Your voice is a powerful part of your presentation and public speaking tool kit. As you listen to lots of people you will notice just how much variation there is in the human voice.

I have noticed that many presenters have fallen into the trap of using only a tiny fraction of their vocal range and thus limit their ability to impact and inspire their audience. Think about it.  You can vary a number of different vocal qualities independently including ;

• Volume
• Speed
• Tone
• Rhythm

How much of your vocal range do you currently use?  Are you even aware of the full extent of your range? The only way to learn is to practice it.

Imagine that you were having to get your message across in a football stadium without any amplification.   How loud would you have to speak to have a chance of being heard?

If you have developed a naturally quiet voice, you may think that you don’t have the ability to project to fill a large room.   You would be wrong however.

You just haven’t learned to use the full capacity of  your lungs, vocal cords and resonating chambers.  One tip is to concisouly notice where you are directing your voice.  If you direct it towards the soft palate at the back of your throat much of your power will be absored by the soft tissue and your volume will be low.   Now try projecting your voice into the front of your mouth and your teeth.   Here the surface is much harder and the sound will bounce of rather than be absorbed, allowing you to speak much more loudly without straining your voice.

As you develop your confidence and speaking ability you will start to wonder about whether or not to move around. Some speakers seem fixed to the lectern whereas others roam around. In my opinion, you can add an extra dimension to your message by using purposeful movement but you have to be aware that random movements can be distracting and annoying.

Side to side movement:
You can suppport your verbal transitions by using different areas of the platform to talk about different aspects of your presentation. If you signpost these different regions spacially as well as verbally in your introduction, your audience will mentally shift perspective as you walk through each element of your speech. However avoid purposeless pacing back and forward.

Movement towards and away from your audience:
Many presenters forget that, they can move into the audience from time to time in order to engage more closely with individuals or groups.

Again you need to synchronise these movements to particualr elements of your presentation. Example: Recently I was rehearsing a speech which contained a rhetorical device called an ascending triad . I looked at part of the audience and said “You have a story with telling.” Then I looked at a different part of the audience and said “You have a story that the members of the audience would love to hear.” finally I looked at a third group and said “You have a story that the world deserves to hear.” Afterwards I realised that I could have strengthened the impact of this opening my moving closer to or even into the audience for each of these statements before moving back for the next part of my speech.

So next time you are planning a speech make some time to think about how you can add impact and engagement by use of purposeful movement.

Many people say that they don’t have time to write a good speech.   Well that’s bulls***t!

Here’s a simple structure that will help you write a great speech in under then minutes: This really does work
and will help you construct and effective speech in less time than you could ever have thought possible.

1. If you don’t already have the topic for your speech then spend 1 minutes brainstorming (or mind mapping) a list of ideas. Don’t judge at this stage just get them down on paper.
2. Pick the one that you like best and then brainstorm as many different sub topics around that theme. again don’t judge just go for quantity not quality at this stage.
3. Pick the three ideas that you feel comfortable talking about and then outline your speech using the following simple structure.

Speech title
Strong opening – Don’t start with the traditional “hello my name is…and I am here to talk about….  You don’t really want to put your audience to sleep do you? You need to grab their attention right from the start with either some startling facts,or figures, a challenge, a question, a quote or a short personal story.
Body – Use your three themes from the brainstorm and develop each one a little.  NB: don’t forget to include some I statements that explain why this topic matters to you.
Conclusion – Don’t let your presentation tail off at the end. Finish it with a strong call to action where you spell out exactly what you want your audience to do as a result of listening to this speech.

Here’s an example of my own:

Title – I’m proud to be a salesperson

Opening - “What do you think when you ask someone “What do you do?” and they reply “I’m in sales”. Does your heart sink? Do you wonder how to end the conversation?  Do you think you are going to get conned into buying something you don’t want?

Body: Actually we are all salespeople.

1) We are selling ideas – We want things to change,  We want people to adopt our suggestions, We want to get our point across.

2) We are selling ourselves.  Like it or not, people will make snap judgements about us and we need to be able to create a favourable first impression.

3) I believe that selling isn’t about manipulation, I believe selling is firstly about understanding the other person, their problems and needs and then helping them find a mutually beneficial solution.

Conclusion: The next time somebody asks you what you do, tell them with pride, I am a salesperson!

On Saturday I was asked to give a short presentation as part of a workshop.  The brief was that it has to be short (maximum 3 minutes) and the subject had to be something that I was passionate about.

I decided to talk about being a salesperson and the perceptions that many people have about sales and the selling process.    So many people seem to automatically associate the word selling with many negative connotations such as high pressure, foot in the door, manipulation, conning someone into buying something they don’t want or can’t afford.

Is it any wonder that many “non sales people” find it difficult to sell, when this si the sort of thinking that goes through their heads at the very mention of the word sales.

Whilst it is true that some people do still sell in this way, the good news is that it is being used less and less.   Today , to be an effective salesperson you need to have a different approach.  In a nutshell you need to;

• Build a lasting  relationship with your prospective customer whether it be face to face, on the phone, by email or via the web
• Ask great questions and listen to their answers so that you truly understand their needs and wants
• You need to present only relevant products or services that meet those needs

I believe that we are all salespeople. Even if we are not exchanging goods or services for money we are selling ideas, information and perhaps most importantly ourselves.

I finished by talk with the challenge, “Next time you are at a party and you are asked what you do, will you have the courage to say “I am a salesperson.”"   – So will you?

P.s. If you want to know more about sales why not take a look at my e-book – The reluctant salespersons transformation guide.

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