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Some of us have formed a bad habit of inflecting up at the end of our sentences when presenting or talking in a meeting. This means that the pitch of our voice moves from a lower to a higher note. Rather than making a point, we come across like we’re asking a series of questions.
We talked to a few customers? We found that there was a common complaint when they first implement our system? So we should change our training video to make that problem step clearer?
The outcome is that we sound unsure.
In The Career Manifesto, Mike Steib talks about punctuating down as one of his six keys for a successful pitch. He argues your customers are buying into you just as much as the product or service you’re selling, and they need to feel like you believe in it yourself before you can hope to influence someone else.
Luckily, you can start changing this today. Change the pitch of your voice to shift from a higher to lower note when speaking. Try it in your next meeting and see what an impact it has on how you feel and come across.
Voice talent and coach Bill DeWees advises that we not do it with every sentence. Instead, thoughtfully add in moments of downward inflection to sound more authoritative and inspire others to believe what we’re saying.
The more you practice this, the easier and more natural it will become. Try it in your next phone call with a friend or conversation at work. Recognize when you’re feeling anxious about presenting your idea or point of view and especially think about not inflecting up
For more tips on how to improve your presentations, download my FREE guide with Five Ways to Dramatically Improve Your Presentations: A Guide for Small Business Owners.
Disclosure: Some of the links included in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
