10 Tips to Improve Your Speaking Voice

One of the most important components of public speaking is the sound of your voice. It influences the impact of your message, and might even make or break the success of your speech. Fortunately, for many people, good voice quality can be learned.

Instructions :

1. Breathe from your diaphragm - Practice long and controlled exhales. When you speak, use breath to punctuate your point. For example, take a breath at the end of each phrase whether you need to or not. Use that opportunity to pause and let the listeners absorb what you say.
2. Use pitch - Lower pitches generally are more soothing to hear. However, modulating your pitch for emphasis will keep your listeners engaged. Develop your pitch by practicing humming.
3.  Moderate your volume - Find out if you speak too loudly or too softly. When you begin speaking, ask your audience how your volume is (each situation is different). Try to stay at the appropriate volume throughout your speech.
4. Moderate your pace - This one is also closely related to breath. If you speak too quickly, people can’t keep up. If you speak too slowly, people will lose interest. Record your speech to determine if you need to change your pace. Get feedback from others.
5. Articulate - Try exaggerating your lip movement to reduce mumbling. Practice articulating tongue twisters and extending and exaggerating vowel sounds. Become an expert at articulating tongue twisters as quickly and crisply as possible. Focus on the ones you find difficult.
6. Practice your speech in advance and determine where you want to pause for a breath. For more emphasis, pause for more than one breath. Mark your breathing points in your notes.
7. Loosen up before you begin. Look side to side. Roll your head in half-circles and roll your shoulders back. Shift your rib cage from side to side. Yawn. Stretch. Touch your toes while completely relaxing your upper body, then slowly stand up, one vertebra at a time, raising your head last. Repeat as needed.
8. Posture - Stand up straight and tall to allow full lung capacity and airflow.
9. Record your voice repeatedly using different ways of speaking. Determine which one is most pleasing.
10. Practice breath control - Take a deep breath, and while you exhale, count to 10 (or recite the months or days of the week). Try gradually increasing your volume as you count, using your abdominal muscles—not your throat—for volume. Don’t let your larynx tense up.

 

How to Be Prepared for Impromptu Speaking

On occasion we find ourselves in situations where we must speak extemporaneously. It could be a business meeting, a gathering, or an issue of importance to us personally at the city council level. There are ways to be prepared for such moments.

Things You Will Need:

• Practiced Articulation
• Anger Control
• Knowledge of the Subject
• Self-confidence

Step 1:
Practice articulation daily - When speaking, enunciate so you can be understood. Avoid mumbling and using extra words or pauses like er and ah. If you have a fondness for four letter words, try to eliminate them from your daily speech. This builds your confidence in your ability to speak in a proper manner.

Step 2:
Practice speaking calmly and knowledgeably about a topic - In your daily life, practice keeping calm when people press your hot buttons. The more you practice at home and at work, the better you will become at anger control. When someone hits your hot button, take a deep breath or two before you respond. You may also need to give yourself a slow count of three before your respond. Deep breathing gives oxygen to your brain and is a quick release for rising anger.

Step 3:
Be Prepared and keep Learning - When you put yourself in a situation of a group at a gathering, at work or at a meeting, you should prepare so you will be able to address the subject at hand intelligently. This means putting a little study into your life. As long as we live we should be learning. This is an opportunity to learn whether or not you are called on to speak. When uncomfortable, you can always state that you do not have enough information on this subject to speak knowledgeably.

Step 4:
Exude self-confidence - Self-confidence comes from preparation and knowing you are able to meet the challenge of speaking on a particular subject.

Worst comes to Worst learn to gracefully decline. If you are not prepared, there is no shame in turning the floor over to someone else who is prepared. Of course, if you were asked in advance to speak, then this is not extemporaneous and you should meet your obligation.

 

The financial impact of time management

Assume a company earns 10% of sales.  If they can save $25,000 in salaries, that’s equivalent to an increase of $250,000 in sales.  In the present economy, such an increase in sales would be difficult.  And yet there is so much wasted time among employees, a savings in time of $25,000 annually does not seem difficult at all.  By working more efficiently and effectively, the increase in employee productivity could offset any reduction in staff through attrition or could negate the necessity of hiring people as sales increase.

The same effect is accomplished through reduction in other areas as well.  Reduced paperwork or material costs to the tune of $25,000 would also be equivalent to a $250,000 increase in sales.  Through effective time management, employees could do their jobs in less time, devoting the free time to reducing costs in other areas.  For example, companies may want to launch a value analysis or cost reduction program or creativity and problem solving sessions – but just don’t have the time.  Personal time management can free the necessary time to devote to these profit generating activities.  They don’t have to reduce staff to save money.  They simply have to utilize staff more fully.

 

Advantages of the paper planner

Everyone is aware of the advantages of an electronic devise such as a Palm or BlackBerry. It is impossible to purchase a hard-copy planner that could hold even a fraction of the information provided by a PDA. The total information contained in a life's accumulation of planners could be housed in a tiny three-inch by four-and-a-half-inch PDA. And it can do everything from take calls, record messages, take photographs and beam addresses to other electronic devices.

But bells and whistles aside, as a planner it doesn’t rate as high. Here are five reasons some people still prefer a hard copy planner for scheduling their appointments and major tasks and activities.

1. It is more effective to use a hard copy planner where you can see your entire week, complete with scheduled tasks and descriptive things to do at a single glance. You don’t have to turn it on to access your information, nor be interrupted by it ringing. And it’s a lot easier to read.

2. It’s faster to retrieve the day to day information from a traditional planner, where a flip of a page brings you a whole new week of plans, appointments and projects.

3. A hard copy planner reflects your uniqueness. It takes on your personality, complete with handwriting, color coding, habits and style. PDAs are all alike, cold and impersonal.

4. There is no need to constantly upgrade to a later model, or recharge it. And it never crashes, freezes or loses its data.

5. The initial investment is not as high, nor the replacement cost. It doesn’t break when dropped and there’s little chance of having it stolen. And your paper planners become permanent journals that you can keep and consult in the years ahead.

Secret #55 Prioritize Your Priorities

Once you have a personal breakthrough to the biblical idea that your self-worth is NOT based on busyness—you can begin to give yourself the gift of saying no to the right things. But how do you decide what to say yes to and what to say no to? This is where Proverbs 24:27 comes into play: “Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready; after that build your house.” In other words, do the most important things first. In the day in which Proverbs was written, getting the fields ready first was critical because it meant food and income for the family. What good is a nice house when you don’t have any food to eat or income?

So how do you decide what’s first and most important?

Try this: Make a list of all things you need to do today. Now ask yourself this question: “If I could only do one item on this list, which one would it be?” Mark that item as #1. Go back through the remaining items on the list and ask the question again. Mark that item as #2. Get the idea? Once the items all have a number, start with #1—and do it until it is completed. Cross it off the list, pause to feel the endorphin rush of accomplishment, and celebrate. Then go on to #2.

Some of you are be thinking, “But what if I don’t get to everything on my list?” To you I say two things: 1) You can take great satisfaction in knowing you did that which was most important, and, 2) Give yourself the gift of saying no.

Secret #54 Put Off Procrastination

My teachers always told me I wouldn't amount to anything because I procrastinated so much.

I told them, "Just you wait."

Secret 111: Get Off the Treadmill of Good Intentions

Important Note Before You Read This Post:
At the very end of this post is a link to a FREE eight page PDF download that will give you the nuts and bolts of how you can move from the treadmill of good intentions to the track of action and life change.


About ten years ago, I bought my first treadmill. Boy, did I feel great about myself. Just getting that thing down to the basement was a workout in itself—I think I lost half a pound! Once I got that thing settled in its place, I beamed with pride… and just knew that in a short time I’d be in shape… or at least in better shape.

Yet, I confess to you that though I have over a decade of treadmill ownership under my belt, my belt has not gotten any smaller. I thought about taking the treadmill back and trading it in for a new and improved model. Obviously, this one wasn’t working.

But I think I finally figured out what’s wrong. It seems you must actually get on the treadmill three to five times a week for about 20-30 minutes each time if you want any benefits. Go figure. Oh yeah, and they also tell me you should plug the treadmill in and turn it on (sounds kind of dangerous if you ask me).


The Treadmill of Good Intentions and YOU
Laugh at me all you want. But I’m willing to bet a rarely used ten-year-old treadmill that you’re frighteningly more like me than you care to admit. Yep, my treadmill story is for YOU—especially if you’ve ever had the good intentions to…

• read the Bible through in a year… but didn’t make it through the second week of January


• create and stick to a budget… but ran up more credit card debt


• lose weight… and then set a personal record in chocolate eating


• have a better marriage… and then actually argued with your spouse about how (Okay, that could be just me on that one.)


• be a more patient parent… and then yelled at your kids more than ever


• exercise regularly… and then used your treadmill as a clothes hanger


• bought a self-help book… but didn’t help yourself enough to crack it open

Just like me and my treadmill—you bought the books, took notes on the sermon, went to the Bible study, and even signed up for the seminar, but nothing really changed in the key areas of your life.

My question to you—before we go any further—is this: Are you sick enough of the treadmill of good intentions that you’re really ready to move to the track of personal growth?

To Get Off the Treadmill, You Need to Get On Track
If you really want to move off the treadmill of good intentions and onto the track of personal growth, I contend that, like a train, you must be careful to run on two rails. Of course, I’m not saying these are the only two keys to personal growth. All I’m saying is that the two rails I am about to explore with you are foundational if you really want to quit dinking around and start growing.



What are the two rails? To finish this training session, GO HERE.


Please feel free to share this post (just click the image of the envelope below) and the FREE eight page PDF download with as many people as you like. It's great for personal use or for use in small groups. I'm thrilled to be a missionary of encouragement and equipping to you! Thanks reading this blog!


*Secret #127 Succeeding at the Wrong Things is Failure

Not all the "plates" in your life are of equal importance.

If you want to make the most of your short life and time, be sure you "spin" only the most important ones... even if it means some of the lesser important "plates" fall to the ground and break into a thousand pieces.

Why?

To succeed in the wrong things is to fail.

Which truly important "plates" in your life need you to give them a good spin right now?

Which lesser important "plates" in your life should you quit spinning altogether?

Just a thought.

BA

*Secret #123 Don't Overdo the Time Management Thing

Just a thought.
BA

*Secret #119 Plan Your Finish NOW

For the last several presidential elections, political pundits have been talking about the critical importance of the final 72 hours of a campaign. That is, after spending millions of dollars and countless hours of energy campaigning all over the United States, the fate of an election often boils down to the last 72 hours. In a presidential race in these days, if you snooze—or even let up just a little during the last 72 hours—you could very well lose!

To truly finish this life well, you must run strong all the way to the end.

Starting well is beneficial. Staying the course is critical. But it's the way you finish that becomes your legacy. No matter what age or season of life you're in right now, finishing this life well is something to which you should give some careful thought and intentional planning. The Challenge of Finishing Well is a twenty-eight page interactive workbook that is designed to help you wrestle with what it means for you to finish well in God's eyes. It's ideal for small groups or for use as a personal half or full day retreat.

The spiritual racetrack of life is littered with the broken lives of those who had great starts, were more talented, smarter, stronger, and even more pious than most of us— but for one reason or another—they did NOT finish well. Way too many of us finish poorly like Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived: “As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God…” (1 Kings 11:4). The danger for us is that "as we grow old," our hearts could grow cold—and we may turn after other gods (including the god of self and comfort). If it can happen to Solomon, it can happen to any of us. But it doesn't have to... if--right now--you'll dare to accept The Challenge of Finishing Well.

*Secret #115 Spend Quality Time with the One You Love on Valentine's Day!

For a Valentine's Day gold mine of funny (and often true) stories, interesting pictures, and even a video clip... all you have to do is GO HERE!

*Secret #108 Quit Trying to Manage Time

No one can really manage time.

Think about it.

Time tenaciously and mercilessly marches on--with or without you. There is NOTHING you can do to "manage" time!

The only thing you can do is manage yourself in relation to time.

So quit trying to manage time... and instead... start managing yourself.

Just a thought.

BA
PS. Need training to manage yourself in relation to time? Time Management for Painfully Pooped-Out People THE WORKSHOP

*Secret #106 Quit Blogging

The first secret to amazing time management is...

QUIT WASTING YOUR TIME READING AND WRITING BLOGS!

You could save yourself HOURS of time for things like LIVING LIFE IN THE REAL WORLD.

Each second you fritter away reading this and other blogs is slowly stealing your preciously short life. Ironic... isn't it?

Just a thought. And just having some fun...

BA
PS. For real time management help check out Time Management for Painfully Pooped-Out People

*Secret 112 What's Most Important Right Now?

We may never actually say that we can do it all, but the way most of us are living our lives—one would think that we believe we really can do it all.

The truth is you can't—and shouldn't even try—to do it all.

Think about it. Not everything screaming for your time, attention, and energy is worth doing.

Instead of trying to do it all, why not focus on doing that which is truly most important?

What would be "most important" right now for you?

*Secret 110 Drink Coffee... Lots of It!

The caffeinated kind. No joke.

Think about it. It's difficult to manage your time well when you're tired.

A cup or two—especially in the morning—can make a significant difference in your life!

And don't forget about Coffee's other amazing benefits:


1. Coffee is cheaper than other drugs that stimulate you (like meth)... not to mention.. it's legal (unlike meth).

2. Recent scientific research actually shows the benefits of drinking coffee.

3. Drinking coffee makes you thinner, better looking, and wealthier. OK this is a lie... but woudln't it be cool if it were true?

* Secret #117 Prioritize or Drown

"I need more time!"

We've all said this before. But think about it for a minute. Can anyone really get more time?

The truth is: No one can get more time. Time is the great equalizer. We all have the same 24/7.

This being the case, there's only ONE thing we CAN do: priortize or drown.





For real help with prioritizing your life check out Time Management for Painfully Pooped-Out People

Just a thought.

BA

Secret #56 Squeeze the Day

"Planning your day, rather than allowing it to unfold at the whim of others, is the single most important piece in the time management puzzle."
--Alec Mackenzie