Public Speaking: Fear – Shaky Voice
February 8th, 2009 by Frank Damelio
Does your voice shake when you are speaking in public? Just like the shaky hand, your fear of public speaking triggers the release of excessive adrenaline, which causes your voice to shake.
What big mistake do most speakers make when their voice gets shaky? They lower the volume. It is natural to want to lower your volume when you hear the shakiness in your voice, but it is counterproductive. It makes the shakiness more obvious.
The solution is to raise your volume when your voice is shaky. The extra adrenaline in your body causes your vocal cords to have tiny vibrations that make that shaky sound. When you speak loudly, the bigger movements of the vocal cords will veil the smaller vibrations caused by nerves. In essence, you drown out the shakiness in your voice.
While counterintuitive, it is this simple: turn up the volume to overcome the “shakes”.
More to come on veiling your fear of public speaking.
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February 9th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
Hello Frank,
You had touched on this in another one of your blogs and I had mentioned it happening to a woman that I work with. I have since told her your tip and she tried it at her next presentation. She was thrilled with the result ( no more shaky voice) and she vows to try and remember to continue to do it. She said she couldn’t thank you enough!
-Bella
February 9th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Bella,
There is nothing more rewarding than to hear that my tip helped someone to improve. Thank you not only for reading and responding to my blog, but also for sharing it with others. You are stellar!
– Frank
February 11th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
Nice tip Mr. D, I never thought about raising the volume when I had a shaky voice.
February 16th, 2009 at 10:27 am
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