>>Take control of your voice

1. Voice volume level

People tend to speak too loudly or too quietly when they are nervous. To avoid this, you should raise your self-awareness and read your audience during a presentation. Listen to your own voice. Frequently ask yourself this question: Is it too loud for you and your audience?

One trick to apply in this situation is to test out the microphone before your presentation. Make sure you are speaking at the most appropriate volume level.

Another problem people face with their voice volume is that they cannot raise their voices. I have seen people who have tried their best but yet their voices are not loud enough. If you are one of those people I have mentioned, other than raising the microphone level every time you speak, I suggest you take some vocal singing technique courses and learn how to use your voice. Don’t laugh! This is in fact one crucial class for all high school teachers in Canada.

2. Pace

I am not sure if you have had this experience before. In presentations, I used to speak faster than I speak in daily life or I speak during rehearsal. This didn’t just happen to me. Many of my friends also had this problem. The real fact is that we naturally tend to speak faster and try to get through our speeches quickly when we are nervous.

One trick I learned from my mentor who is also a very famous speaker in town is that we should never lose our self-awareness during a presentation. Always imagine if you are an audience hearing your own speech.

Another trick is to always remember that you are communicating with your audience. Imagine as if you are not presenting but speaking with a friend. Keep it at your natural pace!

3. Tone

Some speakers are known to be the ones that make everyone sleep. One thing absolutely wrong in their speeches is their monotone style! Try to inject emotion into your speech. Raise your voice a little for important points and lower your voice a bit afterward. Imagine if you are an actor or you are telling a story.

4. Pausing

You need to pause at the right time to separate your ideas. Pausing at the right moment is very important. This action helps your audience to know when you are moving on to your next point.

Eliminate all the unnecessary words in your sentences

It is very natural for inexperienced presenters to say “m…. ” during a presentation when they stuck. Some speakers also do not aware that they keep repeating meaningless phrases in their presentation. “In fact…”, “actually…”, and “by the way…” are some of the very commonly repeating phrases that do not add value to a speech. Try to eliminate all these meaningless words that annoy your audience.