Kate’sVoice

I love the title of the book by Dr. Morton Cooper called, “Change Your Voice, Change Your Life.” I also think it’s a great book for people who want to understand their voice better.   The concept inspired me to expand my understanding of the voice beyond singing and eventually to write my book, “Can You Hear Me Now?” My book is designed to take you through the transformation of a healthier, more effective voice, as well as a better understanding of the image you present to others.  This month, we are going to go through the process of vocal transformation together, daily. So grab your copy, or buy one here, and join in.  It’s pretty simple and requires just a few minutes every  day, though we will take the weekends off .  I’ll meet you here on Monday, January 5 to begin.

Till then, Happy New Year and may 2009 be the best ever!

Okay, this post really has nothing to do with decadence and everything to do with sex.  Well, actually with gender or at least with labels we have traditionally assigned to characteristics of speech.  Read on.

Cadence is the way you use pitch or speed at the end of your phrases when you speak.  There are two types of cadence that are particularly important to know.  Traditionally they are known as masculine and feminine cadence.  I prefer to call them open and closed.  As a female I do like the fact that the open cadence is also the feminine cadence, but I also know that open and closed has nothing to do with gender and everything to do with character.

• An open cadence is one in which the pitch goes up at the end of a sentence, and also one in which the pitch is more varied throughout the speaker’s words.  Open cadences sound friendly and invite the listener to participate.
• A closed cadence goes down at the end of a phrase or sentence.  Less variety in pitch through out speech is also a closed pattern.  This can be used to make a demand or a strong statement.

Effective speakers use both styles, and often quite consciously.  Using cadence appropriately will make a person sound open and friendly as well as strong and confident.

Let’s talk about volume.  This characteristic of speech is related to the loudness and softness of your voice as well as the strength and weakness of your voice, and therefore the strength or weakness of your presentation.  Loud is loud, but strong can be either loud or soft.

Volume is often affected by the use of air.  To read more about using air well, please read my article on Craig Senior’s blog, Speak!.  For now, think about how you sit when you speak on the phone or when speaking with someone while sitting at your desk.  Most people sit hunched over in their chair when on the phone.  This constricts the air flow.  It can make you sound listless, which gives an impression of weakness or fatigue.   Often, the volume of your voice goes down a notch when your posture goes down a notch.

• To pump up your vocal energy, sit forward on your chair when you speak to others.  Better yet, get up and walk around.  Speak with more volume to get the air moving.

But remember that speaking loudly isn’t the only way to sound strong, confident and energetic.

• Sometimes the best way to make a point or get attention is by speaking more softly.  Believe it or not, teachers and trainers can use this trick very effectively to get control of a noisy room.

When I was a student working as a teacher’s aid in a kindergarten room, the teacher never raised her voice.  In fact, she lowered her voice as the kids got noisier, until they noticed the silence rather than the yelling.  This trick saved her voice and was amazingly successful at calming the kids down.   Try it.

• Or try accentuating a point quietly instead of loudly, but make sure that you keep the air moving in your voice even when you speak softly.

For this last technique, practice something like a stage whisper to keep the energy flowing and the audience engaged.

Today, many people got up at the crack of dawn to keep up with the pace of the holidays.  Though I love to get up early, I have never understood the thrill of standing in line at WalMart to buy the latest toys or to save a few bucks.  In fact, I don’t recall a holiday season where I have ever really saved anything.  Have you?  Isn’t that when you spend everything?!

But this posting is not about keeping up with the pace of the holidays; it’s about being aware of the pace of your speaking, which is the second aspect of speech I want to discuss in this series.

Pace is the speed of your speech.  A fast-paced sound indicates confidence and aggression as well as energy.  Pick up your pace when you want to assert yourself.  Slow down when you want to be sure that you are understood, but make sure that you don’t sound lethargic.  Conversely, there is such a thing as speaking too quickly. A great speaker varies the pace of their presentation.

Suggestion:

To become more aware of the pace of your speaking, or any other important aspect of your voice so you can improve, record your self.  Most people don’t like the sound of their voice on a recording, but you can get over that if you listen often enough. Try it, and let me know what you discover.

I sincerely hope you holiday shoppers have found some great bargains and that you can relax and enjoy the rest of the season!  And please let the rest of us know if it was worth it!

OK.  This can be a lot of fun.  Have you ever been around an acotr or a singer who uses tongue twisters when they warm up?  Well, I have.  In fact, I’ve done that myself.  It’s true that one can seem a bit odd when practicing in this way, but there is actually good reason to do it.  It helps create more clarity.

Clarity is one of five aspects of voice that I am going to discuss over the next couple of weeks.  The other four are pace, pitch, cadence and volume.  The reason to become aware of them is because, as I’ve said before, your voice gives wordless clues about who you are and if you want to have more vocal impact, you need to be aware of what your voice is saying about you beyond your spoken message.

So we’ll start with clarity:  Clarity of sound is created by the effective use of articulation mechanisms, mainly your lips and tongue.  If your speech is not clear, neither is your message.  Use tongue twisters to achieve greater clarity.  Here are some to try:

• Unique New York
• Three free throws
• Brad’s big black bath brush broke
• The myth of Miss Muffet

Maybe you know of some others that you would recommend.  If so, please write a comment to let us know.

Vocal image is the synthesis of rhythm, pitch, tone, volume and the inflection of a voice.  Your vocal image sends a message separate from your words.  We all saw this in the campaigns this year whether we were aware of it or not.  The vocal image of the candidates had the power to contribute to or detract from their credibility.  Vocal image makes wordless statements about  character,emotional state, economic status, education, age gender and lots more.  If we define vocal image as “the overall picture that people get of you from the sound of your voice,” then what pictures were painted of the potential President?  What did we expect of each because of the vocal image they created?

In an article in the Cristian Science Monitor from July,  Ariel Sabar said this about the vocal images of the two final candidates for president:”McCain is the blunt-spoken platoon leader, briefing soldiers for battle.  Senator Obama is the evangelist,    calling out from the hilltop.  McCain levels.  Obama transcends.  McCain is straight talk,  Obama great talk.”

As much as the two men represent different ideas and ideals, they also create two very different images of a leader through their vocal images.  My sincere hope today is that our President-elect is a great leader, that he takes us all to new heights of glory as a nation and as a planet, that together we transcend these difficult times, and that his great talk will be much more than just talk!

Dressing up in a costume on Halloween is great fun!  Sometimes, a costume requires a vocal disguise as well.  There are three basic ways that most people try to disguise their voice.  They lower their voice or raise the pitch of their voice, or try an accent.

I recommend another method which is far more effective.  For this technique, you have to change your mind.  Here’s what I recommend:

1. Know your intention..what you want to sound like, a particular attitude you want to convey, or an emotion. Study your character and imagine what it feels like to be them.

2. Align that with your content, which is what you want to say.  Perhaps your character has some signature phrases that he/she uses.  Learn them.  You actually don’t need to say much.  You can give an impression of your character with only a word or two.

4.  Speak, keeping these two things in mind. It’s even better when you can hear your character speak in your mind as you speak out loud. This approach is an oversimplification of the Stanislavsky method of acting.

Finally, make sure that you keep your vocal health in mind when you disguise your voice.  Never speak too low or too high.  Rest your voice if you feel it getting tired.  And remember that too much candy just isn’t good for you!

For some great ideas on Halloween costumes that may also give you some fodder for vocal disguses, please click here.

Just for grins, the next time you listen to the candidates debating, count the “ums” and other filler words used by each (you may have to watch the debates on You Tube later if you want to actually pay attention to what they say).  Filler words are such phrases as “you know,” and words such as “um,” “er” and even “like.”  They are usually used when someone is uncomfortable with the silence, therefore they fill it…hence the term “filler words.”  They are generally unnecessary and a sure sign of nerves or unconscious speech patterns.  They tend to detract from what is being said, and public speakers generally try to avoid them.  How do they do this?  Mostly, they do this through conscious awareness of them and training themselves to be quiet rather than use a filler word.  But I’d be curious to know: How do YOU avoid using filler words?