The average individual speaks fairly rapidly to his or her colleagues, friends and family members. Some of us are habitually prone to speaking quite rapidly, and our audience might often miss a significant portion of the message which we are attempting to communicate -- they will either ask us 1) to slow down; or 2) to repeat what we've said (but at an audible frequency); in the worst case, they may either disregard our rushed communication (as it entails too much effort to follow it), or they may politely listen without telling us that they didn't capture some content.
To make matters worse, when we are very excited, angry or fearful, we naturally tend to accelerate the number of words we spout out per minute, and our voices tend to hit the higher side of our range of pitch (imagine an Irish tenor singing "O' Danny Boy," or a college fraternity party where, after inhaling helium from balloons, the members of the crew take turns speaking like munchkins, tittering and giggling the whole time), which tends to make us sound 1) less in control, and 2) less important.
When you are going to be speaking to an individual, a small group or the entire Press Corps, be certain to counterbalance that natural propensity to speak faster and higher by:
- Pausing for breath, and minding posture prior to speaking - ramrod straight and in command;
- Making eye contact with each person in the group by sweeping over them with your gaze - tacitly getting their attention and respect;
- Taking great care to carefully and clearly enunciate each word, and speak clearly;
- Consciously keeping the pitch of your voice as deep and resonant as possible;
- Be fairly loud, but do not get frustrated and shout.
We are best in control of our audience, when it seems that we are totally in control of ourselves and the situation which confronts us.
Douglas E Castle
[http://aboutDouglasCastle.blogspot.com]
[http://SendingSignals.blogspot.com]
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