Page 339 - The Creative Training Idea Book Inspired Tips and Techniques for Engaging and Effective Learning

lucas chap 09 11/20/02 1:02 PM Page 328
328 The Creative Training Idea Book
BRIGHT I DEA
Check Your Performance
Periodically videotape your sessions. Watch the video and rate yourself objectively
on the following areas:
Low High
Overall presentation 1 2 3 4 5
Volume level 1 2 3 4 5
Rate of speech 1 2 3 4 5
Diction (word clarity) 1 2 3 4 5
Fillers used 1 2 3 4 5

Modulate Your Voice

By using inflection or a change in the pitch of your voice, you can add vocal punctua-
tion to your message. Pitch is formed by the vibration of sound waves and is influenced
by your emotional state. Think of times when you were excited or joyous about some-
thing and spoke. Your voice pitch likely was likely higher than normal. Likewise, when
you ask a question, your inflection usually goes up and you end the sentence with a
vocal question mark. Many women tend to use increased inflection at the end of many
statements, whether they are asking questions or not. This can lead to confusion in
listeners who are not totally focused because they hear the vocal question mark and
mentally think, “She just asked me a question.” Once they consciously realize that was
not the case and you have continued to speak, they may have missed an important point.
For this reason, female trainers may want to have a friend or others listen to their speech
pattern or to audiotape and listen to their presentation of information to see if they have
such a tendency when speaking.
Another pitch problem occurs when you speak in a matter-of-fact or monotone. In
such instances, your pitch is lower and sounds flat and unenthusiastic, which can affect
the enthusiasm level of learners.
Practice changing your pitch by saying the following statements, emphasizing only
the italicized word in each one. Audiotape yourself and listen to the difference in inflec-
tion and how it can change the meaning of your message.

I cannot believe you said that.
I cannot believe you said that.
I cannot believe you said that.
I cannot believe you said that.
I cannot believe you said that.
I cannot believe you said that.