Volume and Posture Guidelines
- 1. Voice Projection and Good Body Posture
- 2. Reasons for poor volume: 1. You don’t know how to use your voice. 2. Nervousness is subduing you. 3. You’re not looking at the people you’re speaking to.
- 3. How to Solve the Problem: 1. Breathe properly. Try doing different breathing exercises. - Stand up, shoulders back, hands on your stomach. Let your stomach muscles relax. - Breathe in through your nose and fill up your abdomen first (you should feel and see it expand), then your ribs and all the way up to your chin.
- 4. - Hold this breath and count until ten. - Now exhale slowly. As you exhale, keep your ribs expanded and tighten your abdomen. The lower abdominal muscles should come in first as though you were rolling up a tube of toothpaste.
- 5. 2. Relax your voice by opening your mouth widely. - Yawn and make your jaw drop as far as you can without stress. Finish the yawn by prolonging the last sound and turning it into a hum. (“Mmmmm”)
- 6. - Waggle the jaw from side to side and continue humming with the lips closed and jaw loose. - Repeat the yawning and humming. Notice your throat muscles have loosened and become relaxed.
- 7. 3. Practice the “volume exercise” daily. - Breathe deeply and exhale with a hissing sound. - Vary the loudness of your voice using a vowel sound “ah”. Start with a soft sound, then middle and loud. Repeat, starting with the loud sound until the soft. Repeat again soft>loud>soft>loud>soft>loud… for several seconds
- 8. - Repeat step 2 using numbers. soft>middle>loud - loud>middle>soft - soft>loud>soft>loud>soft>loud… for several seconds Ex. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
- 9. 4. Look at the people you’re speaking to. Our natural desire to make a connection makes it easier for us to “up our volume” so that the person we’re speaking to can hear us. Looking at a person directly, whether he be across the room, will make us speak more loudly so be sure to establish really good eye contact.
- 10. Good Body Posture - correct posture can make you look more professional and sound much better; ultimately, that leads to more confidence and a better performance! - When you are speaking in front of an audience, nothing is more important than posture. Correct posture makes you seem more professional and commanding, which is a central part of public speaking.
- 11. Correct posture for public speaking includes: 1. Keeping your shoulders back and down, not slumped forward – since this causes your rib cage to rise slightly, it makes you sound better. 2. Keeping the core of your body tight – this helps you stand straighter and not slouch.
- 12. 3. Planting your feet flat on the ground about shoulder- width apart– though it may be tempting to jiggle your leg or stand with one of your hips slightly jutted out, keep your feet flat on the ground, shoulder-width apart.
- 13. 4. Keeping your chest slightly raised – again, it’s important not to slouch! Raising your chest slightly opens your lungs and improves your voice projection. 5. Holding your chin slightly up – you don’t need to look at the ceiling, but avoid putting your head down! Lowering your head hinders air flow and diminishes voice projection.
- 14. ***At times, correct posture probably won’t come naturally, but it’s good to keep in mind nonetheless, as practicing this good public speaking posture has benefits beyond just looking professional. As mentioned, good posture facilitates better voice projection, improved air flow and is better for your back. Standing up straight is always better than slouching!
- 15. When it comes to public speaking, AVOID: • Standing with your hands behind your back or, worse, with your arms crossed in front of your chest • Slouching (even slightly!) • Lowering your head (even if you don’t have your speech memorized, don’t keep your head bent, reading off note cards the whole time)
- 16. Sources: 1. Verderber, R. (1979). The challenge of effective speaking (4th ed.). California: Wadsworth Publishing Company, Inc. 2. http://www.entrepreneursspeaking.com/1/post/2013/02/3-daily-exercises-to improve-your-voice-projection.html 3. http://www.toastmasters.org/199-YourSpeakingVoice 4. http://www.speakingaboutpresenting.com/delivery/project-your-voice/ 5. http://www.parischiro.com/blog/public-speaking-posture