Speaking involves so much more than your voice. Hand gestures, body language, stage positioning, and facial expressions all play an important role in making a speech engaging.

Let’s talk about that last one.

Here’s an example:

My sister called and asked if I would pick her up at the airport … at 4:00 in the morning.

Sorry. I’m busy!

It’s a funny line but let’s try it with a long pause and the WTF face.

My sister called and asked if I would pick her up at the airport … at 4:00 in the morning.

(long pause with WTF face)

Sorry. I’m busy!

Try a line like this live and you may have to pause for a very long time while the audience finishes laughing.

And that’s a good thing.

Like I said, speaking involves so much more than your voice.

Sometimes it’s what you don’t say out loud that impacts the audience the most.