Practice on Video

If you really want to know what captivates people in a voice you really want to know what makes people think I can listen to this person.

It’s not about having a deep voice.

It’s not about any one particular accent.

It’s not necessarily about speed as long as you’re not too fast or too slow.

The thing that will resonate with audiences whether it’s one person on a social basis or a thousand people at a convention speech.

The one thing that really stands out invoices.

It makes them more attractive is confidence.

And that’s something anyone can have.

Now how do you get that.

I have found the number one way to really gain confidence in what you’re saying is you have to practice and you had to record.

If you’re giving a speech it’s not enough to audio recorder you need to use the video function on your cell phone on your webcam or a camcorder.

You need to practice your speech on video listen to it listen not only for the voice stuff but the substance how you’re coming across every aspect of style and substance.

You need to critique that speech and then do it again do it again on video the stuff you don’t like.

Do less of that so that pile goes down the stuff you do like do more of that.

So the pile goes up.

Keep practicing your speech.

Keep recording it again and again and again until you like what you see and hear.

I know it could take some time but it’s worth it.

If you really want to come across your best so that’s your challenge you’ve got to keep practicing your speech until you can point to it and say wow that guy is fantastic.

That woman is fantastic.

I would listen to that person if that weren’t me I would want to listen to that speech.

That’s the attitude you need to have going into any speaking opportunity.

Doesn’t matter if it’s leaving a voicemail to someone.

Doesn’t matter if it’s one on one pitch for a new job or for venture capital or a presentation to 10 colleagues on a Monday morning staff meeting or two hundred colleagues within your industry or a hundred thousand or a hundred million people watching you on an international TV broadcast.

It’s exactly the same thing.

Practice on video until you like what you see and what you don’t see.

If you do that it becomes extraordinarily difficult to be nervous.

If you’re not nervous.

Most of the bad things that happen to people’s voices won’t happen to you.

Again it’s the nerves that make us speak too quickly too softly put doubts question marks of the end of the sentence and all those other things.

So that’s the number one thing you can really do to bring out the full natural resonance of your voice.

And it’s easy.

Everyone’s got technology.

You’re surrounded by video cameras audio recorders do that and you will be in great shape.