Speed

Speed variation is connected to the vocal rhythm. Varying speed makes for interested listeners and helps them maintain concentration. If you’re recounting a story, speed helps to add excitement to the tale, but the speed of delivery should be matched with the volume you’re speaking at.

Volume

The level of volume obviously depends on where the conversation is taking place. It would be inappropriate to be loud when speaking in a one-to-one situation. However, you’d probably need to increase it if you were talking in a crowded venue, such as a business reception or work area. Volume is used mainly for emphasis and to command attention – lowering your voice can add authority when telling an interesting story or giving advice.

Pitch

Pitching your voice is something public speakers do. They are trained to ‘throw’ their voices so they can deliver their speech clearly to their audience in whatever size or shape of room they’re speaking in. In general, it’s irritating to any listener if they have to strain to hear what the speaker is saying.

In normal conversations where you need to be heard clearly (for example, in restaurants where there is continual background noise as well as the hubbub of other voices), it’s impossible to pitch your voice if you hardly open your mouth to let the words out. Correct use of mouth, jaw and lip muscles will produce properly accentuated words and assist with clear enunciation. Pay attention to these facial muscles otherwise your voice will be just a dull monotone.

Pause

Practise the pause. It can be the most effective use of your voice though it is often ignored. A pause should last about four seconds. It sounds like an eternity perhaps but anything shorter will go unnoticed by your listener. You can use the time to maintain good eye contact. The effect can be dynamite.

Remember the ‘er’ count. Filling spaces in conversation with props such as ‘ers’, ‘urns’ or ‘you knows’ where there should be pauses are clear signs of nervousness and should be avoided.

Projection

This encompasses everything about the way you come across: power, personality, weight, authority, and expertise – what some people call ‘clout’. You want to build some long-lasting powerful business connections, so it pays to have some ‘gravitas’ in your dealings with people. Projection is an art which can be practised, but you can learn so much from listening to experienced communicators – they have it in spades!

Reviewing Your Vocal Skills

If possible, get a colleague or a friend to give you feedback on your voice and mannerisms. Unless you get an accurate appraisal, you could be spoiling your chances of successful business exchanges. With practice you’ll be surprised how quickly some of these traits can be eradicated. Once you’ve eliminated them and developed some of the skills suggested here, the improvement in your style of conversation and self-confidence when meeting people will be remarkable.

Remember, your voice is an instrument – just like your body. It is also, like your body, very flexible. You know the expression ‘It’s not what you say, it’s the way that you say it’? That couldn’t be more true.

• Be clear – use simple, easily understood words and phrases.

 

• Be loud enough for your listener to hear you.

 

• Be assertive – a bright and confident tone will inject interest into anything you’re saying.

 

• Do stop for breath – it’s essential to let your listener digest what you’ve said – and to have the opportunity to respond!

 

To help you build your brilliant business connections you need polished communication skills. If you can harness these to your other attributes, you will be well on the way to making these relationships rewarding and profitable.