Prepping for Nationals: Your voice is your secret weapon.

 Now that regionals is over, quite a few of you are preparing for the NCFCA National Championships. You are pouring over your speeches to see if there is still room for improvement before script submission is due. While a few minor tweaks may be in order, I want to talk about an area that can always be improved - the use of the human voice.

     Your voice is unique, people recognize your voice hearing it from another room or on the phone.  It is a part of the uniqueness that is you. But sometimes vocal habits can stand between you and your goals.  I am often surprised how students will spend hours on scripts, blocking, accents, gestures, and walking patterns yet not really consider how much impact the voice itself has on an audience. 

     I often hear students say things like, “She has the most amazing voice.  I wish I could speak like that.”  Well, I have good news, while you will never speak with “her” voice, you can develop strong vocal habits to both improve the sound of your voice, as well as manipulate the way you use your voice as you speak. 

     I have included a link to my video lesson (below) on vocal practice with exercises and tips on how to find your best voice.  In addition, there are explanations about breathing, tonality, speed, and articulation. 

     Every speech category has a section on the ballot called vocal presentation. Judges often remark in this section about common problems they hear in all kinds of speeches.  The most common error is talking too fast. The second is not articulating your words clearly.  These habits are not difficult to change, but they do require awareness and practice.

     It only takes about 15 minutes to begin to understand how to adjust a few things to instantly improve your vocal skills.  With daily practice you will immediately see improvement.  Developing the voice quality (resonance and tone) takes a bit longer, but once you understand the process you will find it is exciting to speak with your very own powerful, resonant, confident voice.

The Ballot

     Understanding what the ballot says and how judges interpret the ballot is also important.  I am a judge who spent a few years in graduate school studying how the voice works for actors and how to get rid of poor vocal habits and replace them with healthier and more effective qualities.  If I am your judge, I will likely comment on those things very specifically.  However, many judges who have not studied the voice like I have will still know there is something that sounds more effective in one speaker over another, even though they are less specific in their comments on the ballot.  Do NOT ignore these comments!  These judges are telling you something is not as effective as it could be.  That is such great feedback for you!  Try to listen to yourself and evaluate to figure out what you need to work on.  I will unpack this more by examining the ballot.

Look at the NCFCA ballot section on Vocal Delivery for this year for platform speaking:

(Sourced from: https://ncfca.org/wp-content/uploads/Ballot-Rubric-for-Platform-Speeches.pdf?t=1725833034&t=1725833034)

The key words or phrases to note include:

• Vocal variation - this is KEY! What does it even mean?

• Volume, rate, pitch, tone - this is the difference between a good speech and a great speech.

• Articulation - this is a game changer! No more ones or twos when conquered!

• Style - The speech should sound like YOU, not your favorite speaker.

• Conversational - This is a score elevator! Write a SPEECH, not a research paper or essay.

• Vocal control - Decide how to use the voice, rather than letting habits take over.

In the video, I will address all of these items above with examples and demonstrations.  Take notes so you can PRACTICE!  

If I can give you a very precious gift today it would be my hope that you will understand that your voice was also created by God JUST FOR YOU!  He gave you a unique voice designed especially for you so that the entire person, you, would be unique and wonderful.  Yet you can work to develop your voice to become rich and full, articulate and expressive so that your communication touches people and impacts them in a profound way.  Enjoy the process of developing the unique voice God has given you.

LINK TO VIDEO HERE