Improve Your Communication with Vocal Vitality
Making your words come alive is an integral component of your communication.
Many of you know I was an on-air radio news anchor and reporter for many years. In my college broadcasting classes, my favorite professor taught me that radio is “theater of the mind.” He then showed me and my classmates the importance of using our voices and vocal vitality to capture the essence of our words so we could create mental images for our listeners. After all, on the radio, there are no visuals or body language to fall back on. It’s all in the voice. We had to make our words come alive with vocal vitality. Give it life!
Your ability to use your voice to enhance your overall communication is essential. Even if you’re not on the radio, you probably still have to speak to people on conference calls, voicemail messages, in sales meetings, and for presentations. You don’t have to sound like a blustery game show host to have a vibrant and energetic voice.
A strong voice exudes confidence, authority, integrity, passion and enthusiasm. It builds instant credibility. A weaker sounding voice can diminish all of the above. The actual sound of your voice, which includes the timber, is something you are born with. Even with coaching and training, the true sound of your voice probably won’t change a great deal.
The good news is that you can learn how to improve your delivery and vocal habits and work with what you have. After all, you are the message.
Here are five tips to improve your vocal vitality and delivery:
1. Avoid timidity. If you sound nervous or unsure of yourself, your professional credibility will be diminished. Be sure to drop your voice down when completing a sentence. If your voice goes up at the end of the sentence, you sound as if you’re asking a question, not stating a fact. Be strong and confident.
2. Listen to yourself. For the sole purpose of learning, tape record a few casual conversations in your home and on the phone. Let your answering machine record your conversation. Pay attention to your inflection, pacing, tone of voice and vocal habits. Critiquing yourself can be a real eye-opener.
3. Emphasize important words. By stressing a key word or phrase, you truly drive your point home. Conversely, emphasizing the wrong word can add to confusion for your listener.
4. Take advantage of silences and pauses. These are especially powerful in business and sales. Many people feel uncomfortable with quiet. Silence is critical in sales meetings when you drop the gauntlet and ask your prospect the golden question, “Are you willing to give it a try?” or “Are there any concerns you have that are stopping you from signing the contract and getting started right now?” That moment of silence can make or break the deal.
5. Express passion in your voice. If you sound bored, dull or monotone, the people listening will be bored as well. If you are excited and truly believe in your words and message, you have a great shot at capturing their attention. Enthusiasm is contagious.
The two cornerstones of success are excellent communication skills and self-confidence. Improving your vocal viality will help you to succeed in these areas.
Comments
Absolutely agree on all points! Another fine post, Susan! ~Dina Harding
Great article Susan. I really liked #3. It reminds me of a “Improving Your Speaking Voice” class I took at the University of Memphis. On the first day the professor wrote a sentence on the board and read it out loud several times. Reemphasizing a different word each time. It was amazing how much the context of the sentence changed each time. That’s where I learned the importance of vocal variety and how it should be used properly. Great stuff! Keep up the good work
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