Many speakers find themselves faced with the daunting question: How can I improve my vocal variety?
No one wants to be monotone on the platform. No one wants to sound boring. No one wants to look up and see half the audience asleep. So, how do speakers improve their vocal variety?
First, you must quickly realize that the phrase “vocal variety” is misleading. Artificially changing your voice in pitch and choreographing how you will say each word harms your presentation. It makes your entire presentation feel artificial, which the audience easily detects.
Professional speakers and amateur speakers are always concerned with and focused on vocal variety. The term “vocal variety” is used in every Toastmasters club around the country (and around the world for that matter). In fact, it is one of the areas on the evaluation form that everyone must critique. With the term “vocal variety” is being used everywhere, it’s no wonder that speakers want to focus on the voice. Instead, speakers need to place their attention on their emotions.
It’s not about vocal variety; it’s emotional variety.
Our emotions are distinctly connected to our voices. The slightest shift in emotion changes the voice. In many ways, our voice and emotions are connected for survival reasons. When we are surprise, scared, or in danger, our voice instantly reacts by raising in volume and pitch to scare away the perceived danger. There have been many books and studies that discuss this connection. One of my favorite authors is Kristen Linkletter. Her books are focused on helping actors understand the emotional/vocal connection.
Rather than putting your efforts in planning the vocal variety in your speech, you would be better served to discover your emotional connection to the content of your speech. The more emotionally connected you are to what you’re saying, the more your voice will convey those emotions, and therefore make your speech more interesting.
Speakers need to get out of their heads. Stop planning out every aspect of your speech. Sometimes the unexpected leads to the best moments within the speech. Allow yourself to connect with your speech on an emotional level. The voice will naturally do the rest.
