The fastest way to put your audience to sleep is to speak in a monotone. The second fastest is to modulate your speaking, but only in a persistent, repetitive pattern.

(Actually, I lied, the really fastest way to put your audience to sleep is to read your talk. There are three people in the world who can do that successfully, all actors of whom everyone says “I would pay to see them read the phone book”. I’m assuming they aren’t reading my blog.)

You must modulate your voice. You can speak faster and s l o w e r. LOUDER and softer. (Sometime speaking more softly even serves better for emphasis than speaking more loudly.) You can pitch your voice ^higher and _lower. You can — pause — for emphasis. Can you ask rhetorical questions? Yes, you can.

You can even have fun with your voice. I once gave a talk in which I (briefly) imitated the Queen in Alice in Wonderland. (“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”) In a high, squeaky voice. If anyone remembers anything from that talk, I guarantee you that it is my imitation of the Queen.