4 Vocal Tips to Sound Like a Pro in Virtual Meetings

Jun 30, 2020

We all want to make a strong impression in meetings, and that shouldn't change just because you're behind a screen.

Here are a few ways you can make sure you have a good impact in virtual meetings:

 

1. Slow your pace

Pace - the speed at which you speak - is everything.

Research shows that we speak rather quickly in casual conversations (170 words per minute and more) but a good communicator is one that can change the pace of their speech to match the requirements of a conversation.

This can become difficult in virtual meetings. Things like video calls are unnatural forms of communication but one way to keep your viewers engaged is to slow the pace of your vocal delivery.

Listeners who concentrate on your voice alone will lose key points and remember less if the ideas are delivered too quickly. So slow it down!

Of course, don't slow so much that you put your listener to sleep!

Try and record yourself before an online meeting and see if your ideas are as clear out in the open as they are in your head.

 

2. Pause for impact

Sometimes it's important to let your words sink in.

Use silence as a tactic. Nothing is more dramatic than a well-placed pause.

 

3. Remember to enunciate

When in online meetings, you may be in a rush, but there's no excuse for lack of enunciation.

In fact, it's more important in virtual meetings than in normal everyday conversations. For all you know, someone has only heard half of your sentence and so you want to make sure you speak as clearly as possible so they don't get the wrong end of the stick.

For example, many speakers fail to clearly pronounce final consonants in words that end in 'nt.' He kept going sounds like He kep goin. Words like 'can't' sound like can and 'won't' sounds like won.

Don't swallow the consonants at the end of words. A simple fix is to practice old fashioned tongue-twisters:

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers; a peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.

Try it and see how you get on!

 

4. Use the right technology

Yes, it's important that you speak clearly... but all of that is no good if your technology doesn't match your efforts.

Rely on trusted tools such as Horizon Collaborate and Microsoft Teams to deliver high-quality audio and rich call control.

 

Work from Home for only £1.22 per user / per day

 

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