4/28/2023 0 Comments Verbal pausesBe aware of the volume of your voice and, when in doubt, increase your volume a notch, since beginning speakers are more likely to have an issue of speaking too softly rather than too loudly. Loud speakers may be seen as overbearing or annoying, which can lead audience members to disengage from the speaker and message. Softer speakers are sometimes judged as meek, which may lead to lowered expectations for the speech or less perceived credibility. Like rate, audiences use volume to make a variety of judgments about a speaker. Obviously, in some settings, a microphone will be necessary to be heard by the entire audience. You may want to look for nonverbal cues from people in the back rows or corners, like leaning forward or straining to hear, to see if you need to adjust your volume more. When speaking in larger rooms, you will need to project your voice. When speaking in a typically sized classroom or office setting that seats about twenty-five people, using a volume a few steps above a typical conversational volume is usually sufficient. As with speaking rate, you want to avoid the extremes of being too loud or too soft, but still vary your volume within an acceptable middle range. Volume refers to how loud or soft your voice is. You can also include reminders to “slow down” on your speaking outline. Even if you try to hold back when actually delivering your speech, you may fall back into your practice routine and speak too fast. If you find that you are a naturally fast speaker, make sure that you do not “speed talk” through your speech when practicing it. Some people naturally speak faster than others, which is fine, but we can all alter our rate of speaking with practice. Speaking at a slow rate throughout a speech would likely bore an audience, but that is not a common occurrence. ![]() The goal is to speak at a rate that will interest the audience and will effectively convey your information. Having evaluated thousands of speeches, I can say that, in terms of rate, the issue speakers face is speaking too fast. These negative assumptions, whether they are true or not, are likely to hurt the credibility of the speaker. ![]() Speaking slowly may lead the audience to infer that the speaker is uninterested, uninformed, or unprepared to present his or her own topic. In general, a higher rate of speaking signals that a speaker is enthusiastic about his or her topic. The key is to vary your rate of speaking in a middle range, staying away from either extreme, in order to keep your audience engaged. If you speak too slowly, the audience may lose interest. ![]() If you speak too fast, your audience will not be able to absorb the information you present. Rate of speaking refers to how fast or slow you speak.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |