Suzy Sunshine is a ray of light in an otherwise dreary office. She has a permanent smile plastered to her face and is upbeat and perky every morning without fail. When Suzy gives a presentation, she uses bright, colorful slides and has a grin so big you can hear it with your eyes closed. The problem with Suzy is that she doesn’t know how to tone it down. She makes her presentation on the company’s financial crisis sound like a presentation on cute puppies. What Suzy is suffering from is a complete lack of tone awareness. Long ago, somebody told Suzy it was important to be cheery and smiling when giving a speech and she has taken that advice to absolute heart. But each presentation should be handled differently depending on the audience and especially given the content.
Sing it!
The easiest way to keep your tone in check with your content is to think of your presentation as a song. The lyrics would be the content of your speech, while the music would represent the tone. If you’ve ever listened to a song with an upbeat tempo but gloomy lyrics, you know that the interpretation of the song’s message can be skewered by the melody. Consider the lyrics of the Gorillaz song “Clint Eastwood:”
I’m happy, I’m feeling glad I’ve got sunshine in a bag
While the lyrics are uplifting, the music is low-key with the lead singing the lines in a monotonous, depressing way. The result changes the meaning of the lyrics completely, making them seem ironic or sarcastic. It goes to show you that it’s not always what you say, but how you say it. Your presentation is the same in that the inflictions in your voice can illicit different responses from your audience. If you come up and start yelling like a drill sergeant it will deliver your message differently then if you speak in a cool, calm manner.
Don’t Be Tone Deaf
Your slides, your handouts, all of your information are useless if you don’t use the proper tone to convey the correct message. To make sure your tone is okay, record yourself when you practice your speech and then play it back with your eyes closed. Without the use of visuals, ask yourself if your message still comes across clearly. Another good technique to use in order to perfect your tone is to practice your speech using no words at all. Speak in gibberish, but try to still drive home your point using only the infliction in your voice. And remember, it’s not always just the tone in your voice, but your body language also can also contribute to the big picture.
Visual Tone
Don’t be fooled into thinking tone is just about how you sound. Your slides and visual aids will help to shape the tone of your presentation as well. A slideshow full of graphs and charts will be perceived differently then one that uses cartoon pictures and funny comics. Consider just the color of your slides for a second. Red text at the right time can make a point stand out or be more important than others. How you choose to visually present your information should keep in line with the type of content it is. Don’t worry if this seems a bit too much for you. As long as you know your content and you know your audience, finding the right tone will be easy. Just keep your ears open as you speak and pay attention to how the audience is reacting.
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