Speaking Effectively

Human communication is fraught with problems and difficulties. Whatever we try to communicate, something often seems to get in the way and we are not understood in the way we intended. But even when we are understood we often fail to get people to think or behave in the way we would wish. Perhaps because we learn to speak before we write, or perhaps because speaking is so much a part of our everyday life, we are liable to take speaking for granted and "open our mouths before engaging our brain". But its not just the 'big occasion' which require care and attention. We communicate to be received, to be understood, to be accepted and to get action. When we fail to achieve any of these, we have failed to communicate. The meanings that we give to words result from the way we each interpret the world around us, and for each of us that world is seen and understood differently.
Effective speaking is the result of several things over which we do have control. Personal qualities - clarity, accuracy, empathy, sincerity, relaxation, eye contact, appearance and posture which have a lot to do with what we say and do. Then there are vocal qualities - the mechanics of speech, pitch, volume, diction and accent, vocal tension, speed, the use of the pause and tone, all of which affect the way we use our voice.