One of the most common pieces of advice given to speakers is to lower your voice at the end of a sentence to emphasize it. But, as it turns out, that might not be the best advice after all.
In practice, it has been shown that speakers who deliberately lower their voice at the end of a sentence are perceived as intentional and unnatural. You can find rules like these in books, hear from guidebooks and in seminars. What's behind it? Why do ineffective tips last so long? And above all: How can you take the right steps to improve your needs by better understanding the situation? Voice convincing and inspire your audience?
Why it's tempting to follow simple speaker rules:
- One of the reasons is that it seems plausible and plausible. However, anyone who follows such simple advice quickly comes across as unnatural, deliberate and therefore annoying in the lecture.
- The other reason is that it's easy to do. It takes almost no effort and little thought if you just let your voice drop at the end of the conversation.
What is wrong with the approach:
- The main problem with intentionally lowering the voice at the end of a sentence is that the speaker's attention is focused on the sentence melody, not on the message or concern that is to be formulated.
- As a result, the voice immediately sounds distant and impersonal. It reacts to the fact that our focus is not on the listeners, but on ourselves.
What you should pay attention to instead of emphasis rules:
Instead of emphasizing rules, pay attention to the message you want to convey and the feelings you want to evoke in your audience. It is much more important to focus on these things than to follow artificial rules. In Podcast Let's talk about how you can use your voice to convey the right amount of intensity and emotion without sounding forced or fake. Listen to the episode here: You'll learn how to sound more confident and credible, and how to keep your audience engaged.
What ineffective "good advice" about voice, speaking and performance have you received over time? Let us know. Write it in the comments!
Heartily
Arno Fischbacher
You might also be interested in:
Also read on this topic:
The author:
Arno Fischbacher is a business voice coach and rhetoric expert, speaker and author. He prepares executives and employees of the top companies in Germany and Austria for negotiations, presentations and media appearances. Fischbacher is the author of several books, past president of the German Speakers Association (GSA) Austria, chairman of the European Network of Voice Experts, stimme.at.
If you would like to learn more about specific training opportunities with Arno Fischbacher, make an appointment here free information talk.
Leave a Comment