39- Voice tips for better presentations
A common mistake that speakers make is not being aware of how they verbally and physically present. Let’s start with tips for better verbal presentation. In this blog we will focus on how to use and prepare your voice for a killer presentation. These tips include speaking from your energy center, maintaining good posture, warming up, taking breaks, and having water available.
To borrow a term from Thai Chi, to engage your audience, speak from your lower dantian, which is one of your centers of energy. This energy center is located in your lower abdomen and you can read more about it here. Speaking from this part of your body allows you to speak from your energy center, a place that offers the audience a connection with you.
How do you talk from this party of your body? First, you must know what your dantian is and how to fill it with positive energy. While there are several internet resources available, I recommend reading Be Like Water: Practical Wisdom for the Martial Arts. Once you have practiced and know how to fill yourself with positive energy, take the time to do it just before you speak. Doing this helps you to maintain robust positive energy throughout the presentation.
Next, be sure to use proper posture to be able to project your voice clearly. There are three ways I focus on posture when speaking. First, be sure to keep your abdominal muscles tight. This can be difficult, so I suggest practicing it. Whenever you are standing tighten your abdominal muscles as if you are preparing for someone to slap you on your stomach. This may sound like a strange thing to do, but I promise it will help your posture, and in turn help you speak more effectively. As a bonus, this helps maintain your back health. Second, focus on evenly distributing your weight to both of your feet, and within each foot. Most people shift their weight to their heels and may also favor on side over the other. By focusing on even distribution between the left and right foot, and the ball and heel, you will have better posture which helps you present with a clear voice. The third way to focus on posture is to look ahead at your audience, not down toward your feet. You will want to make eye contact with your audience to keep them engaged. Keeping your head straight and not tilting it down helps ensure you maintain eye contact and provides a clear, straight path for your voice to reach the audience.
In addition to these tips to maintain a clear voice the day of a presentation there are a few other things you can do before your speak. First, spend time strengthening your vocal cords. The best public speakers know that vocal exercises are an important part of preparation. This doesn’t need to be a time-consuming effort. Rather, spending five to ten minutes a day is sufficient. For example exercises, click here.
In addition to strengthening your vocal cords before the day of your presentation, you should warm up your voice before you talk. The average person talks in several conversations throughout the day. Like presentations, conversations have pauses. But unlike presentations, a conversation is a “take turns” experience where people typically talk for only a few seconds before it is the other person’s turn.
A five-minute or a one-hour presentation requires your voice to talk more consistently than you are typically used to. Think of a presentation as a marathon compared to the short bursts you experience in every day speaking. Like a marathon, you wouldn’t start running without stretching your muscles. Speaking is no different, you should warm up and stretch before jumping into a presentation.
Another key is to keep water nearby while you speak if your throat gets dry. Your dry throat could be a result of nerves, a weakened immune system, or simply that the air in the room is dry. Even the most experienced speakers have had this happen. When your throat gets dry your voice can become hoarse, making it difficult to speak clearly and project your voice. Having water available is an important part of keeping your voice fresh during a presentation.
The next time you speak remember to keep water near you and warm your voice up. Once you are well prepared, use good posture and speak from your dantian to engage the audience and provide a more professional presentation. In the next blog we’ll look at how you can use your voice to achieve maximum impact during a presentation.
