Page 324 - Between One and Many The Art and Science of Public Speaking

Chapter 11 Delivery: Engaging Your Audience 291

Pitch
The degree to which your voice is high or low is its pitch. A person who sings
bass has a low pitch, whereas a person who sings soprano has a high pitch. The
bass knob on your stereo lowers pitch, the treble knob raises it. Pitch is a key to
vocal infl ection, and effective speakers vary their pitch to shape the impact of
their words. They may lower pitch to sound more serious or raise it to convey a
sense of urgency. Control of pitch depends not only on their skill as a speaker
but on the natural range of their voice as well.

Range

The extent of the pitch, from low to high, that lies within your vocal capacity is
known as range. Just as a piano has a tremendous range in pitch, some speakers
have a great vocal range. On the other hand, some speakers are like an electric bass
guitar, which no matter how well played, does not have much range. As a speaker,
you need to make the fullest use of your normal conversational vocal range. That
means you fi rst need to discover the bottom and top of your own vocal scale.
To get a sense of how pitch and range control the infl ection in your voice,
audio-record yourself. Recite the alphabet beginning in your normal voice.
Then raise your pitch with each new letter until your voice cracks. Next do the
same thing, but lower your voice as you recite. Play back the recording and note
where your voice begins to break as you go up and then breaks as you go down.
This will give you an audible idea about the limits of your vocal range, as well
as at what pitches your voice sounds relaxed and natural. Then practice varying
your pitch within this relaxed and natural range, using the audio recorder to
further get in touch with your natural pitch and range.

Rhythm

Think of rhythm as the characteristic pattern of your volume, pitch, and range.
Perhaps you have heard someone describe a speaker’s voice as “singsong.” This
means the speaker’s voice goes consistently up and then down in pitch, almost
as if the person were talking to a small child.
Some speakers use predictable rhythm to great effect. Many evangelical
preachers have a decided rhythm in their sermons. The Reverend Jesse Jackson
is an easy target for comedic impersonators because of the predictable rhythm
with which he takes his audience up, and then pauses before taking them down.
Jackson heightens this effect with his infl ection and frequent use of alliteration,
which we discussed in Chapter 10.

Tempo

The rate at which you produce sounds, or how quickly or slowly you speak,
will infl uence how you are perceived. Tempo also tends to vary across and even
within cultures. In the United States, for example, speech in the South is rela-
tively slow in tempo, whereas in the East, tempo is accelerated. This is readily
apparent if you compare the voices of actress Holly Hunter, who is from the
South, and Marisa Tomei, from the East.
Because tempo varies, you have to use good judgment in terms of how quickly
or slowly you speak. Doing either to the extreme can turn off your audience. An