23 Mar Amplify Your Voice

One of the pushbacks I get whenever I coach & train leaders to leverage their voices to the max is: ‘I don’t want to lose my authenticity!’ ‘I hate to be a phony!’ And so on.

I’m too familiar with this resistance. How? It was also my excuse. It took a breakthrough to let go of my dull, monotone voice.

Sick and tired of my resistance, my coach decided to level with me:

1. ‘Do you still have your work voice when you cuddle your wife?’ He asked with amusement. I didn’t have a wife back then but had a girlfriend, and I felt offended and said, ‘NO!’

2. ‘When you play with your kids and read them stories before sleep, do you speak to them with the same work voice?’ My coach was determined to awaken me from my deep sleep, believing that the voice I was using was born with me and my identity. Wondering where he was taking this conversation, with an agitated voice: ‘I don’t have children!’ He persisted without giving me any breathing time: ‘But, you have, at least, watched parents communicate with their kids?!’ I gave up: ‘YES, and you’re right; parents don’t use the same tone of voice with their kids.’

3. ‘Does your girlfriend know you speak with her differently than you do speak with your colleagues?’ With some frustration, I admitted: ‘Of course she does!’ He persisted, ‘Did she ever say you’ve become inauthentic, and she didn’t like it?’ With excitement, I loudly replied: ‘NO! She loved it!’

Retrospectively, I’m glad he disrupted my voice pattern and enabled me to use my voice as one of the ‘WEAPONS’ of communication. I’m happy my coach didn’t let me off the hook. I’m grateful that he equipped me to leverage my voice.

Now, I help those who are where I was some years back. I’m well-equipped to break the pattern of their voices that leashed their speaking potential and help them unleash their voices while still feeling liberated and authentic.

We should realize that, in the 21st Century, our audience expects us not just to educate but also to ‘ENTERTAIN.’ We can’t do that by using a monotone voice throughout our presentations.

We’ve to make our speeches palatable by employing VOCAL VARIETY and backing up our content with the proper tone of voice.

BTW, resisting using vocal variety isn’t my biggest problem. I sometimes encounter people who hate their voice and refrain from speaking as frequently as they should. FYI, this isn’t a rarity. It is common among many smart & talented leaders & entrepreneurs…

For your information, voice is one of the dozens of presentation areas we work on with our participants and coachees. We adjust our approaches and focus areas depending on their presentation abilities (beginner, intermediate, and advanced). Our programs are hands-on and very practical.

To learn more about the benefits of speaking in front of a camera or on the stage with confidence, poise, and impact to change minds and hearts and, in turn, achieve your personal and organizational goals, click here and check this page out.