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.

This week, look at the list you created of things you like about your voice.  Write one of these at the top of each page for the next five pages in your journal.  Study that aspect of your voice for one full day.  Consider how that strength affects others.  What does it say about you separate from your words?  How can you use that strength more effectively to present the vocal image you want?

My observations:

I have often been told that I sound friendly when I talk.  I use a lot of variety of pitch in my voice, influenced greatly by my training as a singer.  My challenge has been to add in the more commanding vocal sound that is created by using LESS variety of pitch.  The most influential communicators use both appropriately.  Conscious choices again.  For more information on cadence in the voice, please see my post in December, or refer to my book on page 97.

There are at least ten characteristics of your voice that create your vocal image.  They are pitch, tone, volume, emotion, clarity, pace, rhythm, cadence, and choice of words.  You can find more on clarity, pace, volume and cadence in some of my previous posts.  When you are writing in your voice journal, it’s great to keep a list of these attributes in front of you.  Write them down now, or refer to the “Vocal Image Awareness Exercises” on pages 71-103 in my book.

Here’s how to keep and use an effective voice journal:

Write your observations two or three times during the day.  It is sometimes best to plan to write in your journal at the same time everyday.  For example, write in it when you first arrive at your desk so you can capture your thoughts on how you used your voice at home and on the way to work.  (Singing in the shower and the car, I hope!)  Write in it again after lunch, so you can think back on how you used your voice while having lunch with others.  And finally, write in it before going home so you can observe the state of your voice over a period of a day.