That’s how she speaks for you
Voices convey emotions. Confident voices help to be convincing in meetings. This is how you make yours your strength.
How much do you speak in your job? For many people, their own voice is one of the most important tools – for customer advice, in presentations or to convince in meetings.
It is not only the right words that count, but also how these words sound: Soft, shaky voices often seem unsafe. Loud, deep voices with clear intonation and articulation convey high status and self-confidence. Your voice can be a success booster – if you let it.
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Successful speaking takes routine
What do Cristiano Ronaldo, Tony Robbins and Taylor Swift have in common? In addition to success, one thing above all else: You follow routines and train regularly in order to achieve optimal performance. Ronaldo is warming up and training his feel for the ball. Tony Robbins puts his body and mind in an energetic state. Taylor Swift warms up her voice and uses breathing exercises.
You may not be on stage in front of thousands of fans. You face colleagues, superiors, investors or potential customers. They too want to be convinced that it is worth listening to you. This works best if, in addition to exciting content, your voice speaks for you, brings your words to life and makes you heard.
Part of the color of your voice is genetic. There are high, low, loud or soft voices. The other part comes from technique and training. Whatever your parents gave you in the cradle: Your voice becomes stronger through the voice triad – a combination of posture, breathing and mood.
This is how you create your routine for a strong voice.
The sound of your voice is complex: vocal cords create resonance. The abdomen and chest serve as resonance bodies. The sound is shaped by the bone conduction, the throat, the nasal cavity, tongue, teeth and lips, creating your very own sound color. Tension in these areas makes your voice sound strained. Looseness, on the other hand, gives it strength and volume.
Stand up straight with your feet shoulder-width apart and firmly on the floor. Take a deep breath and pull your shoulders up to your ears. Tense your body completely. Then, as you exhale, roll your shoulders back and down, releasing the tension. Continue to straighten up. Bring your arms up over the side. Follow them with your eyes. Stretch a little more towards the ceiling. Then let your arms drop to your sides in a relaxed manner. Feel the width in your chest.
This posture not only makes your voice sound more solid. It also measurably increases self-confidence.
Those who are excited breathe faster and shallower than when they are at rest. The speed of speech also often increases automatically. The voice becomes thin and the air runs out, causing the voice to break away. An uncertain, hectic impression quickly emerges.
The 4-7-8 breathing calms you down and provides your speaking apparatus with enough air for a firm, self-assured voice. To do this, put a hand on your stomach. Take a deep breath. Expand your abdominal wall in the process. Feel how the abdominal wall pushes your hand forward as you breathe and slowly count to four. Now hold your breath and count to seven. Then exhale as you count to eight.
This breathing pattern lowers stress, helps you focus, and make better decisions.
Voice and mood are inseparable. You can tell on the phone whether a friend is in a good mood or sad. Your interlocutors also perceive your emotional state.
How do you want your listeners to feel? What should they do and think? Do you want to inspire them? Convey security? Win your trust? Think of a situation where you did just that – maybe even better than expected. What did you see, do, hear, feel? Visualize your memory like a film and feel into it – with all your senses.
Are you still standing upright Slowly and deliberately roll your shoulders back again. Widen your chest a little and pull the corners of your mouth upwards while you savor the feeling. This position is the ideal starting position to warm up your voice.
Your natural pitch
If we speak too high or too low, our vocal cords are unnecessarily strained – and sound like that too. There is a risk of hoarseness in longer lectures or conversations with customers. Your natural voice is the most relaxed way to speak. How to find it:
How does it sound when you really like something? For example a jam sandwich? Mmmmh, Mmmmarmeladenbrot!
Pleasure noises are ideally suited to lead your voice into the “indifference position” – to your own unique tone. This is the most relaxed voice you can speak in.
Imagine how you gleefully eat the bread. Actively move your speaking device while you enjoy it audibly: Mmmmh! Then use your tongue to fish the leftover crumbs out of your teeth: from left to right, from right to left, from top to bottom and back again. Finally, say a few sentences in your indifference. For example, tell them why you like to eat jam sandwiches.
Your posture remains upright and open. Sitting breathing, mood and pitch. The last piece of the puzzle for a convincing voice is pronunciation.
Clear pronunciation, clear words
Nobody wants to make an effort to understand you. After the corking exercise, speak clearly.
If possible, stand in front of a mirror. Do you have a cork on hand? Perfect. Place it, like a cigar, in the front of your front teeth. No cork in sight? No problem! Just take your thumb. Think again about your positive image. Think of a statement that conveys how successful you will be right away: “This will be a really great conference. I know what I am talking about and I am good at what I do! ”Say this sentence loudly, slowly and clearly several times. Use your hands to accentuate your words. This also loosens you up and helps you think figuratively. Then remove the cork and repeat your sentence. No matter how silly you felt, the difference is clear, isn’t it?
Scientists have also shown that this exercise has a mood-enhancing effect.
This is how you make your voice your strength
The more you practice, the more confident your voice becomes. Cristiano Ronaldo trains his ball control, Taylor Swift her voice control, Tony Robbins stage presence and persuasiveness. They all work and train regularly with and on their tools to get better and safer.
If you speak professionally, your voice is a crucial instrument. Posture, breathing, and mood help set it up for you. You are probably already feeling the effects of the exercises. If you repeat them regularly, make them your daily routine, not only your words but also the sound of your voice will speak for you.
This is how your voice becomes your success booster.
