You’ve heard the expression “kill two birds with one stone” (meaning solving several problems with just one action). I have a speech trick so tremendous that not only does this trick kill two birds with one stone, it kills about five (metaphorically, of course, because I love birds!) What five areas of speech and voice does it help with, you ask?
Here is the list…
Volume–how loudly you speak
Rate–how quickly you talk
Diction–how sharply you pronounce vowels and consonants
Resonance–how full and rich sounding you sound
Intonation–how vocally expressive you are.
Use the megaphone trick to improve the way that you sound! Let me first explain the theory behind the trick:
You’re about to speak to a client, group of your peers, colleagues or your boss. Breathing exercises have helped keep your heart rate at a normal level. Suddenly you open your mouth and out comes nothing or even worse, a high-pitched crackly voice. You try clearing your throat or taking a drink of water, but nothing helps. Now you’re left wondering why your voice failed you.
I know that changing a habit isn’t always easy so I decided to find some helpful resources to help achieve your goals. Here are some ways to use your phone to overcome speech and voice problems that you may be experiencing.
May is Better Hearing and Speech Month for my professional association, the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA).
It is a great month to celebrate! Have you ever thought of communication as a right? From the Universal Declaration of Communication Rights it says,
“Communication is the most fundamental of human capacities. People need to be able to communicate to fulfill their social, educational, emotional and vocational potential.”
Barriers to communication impair an individual’s ability to …
Are you looking for a unique gift this holiday season for the board game lover on your list? Whether it is for a child or an adult, a native English speaker or non-native English speaker, building language skills is important for anybody at any level. How about a game that promotes language skill development or vocabulary building and promises hours of fun and laughter with your friends, family or colleagues!
Would your speech compare to an SUV (using a lot of words to convey your message) or more like a Hybrid (speaking more efficiently using fewer words)?
In American business, we value conciseness. Communicating succinctly is an effective and powerful tool for persuading, convincing, or reinforcing messages. Speech that is too wordy is dull and boring and may leave the listener wondering what the point is. Similarly, a response that take 3-4 minutes to get to the point is too long to hold someone’s attention especially if the speaker veered from the main point in off-topic details. You or the speaker may have even forgotten what the question was after several minutes.
While many things can go wrong in a presentation, don’t forget to consider all the things that you do well to awe your audiences. Here are 12 speech, language, and voice gifts to “give” your audiences every time you present. They will love you for it!
1. Optimal pitch–The pitch you speak at every day is your habitual pitch level. But does it match your optimal pitch level? The optimal pitch is where you vocal cords function their best. Too low or too high can be hard to listen to and could damage your vocal cords and make you hoarse.
Are you always heard when you speak? There are many people who wish to project their voice more to be better understood.There are many people who wish to project their voice more to be better understood. In fact, many executives both male and female, ask me why others have a hard time hearing them and what they can do to project their voice.
There are two primary reasons that a voice lacks volume: 1) Inadequate breath support,
How you stand, place your arms and feet and hold your head are indicators of how self-confident you are and whether or not you will be taken seriously. The first step in successful body language that conveys confidence is your standing position or posture. If you feel like it, stand up and get intoneutral position:
Place equal pressure on both feet (no shifting from leg-to-leg). Your feet are hip width apart. Your knees and thighs are relaxed. Your shoulders are back and down. Your hands are comfortably at your sides. Your chin is up and parallel with the floor.
“Trust is a powerful force that builds loyalty, increases credibility and supports effective communications. It gives you the benefit of the doubt in situations where you want to be heard, understood and believed.” From How Leaders Can Communicate to Build Trust, Ivey Business Journal
Let’s face it….likeable people are trustworthy. No one will buy into your ideas, products or initiatives if you aren’t likeable. Of course, you can’t force anyone to like you and you don’t want to sound insincere. Here are some ways to enhance the” Like-ability Factor” so that you are instantly more trustworthy through your speech, language, and voice skills.
