The Way that You Express Yourself Means Everything
When you communicate with your voice, you convey a great deal to the people who are listening to you. It isn’t just that you are using the chosen words but you are also expressing emotions through inflection, body language, and your particular choice of words.
Using your voice to connect with your target audience
Your voice can have a tremendous effect and can go a really long way to reaching your audience in a positive manner. Your audience will respond to your voice’s rhythm, intonation, and volume, among other attributes. You may be surprised at how your target audience reacts to those qualities.
You will want to make sure that your voice is pleasing but not monotonous. It is only natural (and expected) that your voice will rise and fall as you speak and the emotions that you are expressing will drive that.
Allowing your voice to stress emotions (and passion) is essential to your success as a speaker
The last thing that you want to do is speak in a monotone, unless, of course, you are trying to put people to sleep! Assuming that it is not your intention to put people to sleep, your speaking voice should go up and down as appropriate. Your tone should match your passion. Also, if you speak in a monotone, people will assume that you have no investment (emotionally) in what you are saying.
If the audience doesn’t believe that your heart is in it, they won’t buy any of what you are saying. Interestingly, although you are fluent in the English language (spoken), you probably don’t normally pay much attention to the emphasis and the syllables in each word. Beyond that, you can actually emphasize the words that you are using in some creative ways. It is a good way to get people to pay attention to what you are saying.
Control your voice’s pitch
The pitch of your voice is also important. You will not want to use a high pitch because that will irritate the ears of the people who are listening to you. In fact, you will want to avoid doing that. High pitch generally translates to negative emotions.
If you are conveying those types of emotions (consciously or subconsciously), other people will pick up on it and they will react accordingly. As you are speaking in sentences, you want to make sure that the pitch of your voice doesn’t go up at the end of the sentence(s). Otherwise, those sentences will sound like questions and you will totally confuse your audience members.
Watch the pace of your voice
You have the ability to control the speed and the rhythm of your voice for the benefit of your listeners and for emphasis on what you are trying to convey. You can control your voice so that the parts of your speech that you want to be emphasized will be emphasized correctly and appropriately. You will not want to speak too quickly so that your listeners catch every word (and, hopefully, hang on your every word). You can express all sorts of positive emotions through your voice, such as excitement, humor, anticipation, and enthusiasm.
Another important part of pace is the pauses that you use in your speech and how you place them. Not only are pauses used for comprehension but they also give your listeners the time to digest what you are saying to them, especially if the ideas that you are communicating are complex or controversial.
Conclusion
If you express yourself in the manner that is described here, you will be perceived as being professional, competent, controlled, and credible. Another very positive result will be that you will be solidifying the connection that you have with your audience and the relationship that you share with them will be enduring. Remember to speak slowly, watch your voice’s volume, and pay close attention to your pitch. You will also want to make sure that you speak clearly and put an emphasis on the words that you want your target audience members to take home with them. Those concepts will work well for you.
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