Confident delivery is a key part of executive presence. A few small adjustments will make a big difference.

Before you start:

• Be very clear on your purpose: what is it that you want your audience to understand and take away from this?
• Make it your responsibility to be heard and understood.

Slightly slow down your normal delivery pace – how? Increase and slightly exaggerate your use of inflection and emphasis. These act like highlighters. They show your audience what to pay attention to. And when we exaggerate them, we naturally slow down, too. Confident speakers identify themselves by their calm, clear delivery – so you don’t want to sound rushed. 

Avoid upspeak at all costs – it can make you sound uncertain, as if you’re questioning yourself the whole time. Upspeak is the name given to the verbal habit that some people have of always taking their pitch up at the end of the sentence – it’s an unfortunate habit because it prevents  your point from landing with the impact it should have.

How can I ‘fix’ upspeak? 

When you finish a point, let the pitch of your voice come down, so that your message lands.  Pause for a moment before continuing, to let your audience have time to process what you just said and take on board the impact of your message.If you feel yourself slipping back into upspeak, peak in pitch and start bringing your pitch steadily downwards, adding emphasis to assist you in making your point. Once you know what upspeak sounds like, record yourself speaking and listen back to hear if you do it. 

If you’d like to hear an example of upspeak and how to fix it, visit my youtube channel.

Just making these small changes can help your confidence levels, and enable you to come over as more confident and assured. 

If you’d like me to help you tackle upspeak or develop a more confident delivery style, get in touch. 

 

Based in Leytonstone, London, UK, Julia Caddick is a dynamic voice and presentation coach with over 30 years of experience in music, theatre, and communication. She helps business leaders, teams, and individuals present themselves and their ideas with clarity, authenticity and impact — both in person and online.