Transcript A Speaker’s guidebook 4th ed

A SPEAKER’S GUIDEBOOK
4TH EDITION
CHAPTER 18
The Voice in Delivery
Elements of Vocal Delivery
Volume
 Pitch
 Rate
 Pauses
 Pronunciation
& Articulation
 Vocal Variety

Volume
Voice projection to fit the size of the room
 Variations in your voice that indicate loudness or
softness
 Compensation for interfering noises
 Breathing from your diaphragm improves your
volume control and doesn’t strain your vocal cords

Pitch
Inflections of the voice
 How high or low you speak – a very highpitched voice can be painful to the ear; a lowpitched voice is difficult to hear.
 Monotone versus varying pitch – practice
varying your pitch by reading children’s stories
out loud.

Rate



Rate is the speed of your delivery/speech.
Some speakers are breaking the “speaking limit”
when they deliver their speech.
If you notice that you start stumbling over your words
or getting tongue-tied,
you are speaking too
quickly. Take a deep
breath and start again
at a slower rate.
Pauses





Fluency is the smooth flow of your words.
The human speech pattern has a natural
rhythm.
Alliteration and repetition help create a more
pleasing rhythm.
Pauses should be brief silence for effect, and
not awkward.
Vocal fillers are the utterances that are
vocalized during an awkward pause (uh, um,
er, and stuff) and should be avoided.
Question
If the custodian engages a noisy floor waxing
machine in the hallway outside your classroom
during your speech, what do you need to
adjust?
A. Pitch
B. Rate
C. Fluency
D. Volume
E. Pause
Pronunciation & Articulation

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Pronunciation may be difficult for some words.
(Example: statistics) Look up the correct pronunciation in
the dictionary and practice until you are comfortable.
Articulation refers to making all of the sounds in a word
appropriately. Many people drop off the ending sounds
of words or squish words together instead of saying all
of the syllables.
(Correct Example: “I am going to the grocery store.”)
(Incorrect Example: “I’m go-n ta da gro-shry sto.”)
Vocal Variety
Combining all of the elements together is
demonstrating vocal variety; effectively using
one or two elements is not enough to perform
well on your speech.
 Add emotion and crescendos to your voice.
 Avoid mumbling or slurring your words
together.
 Practice until you feel confident.

Question
If a speaker has lazy speech, a type of
articulation problem, how can this be
corrected?
A. Practice speaking correctly.
B. Seeking medical advice.
C. Wearing an orthodontic appliance.
D. It cannot be corrected.
Chapter 18 Key Terms for Review
volume
lavalier microphone
handheld or fixed microphone
pitch
intonation
speaking rate
vocal fillers
pauses
vocal variety
pronunciation
articulation
dialects
mumbling
lazy speech