Have you ever listened to a boring speaker? You know, the kind where you struggle to stay awake, let alone take in what he or she is saying. They drone on and all you can do is look at your watch, take deep breaths and do anything you possibly can to look like you are paying attention. Often this is due to lack of vocal variety.

I remember one such speaker back when I was getting my examination results at a prize giving in my college all those years ago. I don’t remember his message but I do remember him saying he is a newish speaker and asked advice of a friend before coming to give the keynote speech. The advice was “Be brief”.  Forty five minutes later and he was still speaking, with little or no vocal variety and even fewer interesting stories!

You don’t want to be remembered for being the most boring speaker that the audience has ever heard, do you? Well then I would suggest you compact your presentation and take out all the extra and spurious words. Make it interesting by getting to the point and using your voice effectively, use vocal variety when you deliver.

The advice the speaker got to “be brief” was spot on. Get to the point, make the point, and get off the stage. Very few speakers can entertain so until and unless you are one of them, you will make your point better with fewer words. It is unlikely that any presentation wouldn’t be improved by paring it down a little.