Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?
An iconic scene by an iconic man. You can feel the eighties coming through the screen. The gum chewing, the somewhat attractive but covered up woman, and Ben Stein. Before he was offering his money, Ben illustrated a lack of vocal variety as good as humanly possible.
Vocal variety is elemental to public speaking. It separates the boys from the Men, the betas from the Chads, the Substacks that are clearly written by a professional over a period of hours from the ones that the author puts together on a whim (not familiar with the latter!)
Best way to improve? You guessed it: practice! I recommend practicing based on YouTube/Rumble videos. You want to practice someone who has variety throughout their speech.
For example:
Ask yourself - have you EVER practiced his speech? Arguable the greatest orator of modern times, and you’ve probably spent more time learning about the Fall of the Ottoman Empire.
Another video I like to practice with:
It’s less than three minutes and nails everything - variety, speed, flow, escalating to crescendo, hilarious in retrospect that Bernie was looked at as a revolutionary when he kisses Biden’s ring at every turn.
One aspect of vocal variety I did not get into: emotion. How does one practice emotion? Answer: with the heart. Use a topic YOU are passionate about and it will naturally come out. Heck, talk about a loved one in the mirror and you’ll feel it. Listen to the great Jim Valvano to see how natural emotion can be:
Vocal variety will separate you from the Betas. Practice, find role models, and never, ever, give up.