How to Avoid Sounding Monotone

In this video, I answer a question around the voice sounding monotone in presentations. Here’s the question: “When I’m just talking to someone, I feel like my voice is more expressive, but when I’m presenting, I feel like it goes flat and monotone. What can I do about that?”

While there are many tips that can help with this question, in this video I focus on one: When you feel like your vocal delivery is flat, a good place to start with is this question: what is your communication intention?

By intention, I mean- how do you want the person or people listening to you to feel? And, because of how you want them to feel, what do you want them to do as a result of the information you’re giving them? Your intention then becomes the thing you do to get your listening audience to feel the way you want them to feel and/ or do the thing you want them to do.

For instance, maybe you are pitching to a new client, and you want them to feel reassured that they would be in good hands if they hired you. Your intention, then would be to reassure them. Or you’re having a difficult conversation with someone who’s not meeting their deadlines or their potential, your intention might be to challenge them.

Now you might be thinking— what has coming up with an intention got to do with my voice? And the answer is— everything. Think about it: you communicate very differently with your voice and body if your intention is to reassure someone than you do if your intention is to challenge them.

I talk about how being clear about your intention helps your voice not only become more expressive naturally, but helps you build a stronger relationship with your audience that allows you to talk to them rather than at them (which is a big reason the voice can become monotone when presenting).

Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

If you would like some voice warm ups to help you prepare for presentations, have a listen to my podcast. You can find it on my website or on anywhere podcasts are found by searching for "Voice what Matters: the Podcast."

If you would like more personalized coaching to work on your communication intention, please don't hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected].