Not a business presentation skills tip this post, but one about “voice” - though they’re related, as you’ll see.
I’m just back from Scotland – sunny Scotland, much to my surprise, despite the rainclouds which threatened all the time – and the accents are fantastic. Rich but accessible: I can think of one really fantastic chat I had with a Shepherd. He was explaining to me the different calls for his dogs, both voiced and by whistle.
The whistle carried further and was what he used when the dogs were working at what he called “a distance”. On the moors he was referring to, “a distance” was something over about 200 yards. Not a bad range, particularly if you’ve got the wind cutting your voice away! (The whistle, by the way, means he can work his dogs at a range of over 700 yards.)
Now, I don’t usually do this (because I’m not that sad, honest!) but with this man, I was listening to what he said and the way that he said it – because the latter was particularly effective. I’ve just mentioned that it carried over the moors, but it did more than that - it carried those distances without being any strain to him.
More importantly though, it carried in a different way. It carried with it the man’s warmth for, and love of, the lands he worked on and the animals he worked with. It was rich, warm, mellow. It was the voice of a man you could trust – a man I could do business with.
A few days earlier though, it had been a different story. I was training with a bunch of teachers. The Deputy Head in charge of staff development had asked me to come in and work with a mixed group. The only thing they had in common was that they needed to improve their authority in the classroom. They needed to “sound like they mean it” in front of the kids. In the jargon, they needed to improve their “Classroom Management”.
One of the group in particular needed to work on it – but not in the way the majority did. He barked instructions like a bad characature of a Sergeant Major. All the good work he did with the pupils who wanted to learn was undone by the fact that his voice caused other pupils to (as the Deputy Head put it) “kick off”. So what was it that so warmed me to the shepherd but so alienated the school kids?
Well, the technical answer is “timbre”.
The more someone’s voice is ‘rooted’ in the body – and less in their head and throat– the more warm and credible they appear to be.
If they can fake sincerity they’ve got it made and keeping your voice ‘in your gut’ instead of ‘in your throat’ does just that.
So how do you actually do that – because in business it’s absolutely necessary to sound good…. Well, doing it by an electronic article isn’t easy but these basic tips will help. To be honest, the hard part is remembering to actually do them!
1] Keep your head tipped slightly forwards – if necessary raising your eyes – so that your throat isn’t stretched like it is if you’re tipping your head backwards like most people do
2] Drop your shoulders – and then drop them again, because no one ever does it right the first time.
3] Relax the muscles of your bottom - it might look better if it’s tight, but it you’ll sound better if it’s not.
Post a Comment