Listen to Natural Conversation

So let’s talk about the number one source of problems for most people with their voices.

And again I’m excluding that bottom less than 1 percent who truly have something awful.

The biggest problem for ninety nine percent of us who are displeased with their voice is that because we are nervous in certain situations whether it’s getting in front of a boardroom to give a presentation speaking in front of a classroom is that we get nervous once we’re nervous we stop doing the things we do with our voice that we do and we’re comfortable.

So when we’re nervous we might start speaking quickly.

We might start speaking in a monotone because we’re thinking about how do we get through this awful that sounds.

And I really want you to know I’m right.

We put doubt into our voice and and with question marks at the end.

Ah we’re not certain we were right or so we speak so softly No one can understand us.

We mumble we whisper.

So these are not technically problems with your voice.

This is simply your voice expressing your emotions and the voice often doesn’t lie.

So the key here is you’ve got to figure out how you come across your best.

Anytime you’re speaking and then do it that way even if you are nervous.

That is the key to solving most people’s vocal problems because if you hear yourself giving a speech and you’re thinking oh I sound boring I sound droning I would hate to listen to myself.

The problem might not be your voice.

The problem might be that you’re reading a really boring PowerPoint.

So here’s what we’ve got to do to a thoroughly diagnose the problem.

B come up with a solution.

I need you to call a friend request let your friend know you’re doing this although you don’t have to because you’re only recording your side of the voice you’re not recording your friend and I need you to just forget about the recorder for a while and I need you to talk to a good friend about something you care passionately about.

It could be NFL football.

It could be Olympic ice skating.

It could be politics.

It could be and it could be religion.

Anything you care about passionately just have a 20 minute conversation recorded try to forget that there’s even a recording and if it’s a friend.

Sometimes you yell you get excited to get upset you’re angry about the refs call at last night’s college basketball game.

I need you to record.

I don’t care what you’re talking about.

Here’s what I do care about yours.

Once you record it I need you to listen to it.

And here’s what most people find when you’re simply talking naturally your voice has great variation sometimes your louder sometimes your softer sometimes you get excited and you’re faster and there’s more excitement.

Sometimes you slow it down and occasionally there’s a pause.

A good voice is kind of like a roller coaster.

Sometimes it’s fast sometimes it’s slow sometimes it goes around corners sometimes it’s sometimes it’s there’s variation to your voice that’s what makes someone interesting to listen to not sounding like a generic TV news anchor.

That’s not what necessarily makes anyone interesting to listen to so that’s what I need you to do right now.

Call a friend and you know to listen to it all just fast forward or go to the part on the digital audio file halfway in or two thirds in where you think OK we’re getting in a debate about something there and I’d forgotten we were recording.

Listen to just that one minute.

Chances are you’re gonna hear a lot more variation in your voice than when you were practicing that speech that you had to give at next week’s Trade Association convention where you’re sound boring and flat and monotone the way I do.

So I need you to do this diagnosis because if I’m correct and I often m your voice is going to sound a lot better because you’re going to have the full range of your voice louder softer faster slower pauses and your voice will come alive.

So please do that for me right now.