Possibly the most frequently ignored aspect of speaking in public is the correct care of your voice.
Many speakers think that all you need to do is open your mouth, take a deep breath and speak in order to deliver their speech. Unfortunately, they are a very long way from becoming successful public speakers. But they are definitely not alone in ignoring the most vital tool their speech-making tool-kit. Few speakers consciously spend time working on the correct speaking techniques - and even less time taking care of the single most important asset they possess.
After all, no voice, no speech!
So what are the golden rules that will ensure that your voice is kept in excellent condition for speech-making? Here are the three greatest tips for delivering crystal-clear presentations:
1. Don’t strain your voice in any way. That means no shouting encouragement at your favourite sports team! No matter how much you feel that they need your vocal input to score the winning point, restrain yourself - let others do the yelling and shouting.
2. Drink plenty of water. Get into the habit of sipping plain water throughout the day and your whole body will feel the benefit - not just your voice. At your speaking event, make sure that you have a glass of water to hand during your speech so that you never feel that your throat is becoming dry.
Avoid alcoholic over-indulgence in the days prior to a speaking engagement and stick to soft drinks only in the couple of days immediately leading up to making your speech.
And for all sorts of good reasons, strictly no alcohol on the day of your speech - however nervous you might be feeling!
3. Doing some vocal warm-up exercises is always a must before making your speech. If you only speak in public infrequently, it may feel a little odd to be humming and singing to yourself beforehand but it is important to remember that professional actors, speakers and singers always run through warm-up exercises in exactly the same manner as professional sportsmen do. If you really want to be able to deliver the best speech possible, these preparations will make a noticeable improvement to your performance.
And the better you perform, the better you will feel. And the better you feel, the more relaxed you will become. And by virtue of this fact alone, your audience will find themselves sharing in your confident manner and enthusiastically offer you rapturous applause having enjoyed every word that you have spoken.
Your voice will have been your greatest asset - and you won’t have suffered the embarrassment of delivering your speech sounding like a frog with a sore throat!
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