Career Advice— Do You Sound As Great As You Look? 4 Tips to Improve Your Speaking Voice by Rosa Chillis on August 1, 2013 Jennifer Post has a problem. She states, “My voice is thin and shrill. When I get excited I sound like a little girl. I hate it!” I just received a promotion to supervise 15 people; the way I sound undermines my authority.” What can Jennifer do? She can improve her speaking voice. But how? And what about you? Are you satisfied with the way you sound? Are you effective? I’m willing to wager that at the top of your self-improvement agenda are to feel better and look better. Thus, you will devote money on diet plans and exercise products. You are not alone! You want to look great and feel great. The online Worldometers.info real time world statistics figures change every second but reports money spent on weight loss programs in USA today: $85,234,624 – and growing. According to Media Awareness Network: “It is estimated that the diet industry alone is worth $100 billion” (USA). United States fitness and exercise equipment market is estimated by a major research firm at about $5 billion. American households spend an average $640 to $3,500 on multipurpose home gym stations and cardio equipment. The rewards of physical fitness and weight control are many, including a strong body, and better health. And you will live longer! However, what are the rewards of an effective speaking voice? CREDIBILTY— Change perceptions. Project a more competent and professional image through clear, distinct speech CONFIDENCE— Express your ideas, feelings, and opinions with boldness CONTROL— Gain power over two of the most important tools of interpersonal communication—your voice and articulation You will sound as great as you look! Here are four practical, easy-to-use tips to improve the way you sound: #1 Speak clearly. Do you drop your word endings? This one poor speech habit ruins your image as someone to be taken seriously. Completely pronounce your words. Say your words through to the end. For example, say “subject” not “subjeck”; “bend” not “ben”; “reading” not “readin”; and so on. Try this: read a newspaper story four times. First stress the vowels, then the consonants, then the word endings, and then all three. #2 Go lower. If you feel your pitch is too high and you want to lower it, you must work on proper breath control. One method is to breathe from the diaphragm. This is a strong dome-shaped muscle that separates the chest from the abdominal cavity. Stand or sit up straight. Place one hand on your chest and the other on your abdomen. Breathe deeply in and out, inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth. Do you feel your chest and abdomen expand as air enters your lungs? To further observe diaphragm functions, watch the breathing of a newborn baby. Try this: speak slowly. This will lower the pitch of your voice; the faster your vocal cords move, the higher the pitch of your voice. #3 Project your voice. If you speak too softly people will think you’re shy and timid. On the other hand, if you speak too loudly, your listeners will think you’re arrogant and coarse. Projection is the act of controlling loudness in order to be heard at a distance. It is the carrying power of the voice. If people can’t hear you, they can’t understand you. Try this: to project the voice, imagine “tossing” your voice as you would a ball over a general area or in a specific direction. #4 Use vocal color and vocal variety. Related to pitch are vocal color and vocal variety. These have an impact on the meaning you’re trying to convey. You color your words by the emotions you feel when you speak them—happiness, excitement, sorrow, or disappointment. Vocal variety involves the flexibility or upward and downward pitch of your voice. Try this: some believe the effective speaking voice is like a musical instrument. Try to move your pitch around by singing up and down the scale: do (doe), re (ray), me (mee), fa (fah), sol (soul), la (lah), ti (tee), do (doe). Record yourself as you practice the scale and remember to breathe! So, do you sound as great as you look? If not, follow these four easy-to-use tips to improve your speaking voice. Devote the time and effort just as you would to achieve better health or a better looking body. The rewards are credibility, confidence, and control! ****** ******
Posted on: Thu, 01 Aug 2013 19:18:10 +0000
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