Presenting in English - Use your voice! - The English Training Company

‘Present in English with confidence’ is a skill that takes practice. And it´s good to remember that “what you say” is as important as “how you say it”. For the second part “how you say it”, I always recommend watching this TED Talk.

This is one of my favourite TED Talks and a must see if you want to improve your presentations in English. (Watch the video from 4:30m to 9:50m – The six tools of the ‘Voice Toolbox’).

Present in English with confidence – Use your voice!

“What you say and how you say it are equally important” when presenting in English.

Like storytellers, people and your audience will listen more when you use your voice (voice techniques) to make your presentation sound more interesting.

Although this is challenging for non native English speakers, I’ve seen in my presentation training that it is possible for people to do two/three of the simple tips below. And your audience will really thank you!!

Here are my top tips to ‘Present in English with confidence!:

1. Remove “filler words” – remove the unnecessary noise of “filler words” (“umms”, “emms” and “ahhs”). When you find yourself about to produce an “um” or an “err”, make yourself pause instead. And you’ll feel more confident and project a more professional image.
2. Don’t sound monotonous – use energy and enthusiasm in your voice to not sound monotonous.
3. Pauses – pause for two seconds either before or after important ideas.
4. Project your voice and articulate (vocalizar) – really try to project your voice so everybody can hear it clearly. Also record and listen to yourself saying difficult words so you feel more confident pronouncing these words.
5. Intonation & emphasis – put more emphasis on important words in a sentence.
6. Volume – find a speaking volume you feel comfortable with. Then vary volume to grab attention and to help the audience pay attention at key moments.
7. Speed – slow down at key points so your audience can really pay attention and understand why something is important. Remember most of speak too fast when nervous.

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My Top Tip Recommendation:  Presenting in English – practice faking it, acting it and becoming it!

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