Stage 3 · Lesson 5 of 7
Voice, pace and where to look
Nervous speakers tend to rush, speak quietly and look at the slides. Slow down on purpose, especially if English is your second language; slower speech is easier to follow with any accent. Pause after important points; a pause feels long to you but natural to the audience.
Speak to the back of the room. Look at a few friendly faces in different parts of the room, a few seconds each. Stand still with your feet apart rather than pacing, and let your hands move naturally. Julian Treasure's talk on speaking well covers voice in more depth.
Common traptrying to fix everything at once; pick one thing, such as pace, for each talk.
A question to check yourself come when you add the roadmap to your account. Add it
Resources for this stage
Start with· follow one of these
- CourseFreeIntroduction to Public Speaking (University of Washington, Coursera)
University of Washington on Coursera · Beginner
A free-to-audit University of Washington course on preparing and giving talks
- VideoFreeHow to Speak So That People Want to Listen (Julian Treasure, TEDGlobal 2013)
Julian Treasure (TEDGlobal 2013)
Short, practical talk on voice, pace and habits that make people stop listening
Practise
Keep handy
Struggling right now? If you are in danger or thinking about harming yourself, contact local emergency services or a crisis line: Find a helpline (any country), Umang (Pakistan), Tele-MANAS, 14416 (India).