As a speaker and/or leader, your speaking voice is essential. But is your audience listening one moment, and then, click, they aren’t? Are they changing the channel on you?
The other day I was thinking about the variety of listening options we have in our homes and cars. We can choose from traditional radio, commercial-free radio, and several HD stations, on top of our own picks that we download and stream. The selections seem endless. If a song or a voice comes on that we don’t like, we can just change the station or selection and channel surf until we land on something that meets our needs.
With a book or podcast, if we find the voice annoying, or if we can’t understand the speaker, we probably just turn it off – the content doesn’t matter if we can’t hang with the delivery.
Business presentations are the same. Even though we aren’t in a car or at home with the ability to change the station or turn off the sound altogether, we may still find our minds wandering away from the message. If the presenter’s voice is harsh, high pitched, or rough and rumbling, we might be annoyed enough to leave the room. It can be frustrating if we can’t understand what a speaker is saying, or if we get lost in a boring monotone. We may still sit there, and yet, have switched to a totally different channel in our minds.
Either our voices can be used effectively so that our words are easy to listen to and understand, or ineffectively, with poor tone of voice, poor placement of voice, lack of variety, and other bad habits. Vocal production is as important for your presentation as your visual deck or message. The sound of our voices and use of our voices are under our control, far more than we sometimes assume. If you spend all that time on your visuals and your words – at least get some feedback and tips on the vocal presentation.
Don’t give them an excuse to change the channel on your meeting, message or presentation!
Artwork by Stevie Caldarola
