Everyone has met a person whose voice was so beautiful and nice that you ignored the meaning of words and just enjoyed this person’s voice. If you think that it’s a talent, you’re right but not 100% right. Some people are born with perfect articulation and intonation, whereas others need to train a lot to speak well. Although you don’t need to work on articulation and intonation, you may make your voice sound beautiful. It’s much easier and faster.
Many guides and educational materials promise to tell you all the secrets of developing a nice voice, but not all of them are really effective. And if you aim to feel and speak naturally in front of the camera, you need to use a special approach. That’s why we designed an effective guide that can help everyone speak well on camera and feel confident.
🤐 Speak properly: Let’s master the basic tricks
Don’t be afraid to be loud
Those who only learn how to speak well are shy, and it’s okay. When we are shy, we always speak quietly. It’s the first mistake that should be corrected. Answer yourself the following question: “For whom you’re talking?” If you’re talking for people, they must hear you, so try to overcome your barrier and start speaking louder.
Don’t show that you’re shy and you’re afraid of something — people lose interest in a blink of an eye. The key here is not to overdo it. Be loud, but don’t shout because it also shows a lack of confidence.
What about the speed?
Do you like people who constantly chatter and have to repeat what they told several times? You probably don’t, so avoid becoming such a person. Listeners will have trouble understanding what you tell and will even stop listening to you after some time. Professionals manage to develop their speaking style, speed the speech up, and slow it down when it’s necessary to emphasize something.
Trying to get ahead of yourself from the very start won’t help you to reach their level. Progress slowly, start with slowing down the speech rate and pausing when it’s necessary to draw in another breath but don’t speak too slowly. Otherwise, you’ll sound boring and monotonous. Try to maintain a speed of 120-160 words per minute.
Correctness is your first priority
Do you know another important characteristic of the perfect speech? It’s clearness. Clear speech is worth a lot because it’s one of the most important aspects of developing a good voice. Work on your pronunciation and watch every word you pronounce. Try not to make mistakes. If you don’t know how to pronounce this or that word — check it in the dictionary.
Not all people know that your organs of speech should be in a certain position when speaking. First of all, open your mouth and relax your lips. Keep your tongue and teeth in a natural position. It also helps conceal some speech impediments.
Remember about breathing
Deep breathing is one of the secrets of a full and intense voice. In real life, we breathe fast and shallowly, changing the tone of our voice to the negative side. Since you’re preparing to speak on camera, you must understand how to use the diaphragm. To understand it, place your fist on your belly, breathe in and out several times. If your stomach inflates, you breathe using the diaphragm.
But your task is to get used to diaphragm breathing, so practice it regularly. Take a deep breath for 5 seconds and then breathe out, counting to 5. You won’t even notice how you’ll start breathing with the diaphragm in real life. By the way, the quality of your breathing also depends on your position. If you want to breathe deeply, sit or stand still, shoulders back and keep your chin up. Such posture can also make you feel more confident; that’s why it’s a perfect position to speak on camera.
Breathe in at the end of each sentence to sound well and let listeners perceive information better. Use a deep breathing method, and don’t worry that you won’t have enough air to pronounce the next sentence.
Develop a unique style of presentation
Speakers who can’t control a pitch of voice may sound spasmodically and hesitantly. Listeners may think that these people are nervous, so to change your voice’s effect on the audience, try to speak calmly and make your tone of voice smooth. Don’t change the pitch of your voice. Try to find the natural tone of voice instead.
Singing a song and reading a text excerpt aloud are two best exercises for those who want to control the pitch of voice. Remember that you need to keep your tone on one level and place accents from time to time.
📹 How to become camera-friendly: practice and nothing more
Do vocal exercises every day
It may seem that speaking has nothing in common with vocal, but doing these exercises can help you develop your natural voice. It’s better to turn on a video and start your training session, or you may do them in front of the mirror.
|
The aim of the exercise |
Description |
Number of repetitions |
How often to do them |
|
Mouth and vocal cords relaxation |
Yawn widely and jiggle your jaw while singing a melody; then massage your throat muscles gently |
Once as a warm-up |
Every day |
|
Increasing the respiratory volume |
Breathe out all the air out of your lungs, take a deep breath and hold it for 15 seconds and then breathe out again |
Five times |
Every day |
|
Pitch practice |
Sing an ‘ah’ sound on your normal pitch and then gradually lower it |
Do this exercise with each vowel sound |
Every day |
Use tongue twisters
Today you can find hundreds or even thousands of tongue twisters on the Internet, so you’ll probably find several phrases you’ll like. If you’re a creative personality, make up your tongue twister. Practice them every day, and you’ll see the changes soon.
Read texts aloud
It’s the easiest way to work on your pronunciation, rate of speech, and breathing technique. You don’t even need to search for anything: open a book or magazine that lay on the table and start reading. Remember about the proper posture we’ve mentioned before and try to control your intonation. Don’t read like a robot. And remember that practice makes perfect.
Record your voice
We know that most of our readers who’ll read this piece of advice will immediately remember the voice confrontation. Almost all people face it when listening to their voices in recordings. If you also dislike how your voice sounds, it’s okay. But let’s forget about this effect for a little. You need to record your voice to avoid mistakes and track progress.
Moreover, the recording reveals mistakes we don’t notice at all. Since you’re preparing to speak on camera, make a video instead of recording to see how you look from the outside. Perhaps you need to change the position, learn to maintain eye contact with the audience, change the way you move your mouth, etc. We don’t judge a book by its cover, but you’d better look stunning.
Smile is your new habit
Each speaker should know how to win people over. You may do it by your voice: just use a friendly, open, and encouraging tone, and you’ll see how attentively people start listening to you. Don’t forget to smile, because it’s the most obvious way to show your friendly spirit. We don’t ask you to smile from ear to ear all the time — get the corners of your mouth lifted. Many managers and operators who have to talk on the phone with clients use this rule to speak in a friendly tone.
Smiling isn’t always about making your facial muscles move. Smile is about adding some positive emotions to your speech.
Are you going to speak in a webinar or any online conference? Dry, run your speech in front of the mirror, look at how you smile and speak. Ask your friends to assess your speech if you aren’t shy to speak to them.
📅 The secrets of talking to the camera: a thorough preparation is a key to success
Care about your outfit
If you think that your online speech is not a cause for dressing up, don’t cry and regret it when your speech fails. Clothing influences your sense of self and boosts your self-confidence. Choose a look that reflects your individuality and, at the same time, is comfortable. If you hold an online lesson, choose a simpler and modest look.
Can you look at the camera?
We mean that you should be able to stare at your camera for hours and not just take a glance. Many people are afraid of the lens, but this fear isn’t justified. Don’t look around; if visitors see that your eyes are constantly moving, your authority as an expert will be undermined. The main thing you should also do is to be able to recognize your mistakes and fix them.
Stock up some water
Dry mouth is your biggest enemy because it can spoil everything. Keep in mind that nervousness causes thirst, so that some water will help you for sure. By the way, getting a sip of water is a perfect way to gather your thoughts and catch your breath. Moreover, it will save your lips from drying out. Take a lipstick to moisturize your lips if you’re familiar with this problem.
What about the atmosphere?
No one extraneous noise and nothing more should interrupt you. To avoid all such potentially embarrassing situations, you have to take care of the atmosphere in your room. Try to remember all factors that can prevent you from presenting your speech and eliminate them.
Just relax
Being nervous and tense won’t help you get over this situation faster and emerge victoriously. Are you anxious? If yes, it’s not the right time to speak to the camera. You certainly remember what helps you alleviate stress, so do it before your speech to relax: listen to music, have a shower, do exercise. And only when you’re sure you’re cool as a cucumber may you start recording your video or participating in the webinar.
✔️ Some tips on how to stop being too shy
Gain control over your body
We hope you remember that camera significantly zooms the image, so the audience sees everything it should and shouldn’t notice. Moreover, they also analyze and assess your gestures and mimic. Learn some information about body language and choose a body position that’ll show your interest and energy. Newbies often use their hands to do something to calm their nerves, for example, strum any small detail. The audience will notice it, so find something to occupy your hands during your video.
Smile
Smiling with your eyes is a widespread trick of runway models. You also can do it to interest people. Stop thinking that you can smile only with your mouth, so involve your beautiful eyes. They at least shouldn’t show indifference; that enough for the first time.
Change your perception of the audience
Your audience isn’t strict professors with college degrees in acting, and they don’t open your video to criticize it. Some such individuals consider themselves the smartest people, but fortunately, they constitute a minority. You can laugh, but some psychologists offer people to imagine that people you’re talking to are naked. This approach helps people to build self-confidence and destroy barriers.
Use your personal experience
Everyone can find theoretical materials on the Internet, copy them and retell them. Many bloggers use this approach to create posts. What prevents your audience from doing this? Your content should have something unique, something that can attract people. Don’t be afraid to express your opinion, tell people about your personal experience, and discuss opinions. Be natural to make people fell in love with your personality.
Prepare text in advance, but present it so all people understand that you have reached this conclusion just a little while ago. Have you noticed that you feel more relaxed and free when you’re talking about your own experience? It’s another reason you should stop copying information and dilute it with your judgments. Try to stand while explaining materials. Sitting is more convenient, but it doesn’t let you radiate the spirit that’ll impress your audience.
❓ FAQ
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Can I add a little humor to my speech?
Yes, but remember that you’re not a stand-up comic, so don’t overdo it. Do you want people to remember your course for a long time? Make it look casual and natural. And making people laugh is probably the best way to achieve it. Intended mistakes and awkward situations can easily clear the air.
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Speaking voice coaches: do they really help?
Of course, they help people start speaking better. If you’re going to have an important event and don’t want to fail, take a few lessons with a voice coach. They don’t cost too much but help speakers quickly identify the main mistakes and fix them. Voice coaches are irreplaceable for those who have an accent: this issue isn’t so easy to deal with, and you won’t get rid of it on your own.
Your friend or family member can replace a coach: just practice your speech in the presence of someone and then ask this person to express his or her opinion.
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What are the key obstacles to becoming camera-friendly?
If you see you have one of the following problems, don’t panic. They aren’t critical and are easy to correct. Here they are:
junk words;
fast speech;
the abundance of pauses;
accent.
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Increasing your vocabulary
People with a small vocabulary have huge difficulties speaking well on camera, so having a qualification and being an experienced professional isn’t enough to present information well. Listen to audiobooks and read fiction because these are the easiest and the most effective ways to broaden your vocabulary.