Kate's Voice

Do you lose your voice at parties and conferences because you can’t be heard over the noise? Ever wondered how to create a voice that is strong- one that carries well over a distance?

You’re not alone

I love my blog. It connects me with people all over the world. Many write to me via my contact form.  Lately, I’ve received several letters dealing with the same issue: vocal power.

“I have to deliver a lot of talks for work. The topics are not very exciting, but it’s my job.  Unfortunately my voice doesn’t carry very well and in a room full of people I am not able to speak loud enough for people at the back to hear. ”

Another reader wrote:

“I was at a party last weekend, and I was very frustrated not being heard as I would have liked to. What’s wrong with my voice?”

And still another:

“I am a teacher and my students complain about not hearing me. My voice hurts at the end of the day from yelling so much and it really doesn’t do much good anyway. “

I’m pretty sure that all three of these people have been told to “project” or speak up when they talk. What does that really mean?  Should you just speak more loudly?  Maybe it helps a little, but that’s not a lasting answer.

What makes a voice powerful?

You can’t just increase the volume to create power in a voice. You must have a strong vocal physique and a voice that reverberates.  It doesn’t hurt to be buff all over, either.  Just like you hear about having health, since your voice is part of your body it requires good health which you maintain with exercise and a good diet.  Now, as far as carrying power is concerned, there are some people who are born with large voices that carry well.  We’ll call them exceptions.  The rest of us will never sound like James Earl Jones.  However,  almost everyone can still have a voice that carries and sounds powerful if they learn to use a property of sound called “resonance.”

How do you resonate?

Resonance is the reverberation or repetition of sound in the environment in which it was created. There is resonance in the body as well as resonance in the surrounding area when someone speaks.  The resonance in the body can be felt by the speaker. The two extremes of resonance are “head voice,” which is where high sounds resonate, and “chest voice,” which is where low sounds resonate. However, most sounds the human voice makes also resonate in the mask, or the front of the face, with a mix of lower and upper resonance.

Resonate in a special way:  Mask Resonance

This mix of resonance is called “mask resonance.”A voice with plenty of mask resonance is strong, and clear, no matter how loud or soft.  A voice with good mask resonance is pleasant to listen to, vibrant and flexible, allowing for a great deal of vocal variety. Mas resonance can be intensified through exercise.  To find it, try the exercise below to find a sound that produces a pronounced vibration in the front of your face.

Exercise: Try it now. Say “Mmmmm.” See if you can feel the buzzy sensation in the front of your face. (I’ve had a lot of fun doing this on radio interviews.)  That’s mask resonance. Another way to produce it is to simply say “Mmm-hmm,” like an enthusiastic “yes.”  Now say, “Mmm-hmm one.  Mmm-hmm two. Mmm-hmm three.” Can you feel that sensation carry over into the words “one,” “two” and “three?” If you can’t, then work to produce those words in the same resonance by making more of a character voice. It may sound funny at first but as you relax it, you will find that you can keep some of the vibration without the cartoony sound.

Daily practice

Use mask resonance at the beginning of a sentence, and see if you can keep that sensation in the words that follow.  For example, say “Mmmmmm.  It’s great to see you.”  Did you feel the resonance in the mask as you spoke “It’s great to see you,” or did it fade away?  Try it again.  This does require some practice.  Spend 20 minutes a day working with this, and add it to your awareness as you practice your presentations.  Don’t be afraid of this because you fear it might create a nasal sound. You need a good combination of mouth and nose resonance, which is why the focus is in the front of the face, not just the nose.   If a voice sounds too nasal, it is as incorrect as one that has no mask resonance. Eventually, you will learn to use mask resonance all the time.  And according to Swedish researchers, mask resonance is also good for your health.

Further info on this topic:

How to project your voice on the blog Speaking About Presenting.

Speak up! A guide to voice projection, guest post by Kate Peters on the Six Minutes blog.

How to project your voice, on the blog Tips for Talking.

What do you think?  Try the survey below.  You can ask a question as well.  And thanks for reading.

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I discovered active listening while going through a divorce.  For a moment, I had the illusion that active listening could save my marriage. After all, our main problem was bad communication.  Well, it didn’t save the marriage.  What it did was set me on a course of discovery to better understand interpersonal dynamics.  Since then, I have found listening skills that trump active listening, but I am still a believer in the premise that what most people want in conversation is simply to be heard.  Here are three things I’ve learned about listening since that time:

• Listening is different than hearing.
• If people feel heard they will listen better.
• If you listen better, you will be more aware of what others want to hear.

I said that there are other listening skills that trump active listening.  What are they?  Well, in truth, it depends on the situation.  Check out Changing Minds.org for a list of different types of listening.  The one I am highlighting is Dialogic Listening. 

Dialogic Listening

I think the best form of listening is the one that seeks to go deeper into a relationship and encourages a focus on the present and what is being said now rather than on the past.  This kind of listening is called Dialogic Listening. It is part of conversations that explore everyone’s ideas and perceptions. It does not ask us to get into the head of the other person and guess what they are feeling.  Rather, it takes what they say at face value and encourages us to ask, “Tell me more.”  It keeps us focused on what we can create together rather than on our differences.  It seeks to solve problems through discovery and understanding.

Example:  Think back to a recent conversation that went well, the kind of conversation that takes a bit of time but is very worthwhile.  You learned something from that conversation.  You grew and so did the other person even though it might have been a difficult topic.  Now think of a conversation where all you wanted to do was to jump in with your opinion. In that conversation, you didn’t really hear what the other person had to say. Chances are, the latter conversation did not go very well.

• Be clear about your intention.
• Put yourself in learning mode rather than defense mode.
• Allow there to be silences and pauses.
• Reflect what you have heard, but stay in the now.
• Seek to understand not to be understood.

Related
Dialog vs Divalog

An organization dedicated to listening, The International Listening Association

A TED video: 5 Ways to Listen Better , with Julian Treasure

A pioneer in the ear/voice connection:  Alfred Tomatis