•Volume – The loudness with which we speak. Speak too slowly and no one would hear you; speak too loudly and you’ll make your listener physically and mentally uncomfortable.
•Variation – This is critical, and makes the above three elements effective. There is really no optimum single Rate, Pitch, or Volume. Rather, it’s the correct mixture in each of these areas that allows us to maximize the impact of what we say.
•Conviction – The firmness and apparent confidence that what we say is true without question. Conviction sells; it reassures; it is believable. Lack of it only adds to any doubts.
•Pronunciation – Slurring of words and poor pronunciation is not conductive to a confident, upper-class voice.
•Jargon and Useless Expressions – This refers to habitual phrases which add nothing to the meaning of what is being conveyed.
Next step is to improve it.
•Signs on Your Phone – Speech patterns are habits. As such, they require on-going efforts to alter. Placing appropriate signs on your telephone will help greatly to remind oneself of needed changes. Examples might be ‘slowly’ (for too fast a pace), ‘It is true!’ (for lack of conviction), ‘softly’ (for too loud a voice), or anything else that will be of help.
•Enhance Variations – Proper blending of all vocal elements requires variation. There’s no one perfect rate, pitch, or volume. Rather, it’s a mixture of highs and lows, loud and soft, fast and slow, combined with the proper words themselves, that will yield the desired result.
•Enhance Power and Conviction – The key to doing so is to stand in a large room and speak to a person or recording device in the back of the room, but do not alter your volume. Initially your audience of one will probably have difficulty hearing you. Keep trying. Soon you find yourself enunciating more clearly, using your lips to form the words more accurately, utilizing your diaphragm for more strength. When you have reached this point, which may take several weeks, try the same thing but this time do so while seated. This is a lot tougher.
•Enhance Your Vocal Range – If your pitch seems to lack variation, or if you feel you are weak at either the high notes or the low, it’ll require some extra concentration on your vocal range. This can be accomplished in any of three ways:
oSinging, with emphasis on the vocal scale where you are weakest, is of great benefit to you, though not necessary to any listeners
oHumming for five minutes at a time is also effective, and may be less emotionally disturbing than singing. Again, focus on the weaker end of your voice range
oReading the same poem aloud three times, once each in higher, medium, and lower keys, will also work
In all these areas, remember to listen for resonance – it will feel like vibrations in your chest and throat. The more, the better. If you can feel nothing, place your hand on your chest while you sing or recite. Feel for a buzzing. Keep doing it. It may take weeks before you observe changes, but you will eventually broaden your voice range in this manner. The change is quite likely to be permanent.
Clearly, any improvement in either general selling skills or industry-specific material will greatly increase our billings. Time spent on voice development, will allow us to gain maximum benefits from the skills we already possess, with consequent enhancement of our production!
Neglect of the voice leads to problems, which reduce results. Theses problems, however, are largely preventable with proper upkeep. It may be surprising to some that extra care beyond normal good health needs to be given to the voice. Yet, for us – salespeople – our voice is our primary working tool. No voice, no income.
How to Take Care of Your Voice Like a Professional
•Drink Plenty of Water
The major enemy of a good clear voice is dehydration. The more you talk, the more water is utilized. A dry throat is a voice at risk. Coffee or tea is not adequate. First they have an immediate drying action on the throat – this includes decaf. Secondly, the caffeine in either will cause you to lose more moisture than you gain. You need a large glass of plain water on your desk, and need to empty it frequently. Don’t talk more than ten minutes without water.
It’s commonly thought that by drinking water, one moistens the vocal cords and larynx directly. This is not correct. Both of these items can be reached only through the trachea, which is the passage for air, and even a few drops of water will cause an uncontrollable coughing reflex. Rather, the water travels through the esophagus to the stomach, and from there is absorbed into the bloodstream. This causes the entire body to become well hydrated.
When this happens, the salivary glands operate at full capacity and the mucous glands surrounding the larynx radiate a slippery coating that allows the vocal cords to slide together with minimum friction. Speaking is a very moisture-intensive activity. The engine of your vocal apparatus burns a lot of oil (in this case, water) and requires frequent refilling. This is why extra trips to the restroom are not uncommon consequence of increasing your water intake; you’ll be probably expending that extra water with every word and every breath, and your voice will be the beneficiary.
•Avoid Ice
Extreme cold freezes and irritates the throat. It also tightens the muscles of the throat, thus having short and long-term negative effects. Overtime, it’ll even thicken and alter the quality of your vocal cords.
•Use a Humidifier Especially in Winter
Dry air will suck the moisture from your body. A dry throat is not a smooth throat. If you looked at it under a microscope, you would see small cracks, which results in a rough voice. A dry throat is also far more prone to infection.
Keep a humidifier in your bedroom at night and preferably in your office during the day. A well-known ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) specialist once said ‘If everyone drank lots of water and used a humidifier, I’d be out on the street selling apples!’
•Find a Good ENT Doctor
You need experience, not experiments. Get a specialist. And the best ones are old and grumpy.
•Away from Business, Cultivate Quiet Lifestyle
The voice is not like a muscle that grows stronger with exercise. Rather, it’s more like a battery that will recharge itself with inactivity. Most serious long-term professional speakers are rather quiet people away from the platform.
•Avoid Excessive Force
The vocal cords physically are two cords about three-eighths of an inch long, with accompanying folds through which air passes. The passageway is called the glottis, and the cords and folds altering in thickness, changing tension and touching produces varying sounds. When you shout, these cords actually slam together with great force. Were you to smash your hands together with force, they would first begin to hurt, then become red, and eventually become bruised and swollen. Precisely the same thing happens to your vocal cords when you yell consistently, as at a football game or prolonged loud argument.
•Don't Speak Under Extreme Stress
What does stress do to your voice? Try a little demonstration for yourself. Put your hands on the sides of your chair seat, and try to lift it off the ground, with you sitting in it. Lift hard. Then, without easing the pressure, speak a sentence or two. How does your voice sound? More importantly, how does it feel? Rough? Tight? What do you think an entire day like that would do to your voice?
Stress creates tightness. The more stress, the more tightening of your muscles. It’s the reason people sound so ‘stressed out’ when a loved one passes away, and why they typically lose their voice within a week of the funeral. Their vocal cords have tightened up as a result of stress. They keep talking, and after a while, their vocal cords are so abused, the voice is totally gone.
A stress-free life, of course, isn’t