Page 231 - Effective Communication Soft Skills Strategies For Success by Nitin Bhatnagar, Mamta Bhatnagar

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Communication: Spoken English | 219

be purposeful and faithfully reflective of your words. They must be smooth,
well timed, spontaneous and in perfect harmony with speech. They must
never overpower the content of the message. When too much attention is
given to gesturing by either the presenter or the audience, they tend to drift
away from the more important aspects of the presentation. The best way to
learn smooth gesture or unlearn overpowering gesture is to use a camcorder
while speaking. Watch yourself and identify and eliminate the oddities. There
should be no discrepancy or disparity between words and gestures.

Posture
The stance and posture of a presenter tells a lot about his/her personality.
You must use your posture as a dynamic tool to reinforce your rapport with
the audience. You must not stand in a position where you obscure the screen.
Avoid pacing up and down the place. Do not fiddle with a pen, juggle keys or
change in the pocket. Make meaningful gestures that are in complete agree-
ment with what you are saying.

Voice
The voice is probably the most valuable tool of the presenter. As mentioned
earlier, it is not only important for you to say the right thing but also impor-
tant to say it the right way. Clarity of speech is essential to comprehend of the
message. Depending on the acoustics of the room, the pitch and loudness of
the voice have to be adjusted.
Do not rush or be deliberately slow. Maintain an optimum tempo so that
the audience does not miss out on important points in the message.
You have to be very careful about the volume, pitch, tone and tempo of
the voice while presenting.
The volume should be loud enough to reach the last row of the audience,
but you should not shout in order to be heard. Good speakers lower their
voice to draw the attention of the audience and make it louder to emphasize
the point.
The tone of your voice carries your attitude. You must make a careful
and judicious use of the falling, rising and falling-rising tones. Pitch of the
voice too conveys the emotional state of the speaker. Fear, anger or anxiety
are reflected in a high pitched voice.
Tempo of the voice too must be optimum. Too fast or too slow would
result in gabbling and mumbling. Avoid hesitations and pauses. If you use
such non-linguistic material like ‘umm-----and er----’ the continuity of the
presentation would be affected.
The best method of improving your voice is to LISTEN to it. Record
your voice and play it back to listen to and wean yourself away from all those
features that contribute to a bad voice.

Bhatnagar_Chapter 09.indd 219 2011-06-23 7:52:59 PM
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