Controlled Energy

I’ll start with the one that is the hardest for me. It is not unusual for me to go to the restroom prior to starting a training class simply to pump my fists, slap my cheeks, and tell myself to get energetic, almost like a boxer dancing around before a big fight! As the instructor, I am well aware that the beginning of a class is critical in setting the tone for the rest of the training.

Musicians are often more energized by the music than they are the crowds. You might be surprised to know how many of them are actually introverts. I happen to be an introvert as well. When I have the opportunity to teach about adult learning, I get energized by the topic. Often, when someone thanks me for my obvious passion and enthusiasm for teaching adults, I smile inwardly, knowing that I will crash, exhausted when I get home.

You may be different. You may need to calm yourself and tone down your energy before starting the class. The key is control and knowing what is best for you.

Too much energy can lead to speaking too fast, too loudly, or not listening well, all things I’ll cover later in this chapter. Too little energy will rub off quickly on your students. They will never have more energy, or be more eager to learn, than you are to teach them.

Controlled Breathing

Many speakers never think about controlling how or when they breathe. This may sound overly simplistic, but air is important. You will not be able to control your pitch and volume without first controlling your breathing. I have helped many people overcome their nerves simply by taking the focus off of nerves and focusing on breath control. I don’t even tell them it is to help their nerves. In a way, that is merely a secondary benefit, though it is often the more appreciated one!

The way to start controlling your breathing is to make sure you are breathing properly. Many people breathe differently when they are nervous than they do when they are at rest. Try this simple exercise.

What you are doing is breathing from your diaphragm, a muscle under your lungs that pulls the air down. You are filling your lungs to their total capacity. If you are nervous, however, you will likely do just the opposite—or breathe from your chest. That is because your chest is closer to your mouth and you can get the air there more quickly. Your brain knows you need air and takes over unless you deliberately tell your brain that all is okay, you are still in charge. Breathing quickly from the chest is what is often referred to as hyperventilating, something that won’t happen if you are breathing from your diaphragm.

Controlled Pitch

You may wonder why pitch is important in speaking. You are correct to assume it is not equal to the importance of pitch in music, where precision and consistency are paramount. Speaking pitch is much less precise, but only slightly less important.

The goal here is not to alter your natural speaking range significantly. It may, however, be necessary to stretch it in one or both directions. You may not realize the range of pitch you already have. Try this fun experiment, one I borrow from the game, Moods, by Hasbro.

Notice that your pitch changes with the different moods. As you get more excited, your pitch tends to rise. “Indifferent” was likely toward the lower end of your normal range. And why isn’t there a “normal” mood? Because you are always communicating something. Either you are excited about what you are teaching them, or you are indifferent, or some range of other emotion, but you are not communicating “normal.”

But why does this matter to trainers? Because often times, even with technical training, what you say is less important than how you say it. Communicating an excitement and confidence is crucial, both for the success of your product and for your success as an instructor.

Another thing to remember about pitch is to maintain the pitch energy through your entire thought, sentence, or phrase. Many new speakers start a sentence with energy and end it in a fizzle. The end of your sentence is just as important as the beginning. Make sure it sounds that way!

Controlled Tempo

Another crucial area of control is tempo. Unlike musicians, who have rhythms and accompanying instruments to keep their tempos in check, speakers must control their own tempo. Most trainers speak too fast. David Lewis and G. Riley Mills use techniques used by professional performers to help business people (and trainers) learn to communicate better. In their seminars and in their book, The Pin Drop Principle, they suggest that most of the well‐known speeches average around 125–150 words per minute. They suggest an exercise using the first 125 words of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address to find out what your average tempo is. I have used that exercise a number of times and have found that most students complete the first 125 words well before the 1‐minute mark, usually around 45–50 seconds.

The key is to control your tempo. Earlier, I suggested that you need a lot of energy. Often, however, we tend to speed up when we expend more energy, so it takes more control to keep the tempo down. If you are nervous, you will also tend to speed up, almost as if your brain wants to be done more quickly. It is amazing how slowing down a little can give the students the feeling that you are in control. You may still feel nervous, but you won’t sound nervous, simply because you’ve reduced your tempo.

If you are one of the very few who speaks too slowly, work on controlling a slightly faster tempo. You still need to be you. Don’t lose your authenticity while employing any of these techniques. Also, remember that this is an average tempo across a longer period of time than just 1 minute and it includes pauses between thoughts. In Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, he has portions that were delivered at a much slower rate than 125 words per minute and portions toward the end that were much faster. The average, however, came out at right around 119 words per minute. ¹

Controlled Volume

If speakers tend to speak too fast, they also tend to speak too quietly. Most trainers are not a good judge of what their volume should be. It should not be difficult, however, once you shed the idea of merely giving a lecture and begin to facilitate the learning as a two‐way conversation. It will be much more obvious if your students are not hearing you well when you are asking questions and inviting feedback on a regular basis.

As with the other elements, the key here is both control and variety. The issue is not a matter of sometimes speaking too quietly, or sometimes raising your volume. Problems arise when students must consistently strain to hear you or feel as if you are constantly shouting at them. Variety is good. Consistent extremes are not.

If you are teaching in a classroom arrangement with multiple rows of seating, verify that from the back row they can hear you well. One of the main reasons I like the U'shaped classroom is because I can get equally close to everyone.

For a number of years, I worked for a professional audio company and had the opportunity to work alongside some of the best audio engineers in the industry. One thing I learned was the direct correlation between hearing and fatigue. When a student has to strain to hear, their brain must concentrate on hearing instead of understanding and it gets tired faster.

That is more than just an interesting bit of information. According to one US government source, about 13% of adults have hearing loss in both ears. ² That means that if you have even a small class, you are likely to have at least one student with hearing loss. It is not inappropriate to speak just a little louder when speaking to a group of people. Combining a slightly louder speaking volume with regular eye contact will increase retention and reduce fatigue and disinterest in your students, and students with hearing loss will be grateful.

Controlled Articulation

Articulating your words well will also help your students’ brains to focus on learning the concepts you are teaching instead of trying to decipher the words themselves. This is especially important when teaching students in a multicultural setting or those for whom English is not their first language.

The key to all of these musical elements is control and variety. Too much volume all the time can be a drag. I like to deliberately get quiet when I want to get everyone’s attention to say something very important. The key word there is “deliberately.” Even over‐articulating can make you sound fake as if you’re seeking to sound superior to your students. Make sure you get feedback from a trusted source or record yourself so you can know where you need to improve.

Controlled Jargon

Every industry has its own set of jargon. It is impossible to get rid of it completely. Nor would you want to. If someone is seeking to become an expert in your industry, the language of the industry must come with it. But it must be controlled. Use it, but use it deliberately. Your audience may include both veterans of your industry and novices who have not yet learned the jargon. You should be especially aware of acronyms and terms you use specifically in your company.

There are two important things to avoid when tempted to use jargon. First, avoid assuming your students know it. Always explain the term. Don’t ask them if they know it, just do it. Second, don’t use jargon to impress your students. You don’t need to impress them. You’re the instructor; they’re already impressed.

Verbal Crutches

Singers are lucky. They don’t need verbal crutches. Verbal crutches are extra words speakers insert into their sentences that do not provide any value to the sentence. “Umm” and “ah” gets all the bad publicity, but umm is not alone.

The main reason we throw in extra words like umm and ah are because our mind and our mouths are at two different points in the conversation. You rarely think about the actual word you are speaking right now. Instead, your mind is somewhere ahead, trying to navigate the dictionary for words further along in the sentence. When the words you are speaking start to catch up and get uncomfortably close to where your mind is fumbling around for the right word, you throw in an extra word or catchy phrase.

Occasionally, a crutch can start out of good intentions and then turn into a bad habit. For example, I struggled with ending many of my thoughts with the same phrase/question, “Do you understand what I mean?” In the beginning my intentions were good. I was trying to include the students and verify their understanding. But there are better ways to engage them, rather than a habitual question with an expected “yes” for an answer.

So what is the answer to getting rid of your verbal crutches? First, admit that you have them. Almost all of us do. Those that don’t have likely worked hard to rid themselves of them and probably continue to do so on a regular basis. Second, understand why you use them. While most verbal crutches start as an attempt to buy time for your brain, they can turn into a habit. You might try the following nonscientific exercise. It may help to determine how to address the problem.

Poor Grammar

The main goal in eliminating jargon and verbal crutches is the same one underlying the goal of using correct grammar—avoiding any distractions to the learning process. No one expects you to be a grammar instructor (unless you are!), and we all make mistakes. I will not list here all the mistakes that could be made—this is not a grammar book. What I do want to emphasize is the importance of eliminating egregious errors that will interfere with the message you are trying to deliver. If you struggle with certain grammar issues, don’t try to correct all of them at once. Pick one or two and work to correct them.