Kate'sVoice

As I’ve said before, your voice is a powerful tool. Using it with awareness and skill is essential to your credibility and persuasiveness as a speaker. The sound of your voice—your “vocal image”—can imply such things as friendliness or hostility, tolerance or prejudice, and weakness or strength. Many people fail in their communication simply because their vocal image does not align with their message.

Practical Application:  If you want to discover the nature of your vocal image, make a recording of yourself. Record yourself talking naturally in a normal conversation. If possible, also record yourself giving a short presentation.  Listen to the recording and consider the following three components of your vocal image.

Pitch:

Pitch is not determined by your volume, but rather by the notes you use when you speak.  Yes, we use notes when speaking just as we do when singing.  If you use a lot of variety in the pitch of your voice, people are likely to perceive you as friendly.  A variety of pitch also suggests flexibility and openness to others’ ideas. A voice with less pitch variance comes across as more demanding and authoritative.  Listen to your recording and determine if you have a varied pitch. Does it align with your intended message? Experiment with increasing and decreasing your pitch until it aligns with your message.

By the way, don’t take my word for it!  As a speaker, you can really benefit by reading Six Minutes, and the post on Vocal Variety, where Pitch is a big component of success for Toastmasters!!

Speed or Pace:

Listen to your recording and think about the speed of your delivery. If you speak quickly, you may be seen as assertive.  If you speak too quickly, you may seem nervous.  On the other hand, a slow delivery can be perceived as boring.  If you find that you speak too fast, force yourself to slow down and breathe more often.  If you speak too slowly, try to walk with purpose and energy while practicing your speech. A technique that many experienced speakers use is to accent their normal speed with slow speech. In doing this, the words which are spoken slowly are emphasized.  Consider how your speed of delivery aligns with the message you want to deliver.

Cadence:

Cadence is the way that you end your sentences.  Generally, a “feminine cadence” goes up in pitch at the end of a sentence. When pitch goes down at the end of a sentence, it’s a “masculine cadence.”  A feminine cadence invites a response and seems open to others’ ideas.  A masculine cadence makes a demand or a point and may sound less open to others’ ideas.  Effective speakers use both appropriately.  If people often interrupt you, you may want to add a more masculine cadence to your speech.  Similarly, if others seldom contribute to your discussions, you may be overusing the masculine cadence. Try introducing a female cadence when you would like input from others.

By the way, I really enjoy reading “The Eloquent Woman,” a blog for women on public speaking.  The author, Denise Graveline, often discusses gender differences in communication from a speaker’s perspective.  Check it out!

Record and study the natural qualities of your vocal image. Consider your pitch, speed, and cadence. Don’t forget to ask others to give you feedback so you can learn how your voice affects them. Once you become aware of your vocal image, you can begin to better align it with your message and become a more credible and persuasive speaker.

When I lose my voice, I try to remember this. “Your voice is not lost, it is just a little more quiet so that you can hear yourself think, hear the wisdom of God, and be inspired by others’ ideas. Use laryngitis wisely!”

To find your voice today,
1. Drink plenty of warm liquids… that soothe your soul.
2. Write notes instead of talking…particularly if they are consoling to the discouraged, and uplifting to all. If you have nothing positive to say, say nothing. Just listen.
3. Rest your voice.  Don’t fight it and try to speak anyway!!! If all goes as planned, you will need your voice  to be healthy and strong so you can express all the amazing things that are trickling up through the silence.

And what does that song say about what is important to you?  That’s the question we ask when we are working with groups in our community based theater program, Team Cabaret.   It has turned out to be a great question.  You see we believe that we choose songs because they speak to us about who we are.  It’s amazing how you can be singing a song half-mindedly and suddenly realize you are singing words that describe exactly what you are feeling or what has you worried!!  The other day, I was feeling bit overwhelmed and noticed I was humming “Crazy.”  Hmmmm.

So imagine the fun I had looking at a post on Yahoo Answers where the asker asked, “What are lyrics that mean a lot to you?”     All the answers were lyrics that the answerers related to their own lives.  And on www.fanpop.com,  the question was asked, “Do song lyrics mean a lot to you?” and 89% of the readers voted, “Yes, of cource (sic)!”

For some of you, this is a no-brainer.  But it’s also something I love to fool around with.  When someone tells you that they have a favorite song, find out what it is and ask them what part stands out for them.  You’ll get some insight into that person!  Meanwhile, what is your favorite song to sing in the shower?  (For some help with this one, check out “Singing in the Shower,” on Facebook.)

When I have a health issue, the first place I go anymore is online.  You are probably the same way, and we can all make our doctors crazy,  just like that episode of House where the patient kept going online to ask for help when he didn’t get the answer he wanted from the staff at the hospital.  OR perhaps we can actually help ourselves.  But sometimes, the internet seems like a wild land of uncharted territory.  Where do you go?  Who do you trust?   So this post is about where to go online to find out more about your voice and what to do if you have problems with it.

First of all, of course, I suggest you search the archives of my blog, read my book,  or just contact me by commenting here.  I know.  I know.  Those would be my first choice, but it would helpful to find out about others. So here you go with some of my favorite online resources for vocal health and vocal power:

1.  This website has a lot of great information on how the voice works and what problems you may encounter.     http://www.voiceproblem.org/

2.  If you don’t live in Southern California, so you can’t study with me, look for a teacher who teaches Speech Level Singing.  My own former teacher, Seth Riggs is the genius behind this technique and you will find someone good if you start there.

3.  The National Institute of Health has some great information for people with communication disorders, including voice and hearing problems.  You might want to check this out if you simply have a tendency to sing out of tune.  The interdependency of the ears and voice is quite important. The NIH also has important statistics on vocal health.

4.  And speaking of that interdependency, to learn more about the fascinating work of Alfred Tomatis, a pioneer on the effect of sound on the brain and a huge proponent of humming (we like that!!), there is a website focused on his work.  In addition, the Rocky Mountain Learning Center offers a program to help you use his methods for your own well-being.  Very cool!

5.  If you want to learn more about how others sing, one of the best places to go these days is YouTube.  You can watch pros, amateurs, singing lessons, and even a discussion using a model of a larynx.  There are also surgery videos, so go for it and if you find something interesting, please let us all know about it!!