After watching an interview highlighting the comparisons between performing arts and public speaking, I have decided that I would like to focus on varying my voice inflection in future speeches. This is one area with which I struggled in my Civic Artifact Speech. During the majority of my speech, specifically the middle when I am sharing the main content, the cadence of my sentences is extremely repetitive. I start each sentence by building my inflection up to a peak in the middle of the sentence and then coming back down, ending the sentence flatly. In an attempt to vary my inflection, I became hyper-focused on not remaining monotone during the entire speech, and instead I repeated the same pattern and rhythm for every sentence. Improving this will keep the audience engaged, clearly express my objective, and enhance my speech’s persuasiveness.

I will adopt a few of the methods Dr. Milhomme suggests in his interview to improve this aspect of my delivery. First I will rehearse until the mechanics of the speech are second nature. As I mention before, I believe the root of my problem is focusing on and consciously attempting to vary my inflection. With enough rehearsal I will be able to speak more naturally and focus more on the purpose of my speech than the way I am delivering it. The next strategy I will use is vocal exercises. I will use Dr. Milhomme’s exercise of making a trill with my lips and going up and down the scale. This will make me more comfortable varying my inflection.

I believe this speech by Steve Jobs—and the majority of his speeches—is a great example of successfully varied inflection. This section of his speech is inspiring; he talks about defeat, struggles, hope, and success. He uses his inflection to express discouragement when talking about setbacks and to emphasize his points at the end of the speech. His inflection varies with the tone of his speech, culminating with his emphasis on finding your passion and doing what you love.