Ever Zen, Garr gives us When there is no quiet, there can be no loud

When I talk about the 3 Vs, (accurately) it’s about using each “V” (Visual, Vocal and Verbal) well. Your voice has 4 basic qualities: pitch, volume, tone and speed. Shift each to emphasize important points and maintain attention.

Most of the time, you default to one comfortable place on each of these four scales. For impact, shift each characteristic to a different level, kind of how you would adjust a graphic equalizer. Are you high pitched? Swing low. Loud? Go soft. Excited? Spring your “ah-ha” point with flat calm. Fast? Slow it down when they really have to listen.

For rapt attention:
Pitch: Drop to much lower voice
Volume: Pull it back to a stage whisper
Speed: Slow way down
Tone: Judicious use of a “sad” tone of voice pulls focus in the midst of excitement
Or, just shut up completely. Count to at least 5 in your head.

On some level, your audience wants to “succeed” at listening to you. Human nature responds to vocal shifts by thinking “why?” Shifts signal change and trigger interest in following along. Dead silence is brilliant. Few can resist wondering “what did I miss?” and looking up. (And you felt compelled to say ummm instead of silence!)

Shifts are the “italics, boldface or underline” of your speaking voice. These tools organize writing as headings, emphasis, etc. Vocal shifts help organize your presentation. Oh, and just like highlighting, overuse renders them meaningless.