DEVELOPING A DYNAMIC VOICE

For example, on the television show The Voice, hosts such as Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani coach hopeful performers toward a record deal. Nobody gets on the show without being a good singer already, at yet each episode shows contestants receiving extensive coaching from established performers on how to improve their timbre, pitch, and range. The hosts themselves became top performers by paying attention to the technical aspects of their sound.

You may not ever audition for The Voice, but good public speaking has a lot of parallels with good singing. You've got to warm up your voice by breathing and running up and down your range of pitch. You need to pay attention to the words you emphasize and the volume of your voice.

If you want to be at the top of your public speaking game, like the hosts of The Voice are at the top of the music industry, you'll need to hone your sense of vocal dynamics and develop tools for warming up and strengthening your voice.

RAISING YOUR VOICE

In the last lesson, we watched Julian Treasure's Ted Talk "How to speak so that people will want to listen."

Treasure offers some definitions for the aspects of the voice that contribute to overall vocal delivery. We'll review and add on to Treasure's definitions, as well as give you a few vocal exercises to improve your vocal delivery…because we're helpful like that.

Timbre and Tonality

While many aspects of our voice combine to influence how we ultimately sound to others, the volume—how loudly or softly we speak—is perhaps the most notable. Volume's important, obviously, because if people can't hear you, you're not effectively communicating. A word or phrase uttered loudly imparts significance; a hushed sentence can signal inside information, causing the audience to listen more attentively.

You can use volume to convey tone or meaning, but you also want to use it to show you understand your setting and surrounding. If you're speaking at a Rotary Club luncheon, you'll likely be competing with the clanging of flatware and hushes voices asking for the salt, but using the same loud voice to address your colleagues in the conference room could be off-putting to your colleagues.

If you can use a microphone, speak in your normal conversational voice. If a microphone isn't available, breathe from your diaphragm.

Here's an exercise:

1. Position yourself comfortably with both feet on the floor. Place your left hand on your ribcage, and your right hand on your belly.

2. Breathe in through your nose and feel your rib cage and belly expanding.

3. As you breathe out with a "sh" by tightening your abdominal muscles and squeezing your rib cage.

4. Repeat until it feels natural, then drop the audible "sh."

Timbre—the "texture" of the voice—is unique to each person. As Julian Treasure notes, some people speak in rich, warm tones, while other voices can be hoarse, breathy, or nasally. If you've received negative feedback about the timbre of your voice, you may consider consulting a vocal coach or practicing vocal exercises like the ones found here.

Gotta Work It Out

LeBron James doesn't just show up at the court on game night ready to go. He works out, practices with his team, and constantly sharpens his skills.

Just like LeBron has to work out to stay at peak performance, your voice needs to be warmed-up and exercised, too. Here are a few vocal exercises to help you improve your speaking voice.

Pump Up the Volume

The diaphragm is a muscle that you can control better when you work it out. Improve the quality of your speaking volume with this exercise.

Exercise One

Step One

Sitting comfortably, push out all the air from your lungs. Keep breathing out until all the air has been released.

Step Two

Inhale deeply. Notice how much air you need to feel completely full of breath.

Repeat these steps three or four times a day for a week. Reflect on the difference in vocal control you feel. It may seem reductive, but simply being aware of your breath yields a greater amount of control.

Exercise Two

Step One

Lie on your back and set a book on your diaphragm.

Step Two

Relax and observe the movement of your diaphragm. At first, don't try to control your breath. Is it measured and steady, or shallow and sharp? Just notice how the book rises and falls.

Step Three

Now, use your diaphragm to breathe. Continue inhaling and exhaling until you expand and contract your waist naturally with each breath.

Pitch Perfect

Natural variance in vocal pitches occurs naturally. However, voices that are too high can be perceived as having less authority, so you'll want to work on deepening your pitch, but not too deep—you don't want to sound like you're taking yourself too seriously.

We're about to get musical. You can determine your natural pitch by using a piano or an app that plays the notes of the scale. Sing "la" at an easy, comfortable pitch, and then sing down the scale until you can't go lower without your voice breaking. Then, sing up the scale until your voice feels strained. Your pitch range includes the notes you can hit without strain.

Now that you know your vocal range, here are a few exercises to help you improve your natural pitch.

Exercise One

Sing "la" at a normal, natural volume, increasing your volume until your voice feels strained. Repeat at shorter intervals until you reach your loudest comfortable volume.

Exercise Two

Sing "la" at higher and level pitch levels. Don't overstrain your voice, and only do this for a few minutes at a time.

Exercise Three

Apply the procedures for the first two exercises, but say the alphabet, your family members' names, or your grocery list. The point is, work on naturally lowering your pitch while using everyday speech. (Source)

Straight from the Vocal Coach's Mouth

We have a few more videos for you to watch about improving the sound of your voice.

First, watch this tutorial for how to improve your tone by buzzing your lips.

Next, watch this one about using "the grunts" to open up your diaphragm.

Finally, watch this video to work on improving your articulation.