Student Resource
Gamble, The Public Speaking Playbook, 2nd Edition
SAGE Publishing, 2018
Lecture Notes
Chapter 15: The Speaker’s Voice
Learning Objectives
1-1 Describe how vocal cues can facilitate communication between the speaker and the
audience
1-2 Explain how culture affects the use and interpretation of vocal cues
1-3 Effectively give voice to a speech
Outline
I. The significance of the speaker’s voice is important to the success of a speech.
A. The voice of a successful speaker enhances the expression of ideas without
calling undue attention to itself or being distracting.
1. Audiences are able to concentrate on what is being said if they are not
distracted by the sound of your voice.
2. Audiences can sense a speaker’s enthusiasm and the significance of the
main points when listening to a speech.
3. Researchers have discovered that the bulk of a message’s personal and
connotative meaning is communicated from nonverbal delivery.
4. Paralinguistic or vocal cues play a role in creating impressions that
speakers make on an audience.
II. Pitch, the highness or lowness of one’s voice on a tonal scale, is one type of vocal
cue.
A. Varying pitch will protect from sounding monotone.
1. Varying pitch increases the communicative value of words by conveying
the meaning of the message.
2. Habitual pitch is the level that we speak most often.
3. Optimal pitch is where our voice functions the best and where we have
the most extensive vocal variation up and down the scale.
B. Audiences stereotype speakers on the basis of their voices.
1. Lower-pitched voices are stereotyped as being more mature, sexier and
stronger as compared to higher-pitched voices.
Student Resource
Gamble, The Public Speaking Playbook, 2nd Edition
SAGE Publishing, 2018
2. Higher-pitched voices are stereotyped as being helpless, nervous, and
tense.
III. Volume, the loudness or softness of the voice, is a second vocal characteristic that
affects the meaning of the spoken words.
A. When adjusting the volume, one must adapt to the situation and consider
cultural adaptations.
1. Regulating one’s volume according to size and acoustics of the room, size
of the audience, and competing background noises is required.
2. Speakers may also stress or emphasize specific words and ideas by using
volume.
B. Culture also influences the impact of volume on an audience during a speech.
1. The volume that is appropriate in one culture can be viewed in the opposite
manner in another culture.
2. Audiences will indicate whether a speaker is communicating with an
appropriate volume if they are moving forward, frowning, or leaning back.
IV. Rate is another vocal characteristic.
A. When regulating the rate, the speaker will reflect mood, use silent pauses
and avoid verbal fillers.
1. Rate is the speed at which words are spoken.
2. Most people speak at a rate of 125 to 175 words per minute.
3. Speaking too quickly is viewed as a desire to get the speech over in
record time.
4. Speaking too slowly communicates tentativeness and a lack of
confidence.
B. Rate needs variation to reflect changes in the speaker’s mood.
1. Slow to express thoughtfulness, solemnity, or concern; quicker when you
want to convey excitement, a sense of urgency or eagerness.
C. Pauses are used to slow the speech rate.
1. Pauses can be used for emphasizing an important idea or for dramatic
effect or to give the audience a chance to reflect on what was said or to
signal the end of a thought.
2. Pauses should be used before starting, after posing a rhetorical question,
before an important point, when transitioning from one part of the speech
to the next, and after delivering the closing remarks.
3. The meanings attributed to pausing during a speech are also influenced
by culture.
D. Verbal fillers are considered to be unnecessary pauses.
Student Resource
Gamble, The Public Speaking Playbook, 2nd Edition
SAGE Publishing, 2018
1. “Er,” “Uh,” “Um” and “Okay,” are viewed as disruptions to the natural
flow of the presentation by lowering the speaker’s credibility.
V. Articulation and pronunciation are additional vocal cues.
A. Articulation is the way in which individual sounds are pronounced.
1. Speak the sounds of words sharply and distinctly.
B. Pronunciation is the way in which words are stated correctly.
1. A dictionary should be used to ensure proper pronunciation.
VI. Be aware of dialects and regionalisms.
A. A dialect is a speech pattern characteristic of a group of people from a particular
area or specific ethnicity.
1. People have preferences for certain dialects and will form stereotypes of others
based on their dialects.
2. Audiences will perceive a speaker to be more credible if he or she is able to
adapt their dialect to the one that is characteristic of the audience.
3. Speakers who are able to code-switch or adjust dialect to suit the needs of a
speechmaking situation are most successful.