After watching a videotape of her speech, Marisa concludes that her vocal delivery is monotone and difficult to understand. Using the four aspects of vocal delivery in your book, give Marisa advice on how she might improve her vocal delivery

What will be an ideal response

First, Marisa might examine the volume of her voice. Was she loud enough to be heard on the back row? She might also consider softening or increasing the loudness of her voice to emphasize important moments in her speech. Next, she should examine her pitch, which is the highness or lowness of her voice. She might ask whether or not she changed her pitch at different moments in her speech, such as when she asked a question. She might practice exaggerating her change in pitch and then toning it down for the actual presentation. Third, she also needs to examine her rate. Was it too fast or too slow? Did her rate vary? If her rate was too fast, she might consider adding in pauses to slow it down. Finally, she must look at her articulation or enunciation of sounds. Were her words crisp and distinct or were they mumbled and slurred? Did she mispronounce any words. She could slow down and practice saying words clearly and crisply and then speed up once she gets the hang of it. She could record her voice several times, listening to and evaluating these areas. She can mark her note cards for her next speech with delivery cues that will remind her to incorporate these ideas.