Do you deliver solid content but sound as if you're speaking in tones of gray? Here's how to spice up your voice by adding color to your presentations!

Back in 1956, a popular movie appeared titled The Man In the Gray Flannel Suit. Recently, a sequel came out. It's called The Speaker In the Gray Flannel Voice. I'm hoping (and I bet you are too) that it won't be showing at the next business conference you attend.

But, alas, it probably will be. Why do so many of us neglect the most powerful communication tool we own?

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Have Long Have You Been Speaking Anyway?

The oldest human writing system, called cuneiform script (using wedge-shaped symbols), is only 5,000 years old. But you can bet that long before that, proto-humans and then our species were exchanging vocal sounds, which then led to actual language.

Surprise, shock, anger, tenderness, indicating directions and giving simple instructions, issuing warning sounds—these as well as an array of emotional responses were surely voiced, probably for hundreds of thousands of years before written expression came along. That means that not only are you hard-wired to express yourself vocally, but anyone listening to you is heavily dependent on the way you say things to understand what you really mean.

So, why do we think that a pie chart, bar graph, or PowerPoint slide can encompass what we're really trying to say about a topic or issue?

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The Tools In Your Toolbox

Okay, then. Let's all put down our rubbing-sticks and hide-scrapers and start to use the other helpful tools in our toolbox: the vocal ones. In my work coaching and training professionals at The Genard Method, I list the following as the five essential vocal tools:

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

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These voice practices add variety and interest to your speech. (Think about a speaker droning on without any variety and without doubt you'll think of one word: monotony.) But the speaker who uses these vocal techniques is not only more interesting and engaging to listen to. He or she also aids listeners' comprehension by making clear important content versus merely supporting material. Your audience can not only clearly hear the difference; but if you leave it out, listeners will lose vital information because it sounds like everything else!

Speaking at Your Best

Want proof? 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 effortlessly use every one of the key tools I've mentioned. And if you're animated or passionate about what you're saying (and you should be), you won't really be able to fully express yourself unless you inflect your pitch, change your volume, vary your pace, etc. 

Here's something else you need to know: "The Power of Silence: How To Use Pauses Effectively In Public Speaking." Download my Free Guide to speak more strategically!

How Being Serious for Business Flattens Your Speech: Now videotape yourself practicing a speech or presentation for work—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 FULLY 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. (Speaking of being lively and energetic, here are 15 easy ways to keep your voice healthy.)

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 say you don't spend time anymore with coloring books? Think of it this way, then: spice up your voice! 

Your voice gives you virtually limitless potential to express what really needs saying, not just a recital of what the data shows. Anything less runs the danger of leaving your audience bored, unimpressed, missing the excitement your voice can add to your material, and perhaps most important of all: your personal feelings and views about the topic. Sure, your content gives listeners the information they need. But your voice makes all of it seem to matter.

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 Gary Genard is an actor, author, and expert in public speaking and overcoming speaking fear. His company, The Genard Method offers live 1:1 Zoom executive coaching  and corporate group training worldwide. He was named for nine consecutive years as One of the World’s Top 30 Communication Professionals, and also named as One of America's Top 5 Speech Coaches. He is the author of the Amazon Best-Sellers How to Give a Speech and Speak for Leadership: An Executive Speech Coach's Secrets for Developing Leadership Presence. His book, Fearless Speaking, was named in 2019 as "One of the 100 Best Confidence Books of All Time." " He is also the author of the Dr. William Scarlet Mysteries. Contact Gary here.

Main photo credit: Edoardo Colombo at pexels.com.