Lesson 1 Criteria for Success

Lesson 4

Speak for Success!

How to Develop a More Powerful Public Speaking Voice

Is your voice as powerful as you'd like it to be for public speaking? Here are three effective techniques for boosting your vocal presence.
There are many fascinating aspects of the human voice as it relates to public speaking.
Among these are the fact that your voice is the most flexible and dynamic instrument you own for public speaking performance. Your voice is the tool that ultimately lends your message meaning, immediacy, relevance, passion, and often, urgency.
If you want to move others when you speak, you need to focus on your vocal delivery. Discover the five essential techniques that will make your voice come vibrantly alive for your listeners and lead them to action. Download my essential cheat sheet, "5 Key Tools of Vocal Dynamics."
What If You Don’t Have a Powerful Speaking Voice?
It isn't everyone who can command attention just with his or her voice, however. Not everyone has the gift of a voice that can shake the rafters when the soul-stirring moments of a speech or presentation call for it.
I thought of this recently while I was training a corporate leadership team. One member of the team was soft-spoken. The fact that she was in finance and was faced with making dry content interesting, added to her challenge.
As always when I train anyone who needs more vocal power, I addressed the issue not as one of loudness, but in terms of energy. The form of energy that excites the vocal folds or vocal cords is exhaled air. Creating a stronger voice, then, often depends in part on increasing the volume of air, so there is enough to sufficiently power those vibrating muscles in the voice box.
If you are a soft speaker yourself and need to increase your vocal power, try this simple experiment: Tell yourself to amp up your volume by speaking louder in your throat. Listen to the difference in the sound you make, i.e., the quality of your voice compared to when you were speaking at your habitual volume.
Now speak again, this time concentrating on increasing the amount of energy you generate to reach the people in the last row. Did you notice how in the first instance (trying to increase your volume) your voice became harsher? And in your second attempt (boosting your energy level), didn’t you achieve a more powerful sound without adversely changing your vocal quality? Here's more on how to develop a warmer and more pleasant voice.