Communication is the real work of leadership. 

-Nitin Nohria

Good communication is the foundation of business success. Even the best laid plans can fall apart without it. Make yourself essential to any organization by developing strong public speaking skills, which will in turn make you a better communicator. And we know how to get you there.  Most importantly, honing these skills can further your career along the way.

What is corporate communication?

Corporate communication is how information is shared internally. Internal communications can vary in terms of the content of the message, how it’s delivered, and the intended audience of the message. Some examples where formal presentations may be appropriate would be:

• Meeting with the board of directors
• Proposing a new product
• Launching a marketing campaign
• Releasing financial statements
• Training new hires
• Introducing a new software program

However, there are plenty of informal communications that are similar to presentations on a smaller scale:

• Performance reviews
• Team meetings
• Project proposals

When you develop persuasive public speaking skills you can leverage all types of internal interactions as opportunities to connect with others in the corporate environment. If you are prepared for all types of communication environments, you can strengthen connections and build up your network over time. Using our online training simulation, you can vary the type of presentation setting to best match the context of your workplace communication.

Why is it important?

It should come as no surprise that verbal communication skills are consistently ranked among the top desired skill set for employees. Verbal communication is a human resources gold mine because it can be assessed immediately with even a simple conversation. Interviews are a bit like public speaking. They can feel high-pressure, you’re presenting information with some level of expertise (on your fit for the job), and involve a social exchange. Improving your public speaking skills can strengthen your corporate communication skills in every domain. Using our acoustic and psychological metrics for public speaking prowess, you can tackle this task head-on.

Presentations are often used as a persuasive tool. A department head may need to give a persuasive presentation to gain approval for a budget increase. A supply chain manager might give a presentation persuading the group to change transportation methods. There’s no greater example of a persuasive presentation than a sales pitch. While information is an important part of persuasive presentations, the primary goal is to compel a person or audience to adopt an idea or move to action. If you have developed persuasive public speaking skills, then you’re ahead of the professional pack. You will not only have an edge in interviews, but can move through the ranks faster as you make connections and drive up the success of your organization.

It’s imperative for good employers to include public speaking skills training within a well-rounded training and development program. As an employee, ask for training around this topic- even show your manager our explainer video. As an employer, strengthen your team by filling it with strong communicators. As employees become leaders, they’ll need these critical communication skills to move their organizations in the right direction.

The most precious things in speech are pauses.
-Sir Ralph Richardson

The basic function of public speaking is to……well, speak. At its core, public speaking exists to communicate important ideas through strong verbalization.  At some point in our lives, we are called upon to speak before a group or audience. When this time comes, we take great care to plan every moment of our speech, from the structural breakdown of each page of the PowerPoint to when we should properly pause and take a breath. But how much time do we spend, each day, not considering our speech patterns? Do we truly know when to pause in a speech? Utilizing the art of pausing throughout a speech will not only enrich your personal communication skills, but will further entice your audience.

Why pause at all?

Pausing throughout our speeches is crucial to effective public speaking. For starters, we need to breathe throughout our speech delivery! Beyond basic oxygen replenishment, effective pausing also helps us to stay on track, gives the audience time to reflect, and adds emphasis to our ideas. Pauses can become a Swiss Army knife in your presentation skills’ tool kit, because they enhance the context of your content.

When to pause:

• At the end of a sentence, signaling the conclusion of a complete thought
• After changing slides, giving your audience a chance to absorb the new visuals
• Before delivering a critical point to increase impact
• After sharing an important idea so it marinates with the audience
• After (physically) showing the audience a new gadget or prop
• When presenting dense, technical information
• After receiving an audience question or response so you can gather your thoughts
• To breathe

How to pause

All pauses are not created equal. You should pay attention to long pauses in your speech, as well as overall pauses. It is extremely beneficial to utilize both long- and regular- length pauses throughout your speech delivery. A regular pause should occur naturally at the end of each thought or sentence, while long pauses should be inserted when transitioning to a new idea. Doing so helps emphasize the transition, and gives you an extra moment to gather your thoughts as you move to the next major theme in your speech.

Pauses also allow you to pace your delivery. This is crucial to knowing when to pause in a speech. Many individuals struggle with rushing through their speech or presentation, due to nerves or talking fast. Pausing throughout the entirety of your speech will not only pace yourself, but can also help calm your nerves! Stringing together complex sentence after complex sentence can leave you out of breath, and leave audience members lost. Working on taking that pause to breathe when rehearsing your speech will result in an excellently delivered speech that keeps your audience engaged. Remember, natural pacing makes it easier for your listeners to follow along and digest your points. If your pauses don’t occur naturally, your delivery will sound disjointed and robotic.

Remember to pause, remember to breathe, and you’ll be on the right path toward becoming a professional public speaker.

People will forget what you said.
People will forget what you did.
But people will never forget how you made them feel.
–Maya Angelou

Do you remember the heading on the third slide from the last office meeting?
Can you recall the specs for the new product being launched next quarter?
How about what your supervisor wore during the last training presentation?

If you answered “no” to any or even all of these questions, then you probably understand exactly what Maya Angelou was talking about. Don’t get me wrong, content matters. Speaking in front of an audience is a privilege, and you shouldn’t waste the opportunity or their time.

Superior expertise on your topic is great, but there is a difference between merely presenting content and delivering information. Strong vocal delivery is a critical speaking skill and will leave a lasting impression. Strong delivery exhibits mastery of the content and high interest in the subject at hand.

If you’re showing enthusiasm, the audience will pick up on it and it’s contagious. The audience will no longer only hear your words; they’ll be engaged with you and your content. While they may not remember every single detail, they’ll certainly remember the primary themes of your engaging speech or presentation. This is particularly important if the goal of your presentation is a call to action, such as a sale, a proposal agreement, adoption of a new idea, etc.

Being engaging will help you to become a better public speaker. So what are the rules of engagement?

1. Pitch Variability

Baseball is America’s pastime. The most important position in baseball is the pitcher, and the best pitchers have a variety of pitches to keep batters on their toes. The same goes for you with the pitch of your voice.

If you have a monotonous delivery, your audience will tune you out…..or fall asleep or just leave! A change in your pitch is an inflection. These voice inflections give your voice a melody, making you more pleasant and interesting to listen to. We all have a natural pitch to our voices. Women generally have higher pitches, while men generally have lower pitches. This doesn’t mean we are restricted to one sound. Your mood affects your pitch. If you become excited, your pitch tends to go higher. If you are serious or somber, your pitch tends to go lower.

Inflections can be powerful especially when used to emphasize an important point or concept. Vocal variety is critical to keeping the audience’s attention- so vary your pitch to avoid a boring monotone.

2. Volume Variability

Varying your volume increases the effectiveness of your speech. You can pique the audience’s interest by varying your volume as you are emphasizing different points. Raising your voice stresses important points and charges your audience up, while lowering your voice causes the audience to concentrate acutely on what’s being said and creates closeness.

Think about an orchestra that goes from a gentle rumble to a crescendo, and then back to a soft piece of music. The best way to raise your volume naturally is to focus on a person or group sitting in the back of the room and direct your speech to them. When you focus on reaching the group farthest away from you, you’ll naturally speak a bit louder. Take full breaths, stay calm and project your voice using the air you take in. To lower your voice naturally, talk to the person closest to you and maintain eye contact. This connection will naturally result in softer speech.

3. Pace Variability

The theme so far has been on vocal variety, but pace is another important component. You benefit from varying your pace. Continuing the baseball pitcher analogy, the best pitchers also adjust the speeds of their pitches. Adjusting your pace adds to vocal variety. This also includes taking pauses to let your audience digest ideas … and more importantly it lets you catch a breath! If you’re excited about a topic, you’ll tend to speak at a faster rate. You’ll speak a bit faster and louder, and express positive energy. Slow your pace if you want to emphasize a point. Allow your audience time to think when you explain complex information. To slow down, remember to pause and breathe between ideas. Another natural way to slow down your speaking pace is by holding longer eye contact with audience members. Hold eye contact for 3-5 seconds, or the length of a sentence, with each individual and it will naturally slow down your pace.

You’ll improve your communication skills by incorporating these simple rules of vocal variety. The more you speak, the more comfortable you’ll be with your own voice. It’s an amazing tool, so you owe it to yourself to get the most out of it.