My favorite. My absolute favorite.

I don't know this for sure, but vocal modulation has MASSIVE impacts on how convincing you are.

Well, I pretty much do know it for sure. It worked for me (all of the techniques in this book did). But I'm going to be doing scientific research soon enough to prove it.

Here's my thesis:

There are vocal patterns that are particularly powerful.

I already know there are some (I uncover them in the book), but I bet there are hundreds more. I can't wait to find them all. When I do (through scientific research), they will be posted on this site.

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ANYWAY:

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I'm going to pull back the curtain and give you this section from the book:

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"Voice modulation is made up of three main things: volume, pitch, and pace. An experienced public speaker will periodically shift these qualities as they proceed through their speech, making for an interesting, varied listening experience. They will pay special attention to varying their vocal modulation in order to avoid developing a repetitive verbal pattern. Over the course of different sentences, or even within a single sentence, maybe they will speak louder, at a higher pitch, and slightly faster than they previously were. Providing this vocal variance to your audience will make them much more interested in what you have to say as you are saying it. Here’s a diagram of a well-modulated voice speaking three sentences on the top of the next page.

At this point, it quite frankly might seem confusing, pointless, and too complex. However, there’s a method to the madness. Before I break down exactly why that diagram looks like it does, let me say this: you don’t have to be that strategic. Less organized vocal variance is still enough to prevent your voice from becoming monotonous. The vocal calculations I’m going to get into is not always necessary, although it is useful. Let’s say that the three sentences are:

1. “Climate change is a pressing problem that demands a solution from us now.”

2. “I’m often asked how bad can it really get; let me tell you right now that it can get very, very bad.”

3. “These natural disasters that have been ruining lives across the country are just a taste of what climate change can do to us.”

Here’s exactly how the climatologist is modulating their voice for each sentence:

1. Volume is constant, pitch goes down towards the end of the sentence, and pace is constant.

2. Volume is constant and then goes up sharply, pitch first goes up then goes down in breaking rapport tonality, and pace   remains constant before dropping rapidly.

3. Volume increases throughout, pitch goes down in breaking rapport tonality, and pace increases throughout.

Let’s examine the purpose of each sentence:

1. A straightforward, relatively calm statement.

2. A frequent question and then the expert answer.

3. A much more emotionally charged and intense statement than the first.

Now, by putting it all together, we can see the method to the madness:

1. “Climate change is a pressing problem that demands a solution from us now"; a fairly objective, level-headed statement of what the expert believes; volume and pace remain constant while pitch goes down at the end of the sentence to achieve breaking rapport tonality.

2. “I’m often asked how bad can it really get; let me tell you right now that it can get very, very bad"; a question, and then the dire answer; volume and pace remain constant during the question portion of the sentence, while pitch goes up to signal that it is a rhetorical question and achieve question tonality. After the question is posed, volume goes up and pace slows down to accomplish two things: firstly, it breaks out of the question paradigm and into the answer paradigm, and secondly, it places emphasis on the answer to the question. Pitch goes down during the answer to, once again, achieve breaking rapport tonality.

3. “These natural disasters that have been ruining lives across the country are just a taste of what climate change can do to us"; a very human, emotional, and intense statement of how climate change is threatening our lives; volume goes up and pace speeds up throughout to increase the intensity and emotion of the delivery, while pitch goes down to achieve breaking rapport tonality.

Understandably, this is very difficult to achieve at first, but over time it will become second nature. Start small, and work your way towards naturally modulating your voice with highly sophisticated purpose and strategy. It can be done, and it can even be done naturally. It can become second nature. Until then, however, do what is often just as effective: vary your voice in an easier and less organized way. It doesn’t always have to be modulated as purposefully as that example, but it must be varied. The example of those three sentences was just a glimpse of how complex it can really be: how pitch, volume, and pace can be modulated to create different effects on an audience.

When varying your elements of vocal modulation (pitch, volume, and pace), be careful not to do so too quickly. For example, don’t modulate your voice in the pattern in the diagram on the top of the next page.

You shouldn’t modulate your voice in this way because too many frequent “ups” and “downs” makes you sound “shaky.” Indeed, even “shaky” vocal modulation is better than no vocal modulation, but avoid sounding shaky by modulating your voice in a more smooth, controlled way, like so:

The “shaky” example suffered from too many variations packed into one sentence. Make sure when you modulate your voice, that you keep it controlled. Make it like the smooth, gentle flowing of a river, not like a rollercoaster."