Read Aloud practice

Tomorrow I have a exam 'Read a book aloud'

To prepare for the exam, I videotaped myself and read a kid’s book ‘The Disobedient Frog’. I imagined that I was reading this book in front of 15 students.

I tried to read aloud and use appropriate act and gesture, but most time I kept looking at the book and the speed of reading was somewhat too fast.

When I review the video, I found that it might be difficult and boring for students to understand the story. My voice tone was too flat and speed of reading was somewhat faster.
For the second try, I tried to slow down and take longer pauses between sentences.

Also try to act on dialogues in the book, I changed my voice tone and used high pitch so I could make distinguished between narration and dialogue. I think the best speed for reading is that when I speak, I feel like it is a little bit slow. Then it is easier for listener to understand.

I practiced the reading several times, and then I could read and explain about the book without watching it. So it looks much natural than before and I could feel more competence.
For me the most challenging about reading aloud is to use appropriate gesture. I was afraid whether my gesture disturbs listener’s concentration.