, rate, and quality of your voice, and work diligently on varying your delivery rate. A tape recorder is a valuable aid to record your voice and practice. Pay attention to your organization and sincerity, as well as to your voice. The sound of your recorded voice may surprise you at first, but it is closer to what an audience hears than the voice you are accustom to hearing when you speak.
Presenting speeches
Make use of the voice techniques you develop while rehearsing. Speak out with enthusiasm and use a wide variety of vocal styles. Let the motivation for voice changes come from the context of your speech. Reflect sincerity when you are sincere, humor when you’re amused, and emotion when you feel deeply. Build appropriate pauses into your message to give listeners a chance to mentally digest what you have said and catch up with you. Stand or sit up straight but don’t be tense and rigid. Speak clearly and project your voice so the entire group can hear you.
Your voice and your image
Your voice and your face are your “public relations” agents. They serve to establish an image of you in the minds of others. Your face, body, and speech are the interpreters of your mind. A smile – whether it starts in your face, your disposition, or your voice – reacts on the other elements and tends to induce a positive, constructive complex which makes your attitude and appearance attractive and pleasing. Your best voice can help bring out your best self. It’s a way of communicating with others – the medium of your message.
Drop those crutches
An Assistant City Manager I have worked for is painful to watch whenever publicly speaking to the City Council, which incidentally is broadcasted on the city’s public cable network and viewable by citizens. He sounds illiterate. Why do you ask? Because he begins nearly every sentence with the word “ah,” “um” and “er.”
“Ah, the city ended its budget year with… ”
“Um, I’d like to thank… ”
“Er, my answer to that is… ”
These are “crutch words,” overused words or filler sounds used as a crutch by anyone who speaks during the meeting to buy time or collect their thoughts. These include words such as “and,” “well,” “but,” “so” and “you know,” but also mere sounds like “ah,” “um” and “er.” Sometimes they include words such as “literally,” “actually” and “basically.” Whatever form they take, crutch words typically have two attributes: 1) overuse, and 2) meaninglessness.
In a widely shared Harvard Business Review article, Noah Zandan suggests that filler words come in handy when a speaker is “nervous, distracted or at a loss for what comes next. These may give us a moment to collect our thoughts before we press on.” According to Toastmasters, crutch words are never necessary and may even be distracting and get in the way of you making your point. Fortunately, many digital apps now exist to help you discover and count your crutch words (the LikeSo app is one example). While men in their “maleness” can often get away with such poor speech habits it can be fatal for a woman who speaks in such a manner.
Consider for a moment the many women are judged in the way they communicate, more so than men, and much of that presentation is in the form of how we talk. Men don’t just interrupt women at work, they also do so in public meetings, in college classrooms, and in other social settings. For women communication isn’t as simple as saying what you mean. How you say it affects judgments about your competence and confidence, as well as how you get heard, how you get credit for your ideas, and the way you effect what gets done.
Please share your personal experiences and opinion on how these tips can make you a better speaker. What advice do you have to other women on how to learn public speaking or to make your voice heard at work?
Please follow me on LinkedIn, Facebook Groups, Twitter (@womensvoices3) or on my blog at www.womensvoicesleading.com for more interesting posts from Womens Voices Leading.
#womensvoicesleading #womensvoices #selfimprovement #publicspeaking #speakingskills #publicengagement #communication #toastmastersinternational #leadership
