Strategies for Effective Oral Delivery

VOCAL CUES
A voice communicates a great deal more than words alone. A presenter’s voice is a potentially powerful
tool to make an oral delivery effective and impressive. Professionals whose careers depend on skilled
communication take seriously the need to develop positive and powerful vocal attributes.
The quality of a speaker's voice is determined by four characteristics: pitch, volume, rate, and tone. An
effective speaking voice is well modulated, meaning the pitch, volume, rate, and lone are altered to give
appropriate and interesting expression to the message. A voice that is pleasing and easy to listen to is
mellow, meaning it is rich in tone and sounds fully mature. It is moderate; the pitch is not too low or too
high, volume is not too loud or too soft, and the rate of speech is neither too fast nor too slow.
To add to the effectiveness of a delivery, the qualities of a speaker's voice should be varied and congruent
with the message. Vocal qualities should also be varied to provide contrast. In addition, since it is often
perceived that the nature of a person's voice reflects something of the nature of the person, a presenter
should develop and communicate with a steady, resonant, and mature voice.
Pitch
The term pitch refers to the degree of highness or lowness of a sound. Every voice has a normal pitch in
terms of what is '"normal" for the speaker. The norm for an effective communicator is a pitch that can be
raised a few levels without sounding squeaky and lowered a few levels without sounding grimly. Such a
range allows a speaker to vary pitch for contrast while maintaining a vocal quality that is pleasing to the
ear.
Pitch has a notable impact on how a presenter is perceived. In every species that makes audible sounds,
the young have higher-pitched voices than do grown adults. Consequently, a high-pitched voice is
associated with immaturity. An excessively high-pitched voice is shrill and unpleasant to listen to for
long. A person who speaks in a high-pitched voice will be taken more seriously if the pitch is lowered.
An effective presenter uses pitch changes to indicate a change in the message. At the end of a sentence,
dropping the pitch signifies a statement; raising the pitch signifies a question. For that reason, repeated
lifts in pitch ac the end of declarative statements create an impression of a speaker who is uncertain.
Occasional and appropriate variations in pitch can be used to accentuate meaning. Rapid, frequent, and
meaningless changes in pitch make it difficult for an audience to listen attentively, and may suggest that
the speaker is highly emotional or frantic.

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