Want to add color, expressiveness, and power to your speech? That's easy: Learn the key vocal techniques for successful public speaking.

The Genard Method includes these tools of vocal dynamics:

• Energy and emphasis
• Pitch inflection
• Rhythm and pacing
• Pauses and silence
• Vocal quality

Learn more here about the 5 Key Tools of Vocal Dynamics for speaking success.

It's important to remember two things about these tools: they add variety and interest to your speech, and they're made to be used together. In other words, one of the tools shouldn't be isolated and used exclusively.

The speaker who uses these vocal techniques not only is more interesting and engaging to listen to. He or she also aids listeners' comprehension by making clear important content versus supporting material. Your audience can clearly hear the difference!

Speaking at Your Best

How can you tell this for yourself? Simply pay attention the next time you're speaking to friends or colleagues—in other words, people you're comfortable and unselfconscious being around. Notice how you use every one of the key tools effortlessly.

Now videotape yourself practicing a speech or presentation—or better yet, delivering an actual presentation. Does your vocal technique seem inhibited or tentative? If that's the case, you're not alone. Many speakers and presenters are not lively and dynamic in formal speaking appearances, even though they might be quite expressive in casual situations.

Too many of them are playing it safe while speaking in "serious" settings. The worlds of business, education, finance, healthcare, nonprofits, government, politics, and other professional endeavors seem to call for no-nonsense presentations. The truth is, however, audiences will never receive the full impact and value of what you're saying if you don't tap into your expressive voice.

Break Out Your Box of Crayons

Think of it this way: If your vocal delivery lacks full expressiveness, you're using a coloring book with none of the pictures colored in. You know what such a book looks like: pretty line drawings that remain, well, colorless, sketches only that haven't come to life.

Such a book in a child's hands has tremendous potential. But that's all that it will ever be until that child throws caution to the winds and gets to work with his or her crayons. 

What fun ensues when the characters in the book are fleshed out in living color—and sometimes those colors aren't realistic at all. No matter. Richness, tonality, vibrancy, subtlety, brashness, softness, warmth, and excitement—these traits and more appear and communicate themselves with the help of the color palette in that crayon box.

You have exactly the same limitless potential available to you through the use of your voice. Anything less runs the danger of leaving your audience bored, unimpressed, and missing the excitement your voice can add to your material. Your content gives listeners the information they need. Your voice makes that content come alive.

Key takeaways from this blog:

• Vocal techniques add color, expressiveness, and power to your speech.
• The 5 Key Tools of Vocal Dynamics will aid your voice improvement.
• If you use these tools you'll be more interesting and engaging.
• Bring your typically expressive voice into "serious" business settings.
• Your voice should color your content as crayons color line drawings.