voice modulation Archives - Made Human

Warming Up

Fri, 03 Nov 2023 13:56:26 +0000

Good speakers often have elaborate pre-performance routines that go well beyond rehearsals of the words they’ll be delivering on stage.

I’ve written before about the need to rehearse before any important speech or presentation. But my focus here is on three other components, which can also hugely improve your delivery.

They are: relaxation – breathing – and vocal exercises.

If you have ever sung in a choir, it won’t sound strange that I mention relaxation and breathing in the same sentence as voice exercises. But, if you don’t currently practice any of these things, it will definitely help you as a speaker to develop a preparation and warm-up routine of your own that includes them.

If you practice yoga or meditation, you’ll be familiar with relaxation and breathing routines. If not, I recommend you borrow from these disciplines for exercises that will help you prepare yourself as a speaker, both physically and mentally.

A good time to do them is early in the morning, soon after you wake up – and especially on the day that you’re due to speak.

Then, for the voice, just as a singer prepares their voice by singing scales, actors will do something very similar with simple words and sounds before going on stage.

As a speaker, you can – and should – warm up your voice too; preferably in a private place and in the hour or so before your big moment. An accessible and fun way that actors do it is by rapidly and playfully annunciating a range of easy to recall sounds.

For example, by reciting a nonsense verse with all the energy you can muster, followed by a series of your favorite tongue twisters; or the letters of the alphabet, repeated five times each in quick succession.

Better still, if you can get in there before anyone else, do your warm-up in the same room or auditorium that you’re about to speak in.

The only challenge is to not feel self-conscious about actually performing any of these warm-up routines. So don’t!

Think of them as entirely normal and necessary, for you to be a bigger and more memorable version of yourself!

Peter (PJ) Coë; Nov. 3, 2023

PJ Coë was a business journalist and BBC television news anchorman for many years and also has nearly 30 years’ experience as a speaker trainer and personal coach. If you or someone you work with needs help to prepare for a speaking engagement, you can email him directly at: pj@pjcoe.com.

The post Warming Up appeared first on Made Human.

Giving It Oomph!

Tue, 19 Jul 2022 11:15:00 +0000

I reckon anyone who’s ever rehearsed before speaking to an audience will have heard this before from a well-meaning but impatient critic: “Just give it some more oomph!”

“Thanks for that,” you think to yourself, “but that’s easy for you to say. I thought I was doing OK. What else am I supposed to do?”

It’s true that “give it more oomph” is not the most helpful feedback you can receive if you have had little experience of speaking to an audience, or you have never had voice coaching. It doesn’t really tell you what your delivery is missing.

Effective delivery requires not just rehearsal and familiarity with WHAT you’re going to say, but also a keen sense of HOW you are going to speak it.

Spoken English that’s engaging and easy on the ear for your audience should mirror the style and inflections of an everyday, lively conversation between any two people. Typically: well-modulated voices.

And what is a well-modulated voice? It’s NOT that you have to have been to a posh school. (It’s nothing to do with accent, regional or otherwise.) But it IS about a voice that’s warmed up, well hydrated, and makes full use of pitch, pace, power and pause; in other words, a voice and a delivery that reflects the nuances, energy and emphases you hear every day in animated conversations between two people.*

To warm up your voice before you rehearse or deliver a speech or presentation, choose a favorite verse or two of poetry, a limerick, or a couple of tongue twisters, and read them aloud to yourself – clearly and deliberately.

Note the punctuation marks and line endings, and make good use of these to introduce some natural pauses and inflections in your delivery.

Pausing in these places has a three-way benefit: it will give you more opportunities to breathe, you’ll gain greater control of your delivery, and you’ll give your audience more time to assimilate and appreciate not only your words but also the sense of what you’re telling them.

Peter Coë; July 19, 2022

Peter was a business journalist and BBC television news anchorman for many years, and has nearly 30 years’ experience as a speaker trainer. You can sign up here to receive Peter’s regular insights on communication made human for business. You can also learn about his online introduction to becoming a confident and effective speaker: Be Your Best Self Up Front.

The post Giving It Oomph! appeared first on Made Human.