Using Your Voice Effectively in Presentations and Public Speaking: Paralanguage Roller Coaster

So, you've gotten the preparation in, you've done some training, and now you're ready to deliver. These videos will help you know what to do during the speech. I'm going to give you an analogy that I hope you haven't heard before, but when you use your voice effectively in a speech, it is like a roller

coaster. And you want to make your voice like a roller coaster when you're delivering a presentation. Paral language is everything other than words that goes into your speech. And specifically, we talk about rate, tone, and pitch. Your rate is a speed at which you speak. So, when you're going through information more quickly, you can

emphasize by slowing down. Tone is the volume of your voice. So, when you need to get someone's attention, you raise your voice just a little bit, and that gets them back into focus. And pitch is the leness or the highness of your voice. When you're happier or excited, you tend to have a higher pitch. If you

have something more serious, that pitch lowers just a little bit. Effective speakers can vary all of these three things much like a roller coaster. You'll have some buildup. You'll have a great drop. Maybe you'll have a couple of little loops. Maybe you'll go upside down. Paral language effectively is like riding a roller coaster. There's

excitement at every turn. [Music]