Introduction to Vocal Variety and Body Language: speaking with your voice and body

Introduction to Vocal Variety and Body Language is the third Level 1 project, and the speech runs 5-7 minutes. The same words land very differently depending on how you use your voice and body. This project is your first practice at using both on purpose.

Voice: change four things

• Pace: slow down for important words and speed up a little for the connecting explanation.
• Pitch: raise it for a question and lower it at the end of a statement to sound sure.
• Volume: make key sentences clear, and sometimes speak softer to pull people in.
• Pause: stop for 1 second before and 2 seconds after a key sentence. It is the easiest and most effective tool.

Body: look after four things

• Posture: feet shoulder-width apart, body facing the audience.
• Eye contact: look at one person for each sentence. Don't only look at a screen or your notes.
• Gestures: keep them around waist height and make them at the same moment as the words. Counting on your fingers when you say a number works well.
• Movement: take a step or two only when the story changes. Don't pace all the time.

How to practice

1. Say the same sentence in three moods (happy, serious, surprised).

2. Mark 3 places in your script to change something (slow, pause, louder).

3. Record yourself on your phone and check your voice and your hands.

4. In the speech, try one thing at a time. Doing everything at once feels awkward.

Evaluation, and in our club

Every speech has an evaluator who tells you what worked in your voice and body and one thing to try next time. SBTM meets on the 1st and 3rd Sunday of every month; in the app, choose your path, Level 1 and Introduction to Vocal Variety and Body Language, and the speech time (5-7 minutes) is set automatically. If you speak online (Zoom), practice looking at the camera lens too.

Please check the official guide for the exact project requirements.

• Official guide: Vocal Variety and Body Language (PDF)
• Official evaluation resource: Evaluation resource (PDF)

In the next article we look at the last Level 1 project, Evaluation and Feedback.