This week I would like to share some thoughts about volume. I have had a number of people commenting on the fact that they have difficulty making themselves heard...

Like most questions I receive, vocal training is not a small subject. In fact beyond public speaking it is not one that I have any expertise – especially in relation to vocal training/awareness for singing. The closest I get to any kind of musical skill is the ability to turn on my car radio and selecting a station. Keeping this in mind, someone who has had formal vocal training may find my comments overly simplistic – however they will be effective for those starting in public speaking.

The next question is “What can you do during the presentation to draw the audience in?” We have talked about interacting with the audience before, but here we are going to talk about it in terms of listening to your audience or getting feedback from them.

These may not be the best listening rules there are – but they work well for me (when I remember to use them). You might want to adopt some of them if they make sense to you. By becoming better listeners we will all be able to better understand our audience and deliver more effective speeches.