Don't Yell

My fellow citizens of the world do you know what another big problem is when you’re speaking to large crowds.

That problem is yelling.

That’s right folks yelling.

Now this day and age if you’re speaking to a crowd of two hundred three hundred five hundred one thousand five thousand in a major convention hall or an outdoor stadium.

Chances are you’re going to have a microphone which means you don’t have to shout.

Yeah yeah I’ll do that.

That in order to be heard you can speak in a conversational tone.

You can use the full range of your voice.

Here’s the problem with yelling.

Nobody likes to be yelled at.

It’s irritating to the ear.

It also is a particular type of monotone.

If you yell at the same speed the same volume the whole does he help consistent it is it’s annoying.

It’s kind of like someone punching in you punching you in the arm after a while.

It’s really going to hurt even if they’re not hitting that hard.

It’s too consistent.

The other problem with giving a speech in front of a large crowd if you’re on any kind of video.

People are watching it later if it’s on YouTube.

You’re going to look angry upset.

That’s probably not the image you want and it’s just too hot.

Now there was a time a long time ago before electricity before speakers and microphones if you were campaigning somewhere you did have to yell.

You would stand on a stump and all the people out in the cornfield couldn’t hear you unless you yelled.

So it makes sense to yell if there’s no amplification around.

If you have a family member about to run out in front of a car crossing the street and they are 50 feet away it makes sense to yell.

But when you’re giving a speech to a large crowd you want to sound conversational.

You want to sound like you’re just talking to one or two people and that’s what you don’t want to yell and the hard part is psychologically you’re seeing people a long way away.

So you want to be helpful you want to be heard.

So psychologically if you see someone one two three four hundred feet away the inclination is to try to project.

But if you’ve got a microphone like this one or any place else you don’t have to yell.

So you need to fight the impulse of yelling it’s one of the biggest detriments to good public speaking in front of a large crowd.