PITCH: the degree of highness or lowness of a tone – Oxford Dictionaries The only thing that baseball pitches and voice pitch have in common is whether they are low or high. Voice pitch is something that mainly singers and actors pay attention to. However, it’s also important for speakers. Have you ever listened to …
There is no denying that giving a speech in your second language is more difficult that giving one in your first language. What follows are my reflections on how the experiences are different. These are taken from my experience giving presentations in my second language, French, as well as my experience mentoring non-native speakers giving …
You’ve now decided on a topic or key message for your presentation, so you are moving on to one of the next steps: organising your speech. I strongly believe that when planning a speech you have to be messy before you get organised. This means get all of your ideas out. Brainstorming You can do …
When we talk about rate in speaking it means how fast someone speaks. This is very important when giving a presentation because you don’t want to be too fast and difficult to understand or too slow and bore everyone. According to the National Center for Voice and Speech, the average American speaks at about 150 words per …
This is one of the most common questions I get asked. The answer: it depends. To begin with, if you are able to read this blog you can give a presentation in English! It means that your vocabulary is large enough to communicate with people on detailed subjects. Under the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages …
One of the most common topics you will have to speak about is yourself. While this might sound easy, many people struggle. It is difficult to pick out the interesting points from a subject you know so well. Fortunately, there are many occasions to ‘practice’ this presentation. It could be as simple as meeting new …
Today the internet discussed a speech given in English by Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun. He spoke for about three minutes to an audience in India launching a new product. If you haven’t seen the video you can view it here. In basic English he made some introductory remarks, announced a gift for the audience and …
This magic three-letter word is the key to connecting with your audience and the most important word you can use in presentations. In English it is grammatically correct and culturally appropriate to use the word you when addressing the audience as a whole or just one person. Your audience is self-centered. They don’t care about …
You have a presentation to give and you are not sure where to begin. The introduction? The supporting material? Research? Before doing any of the above, there is one step you must do first. Decide on your key message. What do you want your audience to remember when they leave? Because if you are not clear …