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How To Avoid Monotonous Speech During Public Speaking

The listener forms certain impressions from any public speech. It happens, the audience is impatiently waiting for the end of a performance, just to get out of the hall as soon as possible. In such cases, the report’s topic is not always remembered by people. In the opposite situation, the speaker declares so soulfully that listeners catch every his or her word thinking of immediate changes in their lives. It has been scientifically proven that a person perceives and remembers what he hears primarily on an emotional level. It means the speaker needs to work more in this direction. He must learn to express his inner state vividly during the speech to produce the maximum effect on the public.

Many speakers find it problematic to control and correctly express feelings by words which would interest the audience. Most of the presenters mumble their speech monotonously without attracting the listener, although the information itself can be interesting and informative for the target audience. 

How to Become a Memorable Speaker and Get Rid of Monotonous Report

The main speaker’s task is to convince the audience of something with his performance and make people remember it for a long time. The lasting effect on the audience testifies to the speaker's success in managing emotions.

The main problem on the way to a successful speech is monotony. The orator turns into a dull reader of routine news or a children's fairy tale, repeated over a hundred long evenings. Even a very important and useful topic loses its value in the public’s eyes if the speaker mumbles it under his breath. However, monotonous speech can be corrected by developing emotional intelligence and repeating special exercises. 

Beautiful oration, delivered voice and correct intonation are the main tools of the speaker helping to turn the audience's attention in a certain direction, motivate, and arouse interest. Professor Albert Mehrabyan proved this position in practice. He suggested that communication consists of three main components, and determined the importance of each in understanding the interlocutor's speech:

     • 7% — what is said (words);

     • 38% — how it is said (sound of the voice);

     • 55% — facial expressions and body language. 

The first step to success is the right emotion in your voice, which will help the speaker to deliver the information correctly. And the audience will easily learn it and respond. The speaker can create a mood of inspiration or fear by his words, convince or negatively attune listeners. The correct emotional attitude simulates the speaker's success, increasing his self-confidence. The audience not only absorbs feelings, emanating from the presenter but also generates the same feedback. That’s why working with self-awareness is important. 

To eradicate monotony in the voice and be remembered by the public, you need to practice expressing your feelings consciously, continuously developing emotional intelligence. It is important not only to accurately reproduce your feelings but also to change them qualitatively. First, the speaker must learn to control his emotions to influence listeners’ moods. Thus, you can improve the quality of your performance and enhance the effect produced. 

Monotony is easy to deal with using simple tongue twisters. They are short enough to remember and can be repeated an infinite number of times. Constant and high-quality training will help you to understand and control your emotions: 

  1. Brainstorm: din, thunder, shout of mouths, feast of rhymes, suddenly — boom! Shine! 
  2. Grass in the yard, wood on the grass. Do not chop wood on the grass of the yard!
  3. Sasha walked along the highway and sucked a bagel.

The exercise is not difficult: first, you need to say the tongue twister aloud several times to remember it, not stuttering or confusing words. Then you need to say them with 2 opposite emotions: 

  • anger or kindness,
  • cowardice or courage,
  • hope or disappointment,
  • appeasement or irritation.

Make a voice record to help yourself to evaluate the result. While listening to your  voice records pay attention to the melodic intonation. Estimate the naturalness and confidence of your voice, while expressing some emotion. If in all cases the voice sounds the same, then monotony has not yet been avoided.

Tip: if you do not know how to reproduce a certain emotion in intonation, try to recall a life event, in which you experienced similar feelings. 

Memorable Speech Must Be Emotional

Public speaking is a complex and multifaceted science. The orator does not just convey information to the listener. The speaker's success lies in the ability to captivate the audience from the first minutes of his report, capture their attention, and remain in memory for a long time. The lion's share of this success is determined by affectivity. An easily captured speaker's mood is the key to an impressive speech.

A boring orator is annoying. Listeners want bright and sensual presentations. It is very important to interest yourself in the topic for a start. Then you can speak with enthusiasm, forget about monotony, and express emotions consciously. 

More about the training https://voice-and-leadership.kardakova.eu/en.php

Author

Ekaterina Kardakova

Hello everyone! My name is Ekaterina Kardakova. I am an opera singer, vocal and presentation coach, Creative TechLab founder Learn more about me and my work.

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