One way that speakers help their audiences follow along and stay engaged is through vocal emphasis. A monotone speaking style is more than a bore for listeners. It's hard to understand—because all words are equal and key words don’t stand out.
A flat voice also takes away from the speaker's ability to build a connection with the audience. Speakers who don't inflect often sound like they don't mean what they're saying.
We recently worked with a speaker who was making an earnest attempt to engage with audiences. Before coming to work with us, he'd gotten advice that ranged from "be louder" to "you have to punch out those important words." The result: When he wanted to emphasize something, he practically yelled it. Every time.
His attempts at adding variety and inflection weren't working, because he was using only one way to emphasize words. Here are some alternatives we practiced with him that might help you.
Pausing before or after a word you want to highlight
When you pause before a word or phrase, you invite the audience to anticipate it. When you pause after, you give them time to consider it. Either can draw attention to words you want the listener to key in on.
Changing your rate of speech
If you've been speaking quickly or at your normal rate, you can slow down in order to emphasize a word or phrase. You might also pair this with the next technique…
Enunciating deliberately
Whether it's several words or one key word, carefully enunciating every syllable can bring attention. Consider how your interpretation of the meaning changes if a speaker says everysingleday versus every----single----day.
Softening your tone
While elevating volume is most certainly one way to emphasize words, you can also be effective by bringing your voice down, essentially inviting your audience to lean in to learn more. Of course, your volume still needs to be loud enough that you can be heard.
Inflecting that goes both up AND down
By definition, vocal inflection is the rise and fall of the voice. Yet when speakers want to add emphasis, some will rely almost completely on the rise. When the voice keeps lifting up for emphasis, speakers fall into the pattern of upspeak—which can become an irritant for audiences or make the speaker sound less certain of his words.
Try this little exercise to expand your range
In our Executive Seminar, voice coach Emily Padgett has students pass lines around the circle like a hot potato. One she uses: I didn't steal the money.
She tells each speaker to change the emphasis or inflection, both to stretch their delivery and to show how it can change the meaning. You might try the same exercise yourself if you feel your ability to vary your voice is stuck in a rut.
LEARN MORE
For our founder's observations on how "sense rides on the back of sound" see this article.
For more on the power of the pause, see this.
If you want to grapple with a penchant for upspeak, we've got help here.
