RHYTHM
When writers work to shape their prose, they have a weighty tool at their command: rhythm.
Except for the word "rhythm," the entire previous sentence is written in iambic meter. An iamb is two syllables, the first unstressed, the second stressed. "Express" is an iamb. So is "rehearse." On the other hand, the word "rhythm" is a trochee, a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable.
How does this mini-lesson
in meter relate to presentations? Because good writers, and good presenters, know that
rhythm is most powerful when it changes. |
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Shakespeare's plays, for example, are written predominantly in poetic lines of five iambs each (iambic pentameter), but it is rare that more than three or four lines at a time are in absolutely perfect iambic. Why? Because without variation the meter starts to dull the ear like the constant clakety-clakety of a train.
As the speaker, you have a wide array of ways to use rhythm to give your listeners variety. One of the most obvious is speeding up and slowing down. You can think of doing this with a long arcing vision—beginning an entire presentation at a moderate pace and then building and building the pace as you get farther along. Or it can be done with a micro-view—altering your speed within individual sentences.
A fun way to play with rhythm that many people use is to get to the end of a sentence and simply say one . . . word . . . at . . . a . . . time. If you need to communicate passion or importance, this is a simple and effective technique.
You might also examine whether all your ideas are expressed with sentences that are the same length. If your listeners can begin to predict how your ideas will be shaped, they'll stop listening.
Many people fear they speak too quickly. This is rarely the case. Our ears can process more words per minute than our mouths can articulate. But what is often missing is the full stop at the end of one thought before the next thought begins. Using a pause is a powerful way to alter your rhythm and get people to tune in.
(Do you remember your grade school teacher stopping speaking mid-sentence? Every head came up and all eyes went to her. Pauses have power!)
As you look to create variety in your sound, play with the rhythm of your speech. One way to do this might be to imagine someone you know very well. Try imitating them with a particular emphasis on speaking in their rhythm. Shifting your rhythmic gears builds flexibility and variety. And variety, after all, is the spice of presenting.
THE SOUND OF LEADERSHIP MENU
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