Variety is the spice of life (& your speeches)!

I was working with a student today on an acting piece for her LAMDA exam. It was the kind of monologue where it could all be very much "on one level". She could use the same emotion, intonation, pitch, speed and intention for the whole speech.

BUT my goodness wouldn't that be dull to watch?

We'd soon tune out and stop listening...we can't help it, humans are programmed to get used to repetitive things quickly and stop noticing/appreciating them - so we have to outwit the human brain.... we have to surprise it, shock it - with VARIETY!

Whether you're preparing a monologue for a speech and drama exam, or a presentation for a National conference - variety is the only way you will intrigue your audience and keep them engaged.

"Ok but how do I do that?" I hear you ask! Well, here are a few ideas below for how to keep your speech interesting, varied and engaging....

How do you want them to feel & react?

Yes you may have an overall intention for how you want the audience to feel/react to the speech - but you're going to need to work a little harder if you want to keep them listening and drawn in the whole way through.

Break the speech down into short sections, work out how each section is relevant to the overall message and what emotional part of the journey they represent - whether it's the sadder part where we're talking about the disappointments of the past, or the exciting part where things are growing or improving, perhaps it's the triumphant part where current successes are celebrated. Take your audience on a journey through your speech - create an interesting and dynamic rollercoaster rather than a tram journey and they'll be in for the ride.

What's the "vibe"?

Even fancy people doing important jobs like to be entertained. Yes there are moments where the stripped back facts are important, and others where a serious or earnest tone is appropriate and necessary. But more often than not, there's also space for a touch of humour. Even in sad moments, people appreciate a touch of light to help navigate a tough time. So have a look through and see what different tones you could include in your speech to give a varied performance.

What speeds can you explore?

Pace and pause are critical tools in terms of keeping an audience engaged. If you speak solidly at the same pace for the whole speech, people are going to tune out. So play with speeds (I've done a whole blog post on this so do check that out) - but very briefly -

Work out which bits are really important and need to be slowly spelt out. I tend to find slower moments are useful for important facts, for titles, and to emphasise your main point.

Work out which bits can go faster. A faster speed is useful for lengthy subordinate clauses, brushing over facts that need to be said but aren't that important, or even for passages where you don't want to be interrupted.

Work out where you can pause. Pausing after a very important statement gives the words a moment to resonate and gives us a moment to sit with them and take them in. It helps the audience to remember them (and also gives us, the speaker, a moment to catch our breath!). Pause is also helpful for breaking up and bookending different sections of a speech.

To generalise - slower speeds help us notice and remember things, faster speeds indicate that this section is interesting but not that important to remember, and a pause helps give gravitas to a statement and structure to the speech.

There are lots more ways to find variety in your speech - if you're interested in exploring them, why not book a free chat with me HERE to see how I can help.

Lydia is the Founder & Lead coach at Step Up Vocal Coaching. She is passionate about helping people speak with confidence, personality and impact.