Women (and Men) Take Note: Five tips to gain influence through vocal power
Feeling Unheard and Undervalued
Just because someone speaks, it doesn’t mean they will be heard. Unfortunately, some people feel like their comments and verbal contribution go unheard–they might be physically heard and even acknowledged, but they aren’t given much attention.
Women typically experience this more than men, although many men feel this too. While people experiencing this might feel powerless, some vocal power techniques can shift the power into their hands. The good news is some of these powerful vocal techniques are easy to do. Others may take a bit of practise.
Vocal Power Exercises and Tips
–01–
Engage a Deeper Voice by Reaching your Lower Tones
Women typically have higher-pitched voices than men, and while this may work well in the heterosexual bedroom, it doesn’t work well in the boardroom. Here, women have drawn the short straw, because people who have deeper voices are typically perceived as being more credible, serious and dependable and, as a result, it creates a higher level of persuasion and influence.
What’s more, it can make you feel inner feelings of power–and there starts your upward spiral of confidence, you'll feel more confident and therefore will convey more confidence. What we do with our body and voice really does change the way we feel.
I’m not talking Barry White. All I’m suggesting is that you reach for the lower tones of your natural vocal range–don’t go out of your natural range or you’ll sound odd. The vocal exercise I’m about to give you will allow you to engage your lower tones easily. You’ll sound slightly deeper and your voice will sound more resonant.
The Technique
Hum continuously or in pulses, no melody–just a monotone hum. As you hum, try to feel where the vibration of the hum comes from–is it the nose, mouth, throat or chest?
Focus on either pushing the vibration downwards into your chest or lowering the tone of your hum.
Once you’ve reached as low as you can go, maintain a deep/low hum for a minute or two. Stop if it hurts.
Talk out loud and hear/feel the drop in your tone.
You can use this technique (in private) before an important interaction, like a meeting, interview or when meeting someone for the first time. Once you’ve engaged speaking in your lower tones, try to maintain that tone for as long as you can.
If you practise this technique daily, you’ll develop even lower tones in your natural vocal range.
–02–
Ditch the Question Inflexion/Upspeak
Going up in tone at the end of a statement is a credibility killer. Usually, when asking a question, vocal tone goes up at the end of the question and when stating something the vocal tone goes down or stays the same.
For various reasons, some people–many people–go up at the end of a statement. When people do this they turn a statement into a question, sounding like they are questioning their own words and appearing to lack confidence. If they aren’t confident in their own words, why should anyone buy into them?
Some people who speak like this often, genuinely lack confidence or have low self-esteem, seeking constant validation from their conversation partner. While others have developed the inflexion as a habit–this is especially the case in Australia, where many people go up in tone at the end of their statement. I should add, it’s not part of the Australian accent–there are plenty of Australians who don’t do it.
It can be hard to unlearn a behaviour and it can be hard to fake confidence if you don’t feel confident. The best place to start is awareness. Not only in yourself but in others. To ditch the inflexion pay attention to how it sounds when others talk, making a concerted effort to hear it. This is easier to do when you aren’t in the conversation yourself as it increases cognitive load and moves your presence away from the topic of conversation. It’s much easier to start to notice it as a bystander, or while watching a video.
As you start to hear it in others, you’ll naturally start to hear it in yourself. This gives you the power to make a conscious effort to avoid it. It just takes practise and could take a few weeks or even months.
–03–
Volumise
I don’t mean shout or speak loudly, always. In a similar way to going up in tone at the end of a statement, fading out at the end of a statement also kills credibility, showing a lack of confidence in what you’re saying. In an important interaction, like a negotiation or interview, it can have negative consequences.
Nonverbal cues like these are picked up subconsciously by your conversation partner or audience, leaving a gut feeling that something isn’t quite right–it’s linked to deception because you’re saying something you sound like you don’t have confidence in.
Typically, women are more likely to do this than men, especially in an interview if they aren’t the type to blow their own trumpet. The key here is to either increase your confidence levels or to fake it. Even if you feel awkward about stating your accomplishments to others, own it and speak with confidence.
Recording yourself and listening back can help you hear these subtle nuances in communication. Awareness and practise makes perfect.
–04–
Vocal Variance
Variance in vocal tone, speed and volume make you sound more interesting and engaging to listen to, giving you the attention you deserve. So when I say use lower tones, I don’t mean speak in a low monotonous voice. Instead, maintain variance with higher and lower tones, but shift your general tone of speech to the lower end of your natural vocal range. Altering speed and volume can create emotion, captivating your audience or conversation partner.
–05–
Drink Water
There’s a popular misconception that if you drink water just before or during a talk, your voice will sound better. It won’t, it won’t make any difference to the quality of your voice. The key here is to drink plenty of water in the days leading up to your talk, making sure your body is properly hydrated. Only then will your voice sound better. My advice is to drink plenty of water on a daily basis, to ensure you remain hydrated, giving your voice the best opportunity to sound great.
Final Words
These vocal tips and tricks apply to both men and women and I hope that everyone can benefit from trying them. I use all of these myself and I can vouch for the positive impact it has had whilst training people, public speaking, in the boardroom and when meeting people for the first time.
As a woman, I'm passionate about empowering women to feel more powerful and convey more confidence in the workforce, in the hope that we'll nudge a little closer to equality.
If you gained value from reading my article, please help me to grow my business by leaving me a star rating on Google.
Thank you,
—Sophie
