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Color - in terms of presentations - is mostly about the voice. Humans have a remarkable sound system, but most people don't use 10 percent of their vocal ability. Vocal color is a guaranteed method of gaining - and holding - the attention of your audience.

There are four elements of voice you can control: breath, projection, vocal variety and diction. Let's look more closely at diction.

No matter where you were born, you can improve your diction without losing your regional charm. Think Dr. Ruth. Not accent-free diction, but she is understandable and memorable.

Here's an exercise that I learned early in my broadcast career that helped improve my diction, or the clarity of my speech. We were taught to spit out certain sounds, to create an explosion of sound. Practice emphasizing these letters the next time you prepare for a presentation:

B as in boy. C as in lurch. D as in need. G as in dig. J as in judge. K as in sack. P as in lap. And T as in boot. If you allow these sounds to erupt forth with a little extra force, you'll be sharpening your diction and adding color at the same time.

So, practice your diction and start moving from black and white to color.

Recently, Career World Magazine posed some questions about listening skills for teens. We got answers from Ty Boyd, chairman; Pat Boyd, president; and Anne Boyd Gellman, executive vice president, all for The Excellence in Speaking Institute and Ty Boyd Executive Learning Systems, headquartered in Charlotte, N.C."

1. How important are good listening skills to success in careers, school and/or life in general?

Ty: Here's an example of why listening skills are critical. When I was 18, I took flying lessons with a fine teacher named Clyde Patrick. We were in the air when Mr. Patrick suddenly turned to me and said, "Take over, it's yours." I jiggled the controls wildly. Mr. Patrick grabbed them from me and yelped, "You haven't been listening!" He was right. I hadn't been listening - and it could have cost us both our lives. I did eventually get my pilot's license, after I learned to listen.

Listening skills are critical to success in so many areas of life. Almost every time we work with middle and upper managers, they say they wish they'd learned listening skills in high school. Ninety percent of our students at The Excellence in Speaking Institute come to learn how to talk. But the skill that's most important is listening. If someone says you're a big talker, that can be a negative. But a big listener is always welcome.

2. We're especially interested in anecdotes about situations where listening skills (or the lack of them) have played a key role in job interviews or the workplace. Can describe such an incident in your own experience?

Pat: When I was 20, good listening skills changed my life. They helped me get a great job, representing the Cotton Industry of America worldwide on stage, radio, and TV as the National Maid of Cotton. Here in the South, the national Maid of Cotton pageant was second only to the Miss America competition in prestige.

I was interviewed by a panel of judges. They peppered me with questions, and it was a lot of pressure. But I listened to each question, digested it, thought about it, and gave a real answer. I didn't respond without thinking. And I made good eye contact with the judges to show them I was listening.

That's how I won the competition. Part of great listening is giving real answers, not pat replies, when you're asked a question. Real answers show your unique self and don't sound like anybody else.