Three Key Emotions Speakers Infuse on Stage

Are you getting the best results from your storytelling or speaking to prospective client groups? As a lifelong former Drama Coach, I now coach my professional speaking clients, who are not actors, how to infuse sincere emotional tone to add depth and connection to their storytelling.
 
Often leaders, trainers, coaches and entrepreneurs use great words to match their content but avoid becoming too emotional in their tone of voice. Yet, you’d be surprised at how easy it is to match your words to your feelings and thoughts by discovering how to use your voice more effectively. Out of numerous emotional effects from fear to elation, the three emotions to begin with are: curiosity, excitement, and compassion.
 
Key #1 Curiosity:  Speakers use this approach as way to get the attention of their audience and to hold it until the end. Solving a puzzle, mystery, or a question has always attracted listeners to the process of figuring out the answer; but also, the satisfaction of finding it. It’s not difficult to ask a question about something; “How can I lose weight quickly?”; “What retirement funds should I invest in?”; How do I get people to buy my book, service, or my product?”; “How can I motivate my managers better?”; and any number of problem-solving concerns your listeners may have.

However, your voice must sound curious as you present the question or mystery to your listener. Do you raise your tone at the end of the question? Do you put a vocal nuance on a key word that sounds intriguing? Do you use a pause to emphasize a certain mystery about it?  If your voice is changing its pitch range from your normal speaking tone, then you will perk up your listeners’ ears. Avoid droning on in your usual monotone or seriousness or blandness.
Here is a voice exercise to help flex your range:
Say the word, “really” five different ways to suggest different meanings. Try other words or phrases within your question to captivate interest in your speech. Approach it as if you’ve wondered about it yourself for a long time.
 
Key #2 Excitement: Next, you want to transition into excitement about coming up with a solution, discovery, or next amazing thing or step. Stay away from speaking and reacting calmly. Instead, put your entire energy into expressing your excitement, as if you have discovered the secret. Allow your mind to focus on the moment of discovery as being so profound to you.
 
Your voice relies on your breath and relaxation to project the energy that you need to sound excited. If you are using a story as an example; then role play that moment emotionally. Listeners will also be excited along with you. Be careful, they will also know when you are faking the emotion which could lead to doubting your expertise or your speech. 
Feed your imagination and your voice tone with this exercise:
Imagine you have just landed the biggest contract beyond your expectations. Now tell your best friend, wife, or family about it. Say, “I did it! Yes, I did it! Here’s what happened…! Tell your story while moving and speaking energetically with excitement and hopefulness. Go way over the top to stretch your emotional range.  Next, transfer this emotional excitement appropriately to your own speech or presentation.  

Key #3 Compassion:  Your story may be about how to overcome a difficulty or a challenge by presenting the lowest moment of failure before showing the recovery. Yet, to express your story without emotion and only as an observer is a mistake. Become part of the story, take on one of the characters and speak your story as the character would be saying aloud his frustrating thoughts of disappointment, sadness, or hopelessness.  Bring your story alive for the audience with your voice emotionally affected by the tragedy to the point of tears so the listeners are feeling it for themselves. They recognize similar situations in their own lives.
It’s this showing of your compassion for helping the participants that will hook your audience to follow your message.  Your listeners too want to be relieved to have a forever happy ending.
If your voice is not in sync with your compassionate words, then your audience will tune you out. Your speech is slower, sincere, and sounds as if you totally understand the situation. You move into the hopeful solution for your listeners.
 
Here is one of the best exercises for your voice to match your emotional desperation of the characters in your story. Start with a hum in sync with your diaphragmatic breathing:
1)Breathe in, breathe out “Hmmmmm” using your low range; repeat 3 times 
2)Change your hum to the “aw” repeat 3 times by dropping your jaw and letting your tone exit your mouth   
3)Change you’re your “aw” to “oh” and lower your tone Settle on your best “oh” that truly resonates from you core large chest and not your throat. Match this optimal tone to fit the context to enhance the vitality of your speech.  

Finding your best tone for your voice is one that will give you confidence. Include a variety of low, mid, and high tones to offer better inflection and emphasis to your words.

Connect better with your listeners when you invoke true emotional focus while telling your stories or presenting informative guidance. Start with these most common ones: curiosity, excitement, and compassion. Use the voice exercises to prepare your voice to be a speaker that goes from dull to brilliant.
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Brenda C. Smith is Author of “Breathe…Just Steps to Breathtaking Speeches,” a complete system to vitalize your speech- now available on Amazon and other book sites: http://bit.ly/2h5K9fL   Please leave a review on Amazon if you liked the book and share with your friends and colleagues.