The secret to hitting the right volume for public speaking

Making an electrifying presentation has a great deal to do with energy level. One of the chief contributors to energy level is the volume and cadence of your voice.

Too often people intimidated by the anxiety of the moment come off meek and mumbling. Soon your audience is dozing, regardless of the quality of your content.

So let’s take a preventive measure.

Here’s a technique for properly calibrating your volume. Just before you start speaking look to a person in the very back of the room or auditorium, then begin. This helps ensure you voice projects. Once you establish the proper volume level it is easily maintained.

By way of contrast, if you start speaking while looking to a person sitting in the front row you’re likely to use a voice that’s too soft, for fear of shouting in the audience member’s face. That runs the risk of making your voice too quiet for the rest of the crowd.

When using a microphone you must naturally take into account the sound system’s power level. I always ask my sound person to keep the microphone cranked fairly loud. I adjusted my voice accordingly.

The idea is to fill the room with your voice, a confident voice that keeps your audience alert and energized.

Always beware of the opposite extreme. Treat volume carefully because you don’t want to come off shouting like NFL football analyst Terry Bradshaw did so annoyingly during the early years of his broadcasting career. Bradshaw’s nerves always seemed to get the best of him whenever the cameras rolled. He shouted as though back under center for the Pittsburgh Steelers, calling plays in a noisy football stadium.

So remember, the proper volume equals energy and confidence. Fill the room with your voice without shouting or straining. Work with your sound person. Modulate your voice so you’re not speaking in monotone. And, again, look to a person in the back of the room while kicking off your presentation.

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