Is there a way to make my speaking voice more appealing?

How do I make my voice sound sound better when public speaking?

• How can I make my voice sound more clear when public speaking? I tend to get nervous when having to give presentations at work or school. I've tried to practice speaking slowly and enunciating, but sometimes my nerves make my voice come out all muffled and weird sounding, even though that's not usually how I speak. Help! This is embarrassing and I feel it interferes with my social life too.

• Answer:

  Good breath support is the key to good public speaking. If you don't breathe well you can have all kinds of speaking difficulties. One way to practice good breath support is to lie on the floor, put your hand over your bellybutton so you can feel your stomach move when you breath. Take a deep breath (your stomach should expand when you breath in), then hiss like a snake for as long as you can. Make the hiss as even as possible. If you do this several times a day (at least 10x every morning and evening) you should have better breath support. (If you continue to have trouble you might think about visiting a speech therapist.) Next, you must remain calm when you speak. Take five deep breaths before you speak to calm your nerves, then picture yourself at the end of your speech feeling good about what you have done. Keep telling yourself what a good job you are going to do. It is amazing what we can talk ourselves into with visualization. Good luck.