I recently blogged briefly about a presentation skill I picked up from a crying baby in church and this (even more brief!) blog follows on from that….
Now to talk about presentation pitch….
I listened to the singing in the service. Over 200 people should make quite a decent amount of noise, especially as the hymn in question was easy and popular. But they didn’t. It wasn’t that people weren’t singing, it’s just that they weren’t making much noise…. and the reason is pitch. Voices have a natural pitch and the hymn wasn’t at that pitch for many people.
There are some parts of the service which are sung while other bits are spoken in unison… and these bits were very loud indeed. The difference is that the spoken bits were spoken at the natural pitch of the congregation, not at the pitch determined by the music.
And so it is with presentations: if you’re trying to speak at the wrong pitch (such as during a presentation) you’ll find your voice weaker and less potent. That’s stating the obvious, I know, but think about it – when you’re nervous, what happens to your voice? It goes up as you tighten things up.
Now obviously it would be nice if you didn’t get too nervous when you made your presentation, but it’s worth mastering a relatively basic skill. Before you go on stage take a moment to check where your voice is, pitch-wise. If there’s any sense of you having raised your pitch try a couple of these presentation tips:
The odds are good that when you do this, you’ll say the first sound at the pitch you’re currently at (the nervous pitch that your voice has reached) and then the second sound will be lower. This is likely to be closer to your normal voice and should be the one you make your presentation using. It takes a little practise and skill, but it’s not as hard as you might think and it’ll make your presentation sound much more relaxed and authoritative.
The skill likes not so much in the trick itself, but in remembering to use it!
